There’s a General Election rapidly approaching and just when
you think you've seen the last of the cross-party Parliamentary sleeze, it’s a
case of - “Here we go again” !!
So
it appears our erstwhile former Foreign Secretaries, Jack Straw and Malcolm
Rifkind today have had to defend
themselves after becoming embroiled in a new 'cash for access' scandal where they both boasted about charging at
least £5,000-a-day. The pair was secretly filmed by undercover reporters
discussing how they could use their contacts to benefit a private company for
large sums of money.
Rifkind, who
is the chairman of the highly-influential Intelligence and Security Select
Committee, said to the undercover reporters that he could see any foreign ambassador
in London and has 'useful access' to
every British ambassador in the world because of his profile. He has since claimed
he acted 'entirely properly' and it
was 'quite unrealistic' to expect
backbench MPs with professional backgrounds to 'simply accept a salary of £60,000' without accepting second jobs,
and would fight claims of wrongdoing 'with
all my strength' – Only £60k a year ?!?!? Poor soul, my heart bleeds for
him. In the conversation with the undercover reporters
Rifkind was also filmed discussing that his usual fee was 'somewhere in the region of £5,000 to £8,000' for half a day's
work.
Then Jack
Straw who is one of Labour's most senior figures, claimed he was 'mortified' after footage emerged of him
inviting two undercover reporters to a meeting in his Parliamentary office
where he claimed to work 'under the
radar' for private companies. I bet he was ‘mortified’, mortified that he’d been caught more likely. In the
film Straw tells how he had used his influence to change EU rules on behalf of
a private company he already works for and declares an interest in. He also
claimed to have used 'charm and menace'
to persuade the Ukrainian prime minister to change laws on behalf of the
commodity firm, which pays him £60,000 a year. He then went to say that he
would not take on the role while he remained an MP, but could be more helpful
if he were to become a peer in the House of Lords after the election.
Last night Straw and Rifkind both referred themselves
to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards - presumably to circumvent a
Police investigation into their actions?
Shameless
Is there anyone with any honour left in politics these days? After
previous cash for questions and cash for access scandals for these two senior political
figures to do this is well and truly shameful, well it would be if they had any
shame! What gets me is they just don't think they are doing anything wrong. Us,
the voting public are absolutely disgusted that yet again politicians are being
caught abusing their position. It seriously begs the question as to whether
there are any politicians who are not in it for what they can get. They’re just
out of touch, with their greedy faces in the trough - scum the lot of them!
Rifkind said to the undercover reporters that he
is not salaried, has plenty of spare time and is self employed. Am I missing
something here? He is a serving MP paid a salary and employed by the British
taxpayer or have I got that wrong? It’s seriously time that an example was made and someone was sent to
jail. Rules, honesty, decency and morals just don’t exist for these scum and
they have no reasons to be doing this other than greed. Shame on them!
Another thing. Why do they all deny it when they get caught
red handed? I cannot believe that despite being caught red handed Rifkind still
had the cheek to deny it, threaten 'legal action' and worm his pathetic way out
it! And they wonder why we don't trust them!
I was particularly stunned at Jack Straw’s involvement.
Although I’ve never voted Labour in my life, I’ve always rated him as an
honourable man (with the exception of his involvement in the Iraq war of course).
So it just proves beyond any doubt that once you become a politician your party
colour means nothing, it’s all greed, greed, greed and sod the people who
stupidly vote for you.
Double Standards
This story also stinks of double standards in a couple of
areas! Firstly these MPs have been lecturing us on tax avoidance for some time
now but this has proved that the political elite threatening us are morally
bankrupt crooks who are robbing us blind with the taxes we pay. Maybe it is they
who should be imprisoned and ostracised from society.
Double standard number two is that on the one hand we have
the holier-than-thou MPs willing to break the rules of their employment in
order to make money, and on the other hand we have an underhanded TV company
filming them in secret pretending to be a powerful company!
These senior MPs should know the rules, and because they do
they show very clearly that those rules don't mean a stuff to them! As for the TV
company, they are part of the media that blasted all the phone hacking that is
still making the headlines today! Well, I don't see the difference between phone
hacking and sneaky underhanded filming - both sides are as vile as each other.
Don’t Vote Them Back In
It’s scandals like what Straw and Rifkind have been doing that
turn people off voting, its why the young don't bother with politics any more. But
the politicians still don’t get it. To be honest I'm not even surprised to read
about this stuff anymore. We mugs keep voting them in and all they do is
fiddle. If it's not expenses it's access, "we're all in this together".
Oh, really? It should really be "they're all in this together".
It’s not just Straw and Rifkind, I suspect they’re
all at it. It’s exactly why they are so eager to get your cross at election time!
Not because they want to do their bit for you and Britain but because it's a
lucrative earner on the side. They are made for life once they are in the club.
Oh yes our MPs claim to serve their constituents but they’re
even better at finding the self-service counter first. You only have to look at
how few MPs are present for the majority of debates and you can see where the
interests of many lie. As the excellent House of Commons programme has shown
MPs often rush back to the chamber just to vote like sheep being herded by the
government whips. This is why we need to clear out Westminster at May’s General
Election and start all over again. The current lot are not worth our votes.
More
Reform Needed
What a joke that this is what our country has come too. No
wonder no one has faith in the politicians today. They take personal responsibility
for absolutely zilch. They’re always so quick to declare their innocence, Jack
straw has already said he behaved "entirely properly' and within
parliamentary rules." Shouldn't he at least have the decency to wait for
the enquiry to begin before revealing the outcome? Power Corrupts – Just look
at Tony Bliar,
Serious reform is now needed, they did it with
MPs expenses, they need to do it with the whole package now. I don't just want
to hear the usual words of anger; I want to see legislation to end the whole
nose in the trough thing. I want to see
Legislation that prohibits MPs from having second jobs or consulting/advisory
roles paid for or otherwise. I want to see a ban on contact between former
ministers and the departments they used to work for - no more of this, I know
every Ambassador rubbish, they should not able to legally contact them working
for a third party so as to lobby them.
With regard to Rifkind’s comments about his MP’s salary, well there are
many good people willing to be MPs. So if Malc and his generation are not happy
with the salary and would not be willing to work under such obligations then
LEAVE, you will easily be replaced. All parties, need to sort it out now if
they are to have any credibility left.
To be honest, nothing surprises me about any of
our MPs of any party these days. The thing that really does get to me though is
that many will almost certainly finish up as Lords, earning another vast,
easily earned income not forgetting too that amongst this current lot they’ll
be plenty of little piggy’s with their snouts in the trough, ready to jump on
the post parliament gravy train when they don’t get re-elected.
As for Straw and Rifkind, well they'll get away
with it - you can bet your life that it was all a misunderstanding. One rule
for the rich and another for us plebs. One way or another they will wriggle out
of it.
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