It has been reported that up to 52 Labour MP's have applied for a place in the House of Lords.This presumably means that either they feel that they have no chance of retaining their seats or they are implicated in an expenses related scandal.For one in seven of the PLP to do this is quite extraordinary.Day by Day parliament is cheapened by the behaviour of some of its occupants and public life is defiled and devalued.Various luminaries are calling for all sorts of reform including electoral.However the bottom line is that the whole political culture has to change.Expenses were a way to increase MP's salaries by the back door and created a shoddy environment in which MP's and peers used the Fees Office as a sort of private bank with an inexhaustable supply of money.We now need openness and transparency.
Another problem is MP's in safe seats treating it as a job for life.The introduction of STV (single transferable vote) may ease this but pray god the corrupt 'Party List' system is not introduced, this is far worse than the current system and open to patronage.
I dont think the British public will ever trust MP's again and maybe that isnt a bad thing.
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