So thats alright then !

[bazwillrun]

So Jacqui Smith gets a damning report into fiddleing and lying about her "homes" and expenses but as long as she apologises everything is tiggedy-boo !.

"I didnt think i was doing anything wrong" , so ignorance is now a valid defence

Brilliant, you couldnt make it up......actually with this government..................

[Kathyan]

Baz, you stole my question!!

[jno]

bazwillrun, your question used the phrase "with this government..." Perhaps that is why people think you are trying to make a party issue of it?

[jno]

Sqad, it does appear that Legg wants MPs to repay claims that were permitted at the time they made them. That sounds like retrospective legislation, which is absolutely a Bad Thing. Nobody should ever be able to pass a law that makes something you did yesterday illegal and makes you liable to be charged for it. The MPs will argue that if the claim was unlawful they had a right to be told this at the time, rather than being told it was okay and then ordered to repay it later - they would rather have not made the claim in the first place. I'm not a great fan of MPs (though mine seems to have made no dodgy claims at all), but I think they have a point.

[ludwig]

As much as I hate to admit it, they do have a point. I mean if stealing from the company is allowed where you work, and you go to your boss and say 'Are you sure it's ok if I steal things' and he says 'yes - we're all doing it, everyone right up to the chairman, steal what you like. It's how we top up our wages'.
You do sort of have a right to be a p1ssed off if a new chairman comes along later and tells you you've got to pay for everything you stole in the past. After all you were only working within the rules that applied at the time, and everything was signed off and authorised at the time.

However, Lazygun makes a good point which I can't put any better, so I'll just quote it ..

"Applying new rules retrospectively could perhaps be viewed as somewhat unfair. That having been said, MPs have, for years, been using the public purse and the allowances system as a covert, tax - free salary top up and as a means of having a luxurious lifestyle, with gardening and cleaning services being paid for by the taxpayer. Any of the goods they bought on the public purse remains theirs when they leave public office too.
All those plasma TVs, silk cushions, etc. Not to mention the profits many MPs have made through tarting up a property at the public expense, having their mortgage paid at the public expense, and then selling on having made a nice fat profit - and some have elected to avoid paying tax on that profit too.
Some of these MPs should be in court on tax evasion and fraud charges, so instead they should thank their lucky stars that all they have received is a "Legg letter" and a polite request to pay money back."

[Dodger666]

I read in today's paper that Jacqui Smith may be moved up to the House of Lords when she is inevitably kicked out of her Redditch constituency at the next election.

Who said crime doesn't pay?