This just gets more and more outrageous, doesn't it? Via the Evening Standard's Paul Waugh comes this transcript of Labour MP Jane Griffths describing to Radio 4 programme The Report how party whips taught her to abuse the expenses system.
"I don't drive a car, I never have, so didn't claim any mileage allowance for travel in the constituency. My whip said to me 'You don't claim mileage, why not?'
"I said 'well, because I don't drive a car'. He said 'You must get a taxi sometimes?' I said 'I do sometimes but not that often'. '
"No,' he said, 'There's an allowance of £250 per month for taxis and you don't have to give receipts, you just fill in a form that says £250 for taxis. And he said 'I want you to claim that'.
"So I did because it would get the whips off my back telling me to claim for things. So I had that money that morally I shouldn't have".
Waugh has done the maths: "That's a cool £3,000 a year effectively stolen from the taxpayer. Over a four-year term, that's £12,000. Will Ms Griffiths now tell us who the whip was? Or does she fear that Plod will be at her door too?" From the picture that has emerged over the last few weeks, this was clearly part of a pattern of behaviour where those that didn't fiddle were encouraged to do so by their more practiced colleagues who would make them feel guilty for letting the side down and making others look bad. The whole culture, not just a few individuals, has been corrupt and corrupting, starting at the head with the Speaker and the party whips. You can listen to the Radio 4 show, which contains an account of former Fees Office staff, MPs and others on how the scandal was allowed to develop, here.
