Just in case the continuing Damian McBride story isn’t raising your blood pressure high enough on this Easter Sunday, it’s worth mentioning the latest expenses row surrounding Michael Martin. Not only is the Speaker involved in one of those “three home” schemes – renting one, claiming for a second and living in a third – but it’s emerged that he and his wife went on a jolly to Dubai courtesy of the taxpayer. Here’s how the Telegraph reports it:
To be honest, these expenses scandals are becoming quite a slog to write up. Pretty much all of our political representatives are at it, and the conclusion is always the same – that the expenses system needs reforming, and quick. So why say it all again? Because it’s important that these stories don’t drift out of sight. The Speaker, in particular, is meant to uphold Parliamentary standards and should, in theory, be beyond reproach. Instead, with the public’s faith in the political class at a low ebb, Martin travels in style at our expense. Quite simply, you’ve got to doubt whether he’s fit for the role.“The Speaker last week spent four days in the United Arab Emirates on an official visit hosted by the authorities in the Gulf state. He was accompanied by his wife, Mary Martin, whose business class flights to Dubai were paid by the British taxpayer. Two parliamentary officials who accompanied the couple on the trip are said to have travelled in standard class seats. According to one estimate the trip, including flights and accommodation in a five-star hotel, cost £8,000. The trip reignited criticism of the Speaker, who oversees the system of parliamentary allowances and expenses that has triggered growing public anger against MPs’ perks.”
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