MPs' Expenses Published Online

It appears that Parliament has at last published, on its own web site, the 'details' of the expenses claimed by each and every MP that we voted to represent us in the House of Commons. However, some details have been withheld, such as those MPs who 'flipped' homes - alternating between their first & second homes - for the purposes of claiming mortgage benefits and other payments. Although the dust appears to be settling in terms of the media furore over this story, I still call for a General Election. It is the only way that this can be solved.

But Gordon Brown has survived this and clings on to his determination that we wait until the very last minute - i.e. Spring 2010 - before he calls this election. It's extraordinary how he can sit at 10 Downing Street and effectively say to the country that he will run the country whether we like it or not. It's also extraordinary that Labour, having polled its lowest in any major election since the First World War, can still remain in power today. It just goes to show that their motives are for their own gain rather than for the good of the country, in spite of their rhetoric.

It also goes to show that there is one man in all of this who is the most dangerous in the whole of the political spectrum - Peter Mandelson. That man is greasier than a chip shop on a Friday night. In one of the most insane moves seen in British politics ever (certainly in my lifetime), Gordon Brown brings him back into Government, unelected, makes him a 'Lord' and he then proceeds to dictate to his own Prime Minister who should be in the Cabinet. So to add to my list of demands from an earlier blog, may I respectfully suggest that Peter Mandelson be kicked on his arse, very publicly, on the doorstep of No.10 and shown on his way. Out of respect, and because I'm not all bad, I would certainly not begrudge Brown giving him his bus fare home and perhaps an extra couple of quid to buy a sandwich at a petrol station.

And don't think I'm anti-Labour, because I'm not. I'm anti-them all. I forget exactly how many MPs there are - some say 635, some say 646, but frankly it doesn't matter - every last one of them should do the decent thing and stand down at the earliest opportunity and force an election. But of course, they won't do that, because they value their own jobs over the needs and issues affecting their constituents, which of course stands against every rhetorical statement that any MP, regardless of their party or political standpoint, that we should focus on the issues affecting hard-working families of this country. That's exactly what is happening, if only they would take off their blinkers and see for themselves. Hard-working families of this country are completely cheesed off that they cannot exercise 100% faith in their elected representatives (and Peter Mandelson) who are flipping homes for profit, making the taxpayer pay for home repairs, cleaning, meals and God knows what, while they fight to keep their jobs, houses, and families; and they are forced to watch while the NHS goes down the pan, the schools fail their children, bankers swan off with hundreds of thousands of pounds of their customers' money, half of Europe dashes in through this country's wide open back door and take any jobs going right from under their noses, as well as child care, health care and other Government benefits.

But, as citizens of this country, I firmly believe that we should shoulder our share of the blame for this mess. The cause can be summed up in one word: apathy. Where are the protests? There are none. Why? Because what's the point? Cast your mind back, if you will, to March, 2003 when Tony Blair sent our soldiers in to Iraq because George Bush told him to. At that time, hundreds of thousands of protesters marched on London to protest. It was an open secret that the toppling of Saddam Hussein was not the primary motive for this invasion. Some say it was for oil, some say Bush simply rode on a tidal wave of 9/11 and got many 'Western' governments on his side to help him settle some of his old man's scores. But whatever the reason, a fair proportion of the British public said No thanks, old chap, we'd rather you didn't put the lives of our troops at risk in some Middle-Eastern foreign land, we'd rather you focused on putting our own house in order. But Blair ignored these protests and went ahead anyway. This was a turning point, in which Blair realised he could actually do anything he wanted. Sure, people might protest for a while, but it'll soon go away, so let's just do it anyway.

And Brown now faces the same carte blanche. Not only that, but the voters (for that's what we are, primarily, to our MPs), can't even be bothered to protest any more. Environmental protestors, once regularly chaining themselves to trees to stop motorways being built through our beautiful countryside, were simply removed and thrown in jail for a night and the road got built anyway. When the price of petrol shot up to over £1 per litre, we saw lorry drivers take to our motorways and protest. Now, we find petrol once again well over the £1-a-litre threshold, and there is not a soul protesting.

Am I the only one who wants this country to be run by its people? Who cares what political 'party' is in power, just so long as they listen to the people and actively do as those who voted for them ask? And don't be fooled next time you hear your 'elected' representative (and Peter Mandelson) tell you that they are listening. They are not. The only thing they hear is the sound of smug laughter and the silence of millions like you and me as we sit back and let it happen.