Another day, another expenses scandal, another government minister blatantly shafting the taxpayers up the arse. This time it is Tony McNulty; the kind of minister so sicophantic that he can be be wheeled out regularly onto those hostile media sets to swera black is white and up is down for the government. That might describe most ministers who have climbed the greasy pole to a ministerial position, but I think McNulty actually enjoys being an egregious prick. He is, picking up a quote from the Coen Bros film Miller’s Crossing, “Mr Inside-Outsky just like some God-damned Bolshevik picking up his orders from Yegg Central”. McNulty is typical of New Labour ministers; arrogant, two-faced, unapologetic and shameless.

What really pisses me off about this entire expenses thing, after all there are bigger problems to talk about right, and McNulty’s indiscretion is a mere £60k, which compared to the bankers and hedge funds is small beer right? Perhaps so, but here is what really sticks in my craw about this latest one:

  1. The McNumptyisation of politics: Public cyncism is corrosive. Most MPs do try to do a good job and are not shovelling taxpayer’s money into their bank account.
  2. McNulty basically claimed for an allowance for a second property that was around 10 miles from Parliament and let his parents live in it, even though the house he was living in with his wife was only 3 miles from Parliament. What does he say in his defence? “I have not broken any rules”. Absolutely shameless. It’s like someone getting away with a crime on a legal technicality, whilst smirking that they got away with it. Where is any kind of independent common sense check on these claims? Do we not even ask for a postcode, or some reason why he would need to claim for a second house when on paper is appears unnecessary?
  3. He said he had stopped claiming the allowance now after having £60k out of the taxpayers and then had the cheek to turn round and say that he could understand how people may see his allowance claim as ‘odd’, and that MP expense claims of that nature should be looked at. This kind of blaise attitude to being caught effectively stealing, and making it sound like WE should be grateful he has stopped his thieving ways, it is just completely disgraceful. And odd? What the hell is he talking about, it does not look odd, it looks fucking criminal? It looks like you are displaying all the ungrateful entitlement of a spoilt medieval monarch, you tosser.

In days of yore this wanker would have been metaphorically strung up my his bollocks by his Cabinet peers, admonished in private by the party leader ashamed to be associated with such a money grabbing chancer and would have the next day been tendering their resignation with full apologies to the country and an offer to pay the money back. What do we get? “It’s alright, I am not claiming it anymore anyway. I can appreciate it might look ‘odd’, but obviously my blatant abuse of the system merely flags up the need to review and revise the rules that have allowed me to be such a greedy bastard.”

Not good enough. Not by a long shot.