Political funding scandal

Simon Jenkins in his column in today's Sunday Times, linked here states: Since taxpayers are not privy to this conspiracy against the exchequer the only redress may yet be rioting in the streets. Strangely in his listing of the obscene amounts of taxpayers money available to our thoroughly rotten political class he omits mention of the biggest scam - the European Parliament. Nevertheless the amounts he reports are well worth repeating here. Quote

To this the answer is that almost half their gross revenue already comes from the state. At Westminster opposition parties receive £5.5m a year for parliamentary offices, including aides, researchers and spin doctors. Since 2000 a further £2m has been added for “policy development”, whatever that means. MPs get gyms, discounts, freebies and trips galore. They are civil servants and pay no Vat. Their travel is free and their second homes (and in the case of some ministers, third ones) are subsidised. They recently voted themselves pension plans of stupefying generosity.

The parties also get an estimated £80m of free letter post, conference security and television propaganda. Even Sinn Fein gets £584,000 a year in cash for “parliamentary allowances”, despite refusing to turn up or even take the oath of allegiance. The money is described as “an act of goodwill”.

Unquote

Read the whole column and seethe!