ARE MPs STILL CHEATING THEIR EXPENSES

It is worthwhile to note that having had a trawl through MPs' Register of Members Interests I see nothing in relation to their expenses.

If an MP acts as a director or consultant to one group or other it would seem reasonable to expect that they would incur expenses from travelling, office work, etc., and for those expenses to be repaid.

It begs me to suggest that a number of things are happening. MPs are not registering their interests properly in that they are being paid their expenses. MPs are claiming for things like travel twice, once by their outside interest and again from the taxpayer.

One would assume that MPs who do have outside interests also have to do some work for their money. I am pretty certain that the work is not very onerous on the most part, but has to be done somewhere; being most likely in their offices in Parliament or at their constituency. So there is a very good chance that taxpayers are paying for this as well and that MPs are billing their outside employers.

Overall I can imagine that any MP that has outside interests can make a few thousand pounds tax free at taxpayers' expense.

Now all this is conjecture. The opportunity is there for MPs to abuse the system, one just has to ask oneself "would they?".

Of course they would. It is a case of the dog that didn't bark; or should I say the Register that doesn't show anything.