Expenses will figure in election campaign
Of all the revelations to make political waves since the General Election in 2005, the discovery of how some MPs' were abusing the Parliamentary expenses system has undoubtedly been the most damaging.
The fact some politicians were claiming for 'expenses' such as moat cleaning and duck houses has now passed into folklore and will be remembered for many years to come, whether MPs like it or not.
Billing Road-based financial adviser, Robert Butler, said he believed new systems being put in place would prevent any such abuse in the future, but warned politicians fighting the General Election it would sway many voters come May 6.
He said: "I'm sure a lot of politicians will not want to talk about the whole issue during the election, but I think a lot of people feel they abused the system.
"It's pretty clear the system was wrong, there was far too much flexibility, far too much room for abuse and some of them couldn't be trusted."
Among those standing in the election, candidates fighting to defend seats they won in the 2005 vote will find themselves in the unusual position of having to defend the expenses they claimed, whether they abused the system or not, while those fighting to take control will be in the enviable position of being able to claim blame without having a track record to defend.
The Conservative candidate for Northampton South, Brian Binley, is among those fighting to keep seats.
He had a number of people attack him about his own expenses claims, but said he was delighted he was 'to all intents and purposes exonerated' over his claims and said he had made no financial gains.
He added: "I said for years that the whole expenses issue was a time bomb waiting to go off. As a businessman I'd never run a system that blurred the lines between allowances, expenses and salaries, but that's exactly what happened.
"The system was unfit for purpose and it's right and proper that it's been sorted out, I always called for that to happen.
"But I have found MPs in the main to be in politics for the right reasons and at the end of the day, many people take pay cuts to become MPs and make sacrifices. That's the reason we've got too few business people in Parliament."
Labour's candidate for Northampton North, Sally Keeble, is also fighting to keep her seat after her expenses were also published.
She said: "Expenses were a very big issue for the last Parliament, but there has been a lot of reform since and I'm sure there will be more. So I think people should vote on parties and party programmes.
"In this election, the crucial thing is how it's going to affect people's lives for a long time to come because if the Tories get in, it will mean absolutely devastating cuts to services.
"People can make their choice of whatever party they want, but that's what will happen. Expenses has obviously been a big issue, but we've got to move forward and look at what the election is really about, which is what happens to the public and public services."
Among the candidates fighting for seats in the General Election in Northampton North and South, only one is a former MP, who is not defending a seat he won in 2005.
Tony Clarke lost the Northampton South seat as a Labour candidate in 2005, but is now fighting to get it back as an independent.
He said he always knew the expenses issue would rear its head, adding: "I saw this coming in Parliament in 2001, when Panorama featured me as a good example of an MP who declared all my expenses, but I knew others would be caught out, because the system was so corrupt.
"Those who fell foul only have themselves to blame, they had enough warning, but still couldn't resist the temptation.
"It's for individual MPs to defend what they did or did not do, but my clear view is this has been going on for too long and people should have headed the warnings that came from me and others a long time ago.
"But the expenses scandal was a symptom of a much bigger problem, our whole Parliament needs modernising now and a few MPs paying money back is not enough to fix what's been broken."
Expenses will figure in election campaign
By Wayne Bontoft
Chief Reporter
wayne.bontoft@northantsnews.co.uk
n Expenses are set to be a key issue for voters in the run up to win seats back in the House of Commons
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