Wasn't it fantastic that an MP has been taken to court, and lost, for breaching her "duty of care" to a constituent. MPs actually have no statutory obligation to their voters, something that is very evident by the contempt most MPs appear to have for their constituents, with the safer the seat the less interest the MP has in keeping the voters happy. However the Commons code of conduct says they have a "general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole and a special duty to their constituents".
The MP in question made the headlines last year after she and her husband (also an MP) used £175,000 of public money to buy a flat near Parliament when they already had a home just nine miles away. The revelation earned them the sobriquet "Mr And Mrs Expenses". Of course judging by the headlines today she isn't doing anything the Home Secretary isn't doing so should we be surprised?
I am not saying all MPs have their snouts in the trough but it definitely appears as though many of them are doing very nicely! Pass me the John Lewis List old boy! More subsidised drinks anyone? Don't worry the taxpayers will pick up the bill! Hartlepool's former MP, Peter Mandelson even claimed £2,981 for fitting a shower and decorating the bathroom in his constituency home in July 2003, a year before he resigned to become a European Commissioner and the current Hartlepool MP, Iain Wright, was shown on a list published by the Telegraph in July last year as one of those MPs who use Parliamentary Allowances to employ family members.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/2242795/MP-expenses-Who-employs-family-members.html
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