LONDON – These are perilous times to be a politician in Britain. Over the past week or so, Britons have been seething in anger over a scandal involving members of Parliament faking claims they have made on the public purse. It had been so bad that newspapers here report some legislators have gone into hiding out of shame if not fear of bodily harm.
Apparently, members of Parliament enjoy pretty generous benefits on top of their very generous salaries. But a newspaper expose revealed that a good number of parliamentarians abused the system by making fake claims. For instance, there was one MP who claimed a mortgage subsidy on a house he already fully owns. There is another who claimed benefits for a second house he does not have. A rich MP had the moat around his house cleaned and the bill paid for by the taxpayers. And there were several who charged embarrassing personal items for reimbursement.
Already suffering one of the world’s highest tax rates and a crippling recession, the ordinary British taxpayers were naturally revolted by the revelations. The Speaker of Parliament is under fire for allowing the abuses to go on for years and for trying to block requests to have the expenses of MPs released. Worse, he called for the police to probe the leaking of the expenses to The Daily Telegraph. He is under pressure to resign, the first in a long long time if it happens. The scandal affected members of both major political parties.
According to a survey published last Sunday by The Independent, some 40 percent of voters are so disgusted they do not plan to vote at all in a forthcoming election of deputies for the European parliament. Of those who plan to vote, the opposition Conservatives now enjoy a wide margin over the ruling Labor, 40 to 21 percent. Minor parties including the Greens are expected to enjoy gains from the fallout.
In the meantime, the Metropolitan Police has announced a criminal investigation into the MPs expense claims. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has forced the resignation of some key members of his Cabinet, notably the Justice Secretary. Others, including his closest aides will be subject to the police investigation.
Many of those caught in the web of scandal continue to claim that what they did were legal… the law does provide them those benefits. But even for those who did not fake their claims, there is a public outrage on the morality of the benefits in the light of the sufferings arising from the current economic crisis.
I can only marvel at how the scandal came to be through the investigative efforts of one of the major dailies. The well researched expose was full of the gory details that there could be no other possible reaction from the taxpayers but bloody outrage. I can imagine that if a similar investigation was done back home in Manila by investigative journalists or the Ombudsman who is constitutionally mandated to do such a thing, we will probably find worse things in the accounts of our legislators.
But this is how a mature democracy functions. Check and balance works not just among government institutions but between government and media. I guess we still have a long maturation process ahead of us but we should all take interest in how this scandal turns out. Our experiment in democracy should be able to learn more than a few lessons from the Brits.
Gas prices
Newspaper reports here say that gasoline prices have risen to over GBP1 a liter or about P72-75 depending on the exchange rate. Unlike in the United States, gasoline prices have been high in Britain as in other countries in Western Europe. Governments here have use pricing as a means of delivering the conservation message to the people and it is working.
Small cars are very popular in these Western European countries. Not only are these cars more fuel efficient, they are also more practical in the smaller and congested streets of European cities. In London, a congestion charge is also levied on cars that enter the central business district to discourage car use. Not surprisingly, the Underground or the subway system is widely used by most people.
Still, my experience here in London over the past few days is pretty bad in terms of traffic congestion. It takes a while to get from one point to another specially during the business rush hours.
The natives I have talked to tell me how bad the recession has hit them. But you will not notice that in the shopping areas. There still appears to be a lot of tourists seeing the many interesting sites and they seem to be also buying quite a bit. The only hints that there is a recession are some stiff markdowns in some stores.
The tourists appear to have gamely adjusted to the fickle London weather. Last Sunday, it was alternatively sunny with blue skies and cloudy with rain all in the same day. The restaurant supervisor at Holiday Inn swears there was also a little snow where he lives.
I should have planned on staying longer. There are just too many things to do in this city and my usual three to five days just won’t do.
Pinoys helpful
One big advantage of being a Filipino traveler these days is the OFW. They are everywhere. Over the last week, I found the OFWs working in the hotels to be very helpful. The concierge staff the Crowne Plaza in Cambridge, Abel, Orland and Sonny are ready to take the extra mile to ease the weary Pinoy travel.
At the Holiday Inn in London Mayfair, the Pinoys manning the concierge staff were also very accommodating. Michael Manalang, Jun Abuzo, Ruben Alvarado, Felix Bartolome, Marcos Castro and Crispulo Hayag are only too happy to help out a kababayan.
Many of them are married to nurses. Some of them are complaining that with the weakening of the British Pound, the peso equivalent of what they sent home has gone down. It was over P90 to the British Pound early last year but only about P72-75 now.
Many are anxious about the goings on back home… about the elections and the state of the economy. They are focused on earning enough to improve the lives of their families back home even as they hope conditions in our country would improve enough so that they don’t have to look for good paying jobs abroad.
Recession
From Lal Chatlani.
Q: With the current market turmoil, what’s the easiest way to make a small fortune?
A: Start off with a large one.
Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com