"Mother of Parliaments" shamed by honorable members' greed (Feature)

By Anna Tomforde May 16, 2009, 2:08 GMT

London - The lure of money, money, money is threatening to besmirch the proud reputation of the 'Mother of Parliaments' as the financial greed of the 'honourable members' of the British parliament is being exposed.

The process of naming and shaming, launched by the serial publication of the expense claims of all members of parliament (MPs) in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, has triggered public hostility that is likely to lead to a further erosion of popular trust in democracy and its institutions, commentators believe.

The 'witch hunt' atmosphere, reminiscent of the public fury directed at bankers not so long ago, has been heightened by inquisition-style TV interviews, prompting one MP to plead with the media to 'stop their lust for blood.'

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, who has admitted making a 'big mistake' by allowing her husband to hire porno videos on her expense account, faced a direct challenge from the police officers' federation over the affair.

'Some of the claims made by members of parliament would be jaw- dropping in a Third World dictatorship, let alone in the country of hope and glory,' federation chairman Steve Morley told her to thundering applause.

But any amount of humble pie consumed by Smith, and many others, in the ongoing expenses saga, has so far failed to quell public anger.

'The whole political class is under attack, they are all on trial,' said Peter Riddell, assistant editor of the Times.

MP's were scared stiff of visiting their constituencies to face an electorate outraged by the excesses of the claims culture.

'This is unprecedented. The anger is directed against the whole parliamentary system, against a culture of corruption that has developed in the House of Commons,' said political commentator Anthony Howard.

For the Guardian newspaper, the Westminster parliament - once seen as a model of democracy around the world - has become the 'House of ill-repute' while the Times said parliament was experiencing its 'darkest day.'

To underscore the point, the paper published one of Claude Monet's famous 1904 views of the Houses of Parliament under a stormy sky with the caption: 'Money, money, Monet.'

Details of the claims made under the 'second home allowance' range from the profitable sale of property subsidized by the taxpayer to mundane claims for nappies, tampons, bath plugs and horse manure.

As public anger has grown, the MPs initial protestations that they acted 'within the rules' have given way to humble apologies and even to cheques being handed over to repay the money.

While most of the claims made were probably legal under the allowance system, the excessive exploitation of the rules has been judged as 'immoral' by the British public.

'This is theft. If we did this, we would end up in prison,' said one pensioner. Others said they were disgusted by the MPs' conduct when ordinary people were struggling to make ends meet in hard economic times.

The fear of more revelations, coupled with the threat of possible fraud investigations by police and future private prosecutions, has ensured that this scandal will have lasting consequences, commentators believe.

'Nothing short of a complete modernization of antiquated structures will do,' said one. 'We need a new generation of MPs to sweep the stable clean.'

As the scandal rolls on, many MPs fear that they could be dropped by their local parties ahead of the next general election, which has to held before May 2010.

But already now, opinion polls show that popular trust in politicians, institutions and even in the Westminster-style democracy, is eroding fast.

Polls taken in Britain ahead of local and European parliament elections in early June show that voters will either stay at home, or turn away from established parties to switch their support to populist fringe parties.

Exploiting the mood, the openly racist British National Party (BNP), has changed its main anti-immigration slogan to one denouncing the 'failed system parties.'

Its posters urge voters to 'Punish the Pigs,' depicting pigs wearing rosettes in the respective red and blue colours of Labour and the Conservatives.