Flaws in the Sleaze Remedy ; Chris Moncrieff the Doyen of Lobby Writers

Summary

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THE WAY in which the MPs' expenses scandal has been handled is reminiscent of the old headmasters' practice of punishing the entire school for the sins of the few. While most of us now regard the whole political class with contempt, that does not mean to say they are all guilty of fiddling their expenses or of spending taxpayers' money like water. Even MPs - some of whom believe Sir Thomas Legg may have botched his findings in some cases - surely have a right of appeal, just as anybody else would in similar circumstances.

So that is why I am glad one or two brave souls have ventured to put their heads above the parapet and are refusing to pay. These include Labour's Alan Simpson, who has said he is prepared to take the matter to court, and former Welfare Minister Frank Field.

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Extract

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Flaws in the Sleaze Remedy ; Chris Moncrieff the Doyen of Lobby Writers

Field summed it up like this: "It is like driving at 25mph through a 30mph zone and being fined five years later because it has been cut retrospectively to 20mph. Legg is wrong." Good for Mr ...

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