Lead by Example

Baroness Warsi's so-called "expenses scandal" isn't an indication of a corrupt political elite. It's an example of how disconnected politics is from the world as most people know it. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who commute on a daily basis to their workplace, typically to London from a place more than twenty or thirty miles away. Their expenses are not paid. They have to pay for their travel from their own salaries and wages because that's the price people pay in order to get a good job. It's reasonable that some of the expenses that Members of Parliament and their staff can claim are reasonable: staffing expenses, telecommunication expenses and a basic salary are all something that is part and parcel of a job that is demanding.

The problem is when we have a system that simply gives politicians an open door to bend the rules according to their will. Politicians have no need of travel expenses, not least of which with a basic salary of around £60,000, more than double the average salary of most men and £35,000 more than the average salary of most women. There is no need to claim for second homes or council tax allowances because they can readily commute from their home. If politicians have a problem with the cost of public transport, use a car or, even better than that, do something about it.

Politicians are out of touch with what most of us experience on a daily basis. We've all got stories of wanting a job but discovering it's in London. If we desperately wanted the job, we'd do everything in our power to get it even if that means contributing more than ten percent of our take-hoame salary on travel. Why is it the case that politicians get special treatment? They're meant to lead by example in the "age of austerity" but everything about their behavior so far is indicative of a bubble that surrounds them, leaving them unable to grasp what most of us are feeling or experiencing as a result of financial cutbacks, tax increases, etc.

This isn't a complaint about austerity. I agree with austerity. The problem is with politicians who take advantage of a system that is deliberately ill-defined in order to allow these abuses to fall through the cracks. It's only when the media hears of a story that we become outraged. What would have happened if the expenses scandal never happened? We'd have a ballooning problem in the United Kingdom where politicians are at arm's length from what the rest of us are doing. In order for politicians to redeem some semblance of respect, they need to take the lead and that starts by cutting their expenses heavily, cutting their basic salaries and making them more accountable in what they spend their money on.