In early 2009, the expenses scandal ripped through the heart of British government and left the country, already plagued by job losses and pay cuts and in the midst of one of the worst recessions in history, in complete uproar. It was the Daily Telegraph that first brought the expenses scandal to the attention of the public in the may of 2009 showing on many accounts gross misuse of the government expenses scheme.
The expenses management reports were leaked to the newspaper and were published in daily installments to the increasingly disillusioned, British public. The expenses MPs were allowed to claim for their second home was a particularly contentious issue. It had been originally set up to allow MPs to claim expenses to pay for the mortgage of a home either in their own constituency or in Westminster. This was designed so that the MP could be close to their place of work in Parliament during the week but also be able to live in their constituency at weekends or when they were needed by their constituents (and of course be with their family). This was seen to be subject to abuse by many MPs however who were claiming for homes that were not in their constituency or in Westminster.
One particular scandal that was a real eye opener for the general public and one that left the Tories in a real state of disarray involved home secretary Jacqui Smith. It is said that she had claimed for the cost of two pornographic films watched by her husband in a hotel. The story led Tory leader David Cameron to say that Jacqui Smith had “some questions to answer” not just about this incident, but several more acts of misconduct including the claims over her second home, she was however not called up on to resign over the matter.
Some MPs had been so ruthless with the abuse of their expenses that it even lead to some MPS being imprisoned over the matter. The first was David Chaytor who had falsely claimed 22 thousand pounds in expenses and had ‘flipped’ his second home four times in three years. Mr Chaytor was released from Spring Hill open prison after serving only a quarter of his original 18 month sentence. The judge, Mr Justice Saunders said when sentencing Mr Chyator “these offenses have wider and more important consequences than is to be found in other breach of trust cases. That is the effect they have had and will have in the confidence the public has in politicians”
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