Seriously, both of them are as bad as each other. Lord Foulkes for failing to understand the difference between expenses and salary, and the presenter for being rude.
Kudos to Carrie Gracie for answering the question though – she could have given a typical politician’s answer and fudged the response.
But you know, MPs (or anybody else for that matter) – when you make an expenses claim that could, potentially, come under public scrutiny at some point you have to think about how it could look. And if you’re not paid enough, then sort out the pay. But given that each constituency manages to have lots of applicants for the job I suspect that the job is seen as a rather attractive one. I would be quite happy to receive an MP’s income along with money to pay for an office and staff. Lucky them.
So here’s a gentle nudge to MPs to have a think about how you look to the public you serve, and the public who pay your salary. And yes, I do appreciate that many MPs are decent and hardworking – but they need to be open so we can see this.
