The british political crisis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Britain's venerable political system is under threat from a spate of scandals involving unauthorized expenses by the British politicians unraveled by the newspaper 'Daily Telegraph.' There had been only one scandal since 1974, which made Britons proud of being British. But the politicians have now started exploiting the secrecy code that has prompted them to start claiming reimbursements under an 'additional costs allowance' for expenses not meant for parliamentary duties. The newspaper obtained a CD-ROM containing expenses of six Parliament members on May 8, 2005 via a mediator and started publishing the contents. Brown refunded the taxpayers £330 on bills accounted twice, while Straw refunded £1,500 he was not entitled. New stories started emerging as the month went on, with Labor minister Elliot Morley having claimed £16,000 for a mortgage he had already remitted as did David Chaytor. The revelations should prepare politicians to check their acts in future.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)33-36
Number of pages4
JournalCommentary
Volume128
Issue number2
StatePublished - Sep 2009

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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