Expenses: When will MPs learn?

IT is more than nine months since the MPs' expenses scandal first rocked Westminster and left the reputation of a great many politicians, and also Parliament itself, in tatters.

But, despite the protestations of innocence from our MPs and the many promises of reform, it seems examples of expenses misuse just keep on coming.

The latest involves one of the country's most prominent politicians: the Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, who has been ordered to repay 1,666 of taxpayers' money which he wrongly claimed for interest payments on an increased mortgage at his second home in Cheshire.

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Predictably, Mr Osborne has welcomed findings of an investigation which described his indiscretion as "minor and unintended".

Evidently, he was acting on the advice of the Fees Office and did not receive "a significant financial benefit" – both of which have become well-used defences.

This rather misses the point. Although this latest breach may have been a technical one, it does not make it any more excusable.

Mr Osborne, a millionaire who expects to be tasked with running the nation's finances after the next General Election, should be more contrite in the face his wrongdoing at a time when he is asking the country to make so many sacrifices to protect the public purse.

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Yet his protestations yesterday showed – once again – that many politicians still fail to understand the public's anger and incredulity over the misuse of their money.

It reinforces the impression that MPs of all parties, and all backgrounds, have been seeking to use public money for their own advantage at every turn.

Voters have a right to expect public servants to be just that – people who devote all of their time and their talents to the common good.

Until politicians can show they can live up to this ideal, then our MPs will be faced with the voter apathy, low turnouts and the cynicism that their conduct merits.

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