Good Morning

This, folks, is my first blog and I am somewhat new to it, so please bear with me.  It is approximately 2.50 a.m. on the morning of Tuesday, May 12, 2009, and I felt that, at long last, I had been bitten by the blog bug (how hard is that to say?), and wanted to begin ranting and raving about many things: things that make me happy, things that make me sad, things that make me throw junk mail at the telly, all sorts of things.  The rule is there are no rules, as someone who I can't remember once said.  

Let's begin by telling you a little about me.  My name is Stephen Butler, and I am currently 42 years old, although I don't intend to remain that age much beyond my 43rd birthday (which is in September).  I am married, sorry girls, to my wife Jane, and have been since 1991.  We have no children, and we once had two cats who have both now sadly passed away.  I have two brothers whom I shall not currently name lest they should be forced to hang their heads in shame amongst their local communities.  My mother still lives and breathes, and I live near the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.  If you haven't been, I recommend a visit as soon as is convenient for you, as it is, in my humble opinion, just about the most beautiful spot in England.

Right, that's the introduction over with, I would like to begin ranting, if you don't mind.  The subject of my first rant is our beloved Members of Parliament and their "expenses claims."  This might not surprise you, as of course there has been much made in the media (how hard is that to say?) of how they "acted within the rules."  Did they frig.

Check this out.  One MP whom shall remain nameless (because I can't remember who it was) actually charged the British Taxpayer £100 to have 25 lightbulbs changed in his house.  These, remember, are people who force us to pay tax out of our hard-earned money, telling us that it is going to pay for our schools, hospitals, roads, anti-terrorist bombing campaigns, whilst neglecting to mention that it is also going to pay for these greedy embezzlers' paint, tampons (true, eh, Phil Woolas?), food, cars, dogs, cats, cleaning -  you name it, they charged us for it.  

Imagine the audacity that it must take, even in the theatre of politics, to actively look for ways to get things for free from those who put them there, while at the same time preaching and pontificating that people should respect law and order, and have, as Gordon Brown so often tells us, a "moral compass."  Hypocrite.  I truly believe that, at the very least, it is time for a General Election to get these thieves out of parliament.  At worst it is time for revolution.  I think it was the Daily Express who put it best the other day when they said that if the Queen were to dissolve Parliament right now it would be the best and greatest act of her entire 57-year long reign.  

Unfortunately, Government ministers in particular, continue right up to this moment to try to bluster their way through it and hope that the storm will soon die down, as so many other scandals have in the past.  But this one should stay right in the face of Gordon Brown until this unelected clown is kicked out of Downing Street so fast he won't even have time to say "fiscal stimulus."

Of course, this particular controversy affects politicians across all parties, but it is Gordon Brown who rightly took the flak for it and finally apologised on behalf of every political persuasion.  But this vote-licking apology has basically only come after they all got found out.  Now they're all running around saying that they acted within the rules, but of course it has been pointed out that these rules were created by parliament and are self-regulating.  And there is no moral high ground in changing first homes to second homes so that they can get the tax payer to pay for everything and then change it back again.  And as for those MPs charging us for homes that they own within, let's say, the M25 corridor is unspeakable...

Keith Vaz owns a flat in Westminster, and a "second home" in Stanmore.  He also owns a home in Leicestershire, but the fact that he charges us for the Westminster pad which he justifies by saying that he doesn't feel he should have to travel from Stanmore to work is outrageous.  Why not?  What about the millions who are expected to pay for their own "transport" to and from work, and be there on time in spite of the pitiful nature of the aforementioned transport?  It's no wonder that MPs don't care a toss about the appalling standard of our rails and roads because they've got loopholes to make sure they don't have to use it.   Self-serving, hypocritical, insensitive, money-grabbing and out of touch, that goes for every single Member of Parliament, whether they make use of these "rules" or not, because if they didn't do it, they knew it went on, and didn't speak out about it sooner.  They got found out, and this makes the whole thing appear even more sordid than it already is.  

In the 22 years since I was first eligible to vote, I don't remember anything quite this sleazy from our seat of democracy.  Sure, bad things have happened - didn't Jeffrey Archer get banged up for some financial crime or other, yet what makes that worse than what's going on now?  

It's still worse that, now that they have been found out, they are not falling over each other to apologise or pay the money back, they are falling over each other because they are afraid that they will lose our vote.  Some think they will do that by repeating the "acting within the rules" mantra, others by saying "yeah, it was wrong," but only Gordon Brown, even though he will have been forced to do it, has actually said sorry, so I have to give him credit for that.  But as I said earlier the apology now simply rings hollow.  

But Gordon Brown must go.  New Labour must go.  Exactly what can replace them that has any higher moral standard, I don't know.  Answers on a postcard, please.