MP's Expenses: Kent and Beyond

Recent news regarding the corruption and greed of certain members of parliament has infuriated all areas of the working class. Helipad maintenance for fifth homes, cleaners for townhouses and a political system that has only admitted its failings because of a leak it did its utmost to prevent — all have rightly outraged a population constantly told that British politics is divinely democratic and above corruption.

Beyond the morally outrageous purposes taxpayers' money is being used for, beyond the scandal of parliament's reluctance to disclose its actions to a public it purports to represent, are of course the staggering sums of money MPs are demanding at a time when millions are out of work through no fault of their own, and forced to live off reduced benefits with the assistance of cut-back public services.

For example, the MP for Chatham and Aylesford, Jonathan Shaw, required £151,423 to go about his business last year. This money was duly provided by the taxpayer — and what did we pay for? Jonathan Shaw voted strongly in favour of both the Iraq war and Labour’s anti-terrorism laws, as well as for student top up fees and privatising the NHS.

How can these MPs represent the working class of this country when the expenses debacle reveals a lifestyle totally remote from the concerns of ordinary people? The reason MPs are reluctant to attack each other over an issue that has caused public outrage is because they know what might turn up in their own expenses records. MPs have more in common with each other than they do with the electorate they claim to represent.

The working class must demand working-class politicians, on a worker's wage. It must view the revelations about MP corruption not as the avarice of a few rogue politicians but as a shortcoming endemic to a political system that promotes privilege, inequality and secrecy in all its forms. The working class must fight for a political party that rejects the gravy trains of Westminster and Europe, and speaks up for the needs of workers, not just for the benefit of themselves.

Kent MP's expenses: a selection
Paul Clark (Lab, Gillingham) £143,402
Ann Widdecombe (Con, Maidstone) £115,728
Robert Marshall-Andrews (Lab,Medway) £121,161
Derek Wyatt (Lab, Sittingbourne) £156,157
Julian Brazier (Con, Canterbury) £134,800
Jonathan Shaw (Lab, Chatham and Aylesford) £151,423
Gwyn Prosser (Lab, Dover) £134,083