As you might well expect people I have an opinion on the above named former member of Parliament for Bury North & on the whole issue of MP's expenses.
Its my belief that David Chayter is a fraudster-simple as that. Not content with earning a basic Member of Parliament's salary of £64,766, & expenses he then spends £22,000 on buying a property then claiming it necessary for his Parliamentary duties. Now this isn't as bad as a colleague of his who spent a few thousand quid on a duck house for his pet ducks but the morality of what David Chayter did is wrong.
However, in fairness to the man he did admit his guilt when caught out & subsequently resigned his seat (though in court he initially did not I believe). I do believe that he has been made the "whipping boy" of the public school ridden, upper class judicial system of the UK by being given a custodial prison sentence. 18 months is a light sentence but the mans future life is now in tatters. I don't believe that he should be locked up for his crime, he should pay it back-every penny & do community service with those many people less fortunate than himself.
When I was working full time in the NHS we allowed 39 pence per mile for mileage for the privilege of using our own car in the pursuit of work-ie going to doctors surgeries or to patients houses. We we also allowed £52 pa to cover 'wear & tear' of our vehicles. We had to fill in a accurate account of the journeys we made to the nearest mile each month.
If anyone were stupid enough to claim an extra mile or two & was discovered he/she would almost certainly risk losing their job, risk being struck off the nursing register as well as risking criminal prosecution.
Yet here we have 'respected' educated people falsely claiming thousands of pounds. A great number of them have gotten away with defrauding us-the very people who gave them the responsibility of representing us in Parliament. there appears to be one law for us-the working men/women, & another for the those who rule us.
Surely the salaries that MP's earn is far in excess of what living in today's society requires. OK so they need to live near the Palace of Westminster whilst Parliament is in session but why can't they either rent or buy a small flat/bedsit for the purpose? And why aren't the system of expenses checked to last penny? Everyone elses claims on the state are.
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