IN a week in which Gordon Brown admits his party didn’t see the recession coming perhaps the reason could be that, for the last couple of years, MPs of all parties have been engaged in an unholy squabble about their perks, little caring that North Sea gas was being sold cheaply to France because they had failed to provide adequate storage facilities in this country, and being more interested in their second homes and expenses. While all the time illegal immigrants were enjoying unrestricted access to the country our MPS were voting themselves £2,200,000 of taxpayers’ money to bolster up their own pension fund while many workers were losing theirs, and in many cases their jobs as well!

Never before has a government been characterized by such greed, but surely their greed reached a new height when, after losing battles in the High Court and at an Information Tribunal in an attempt to keep their expenses secret, at the eleventh hour Harriet Harman announced she intended changing the law, despite the previous actions having cost the taxpayers over a £1,000,000, the Labour party intended to fight to exempt MPs from Freedom of Information laws. What have they got to hide? Watching the BBC’s Parliament show I saw a leading member of the cabinet try to justify the secrecy by saying how difficult it would be to administer, and this is the example she used “if I go into a stationers for a pack of printer paper and then decide to buy a Valentine’s card this would be two separate accounts and I would have to cross the card off the receipt before submitting it for audit.” You couldn’t make it up, these are the people running the country today. Perhaps the truth lies in the fact that all the receipts up to 2005 were hastily shredded, and no doubt many MPs must be wishing that the more recent ones could be shredded as well! It will be very interesting reading when at last the taxpayers can at last find out exactly what we are paying for. If our MPs are unable to live on their salaries perhaps they should resign, I am sure there would be plenty of competition for their jobs. With the latest scandals coming out of the Lords, how much more are the British taxpayers going to put up with?

JOHN SKULL

Summerhouse Road

Wroughton