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'MPs should face jail for expenses fraud'
Paul Waugh18 May 2009
MPs should face jail for expenses fraud just like the general public, Labour's newest Parliamentary candidate warned today.
Tax investigator Teresa Pearce, the winner of the controversial selection battle for Erith and Thamesmead, told the Standard that politicians of all parties had to reconnect with their constituencies or face mass revolt at the ballot box.
Ms Pearce, a 54-year-old mother of two, won the race to be the candidate for one of Labour's safest seats in London after beating 22-year-old Georgia Gould, daughter of Tony Blair's pollster Lord Gould.
After the first Parliamentary selection of any party since the MPs expenses scandal broke, Ms Pearce put her victory down to the fact that she was in touch with local people and refused to indulge in negative campaigning.
As a former Inland Revenue staffer and tax consultant, her selection could also signal a new breed of “clean” politicians with a mandate from the voters to make a break with revelations of recent weeks.
Ms Pearce has spent more than 20 years, the past nine of them at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, advising firms on ensuring they comply with tax law - and in particular the need to prove that expenses are “necessary” for an employee's duties.
She points out that under the Government's own Welfare Reform Bill, any benefit claimant who withholds information or deliberately fails to report a change in their circumstances will face prison.
“You can't just offer to hand the money back, you have to hand it back. Now anybody who is legislating that kind of law for the general public can't have standards that fall below that for themselves,” she said.
“Saying “I didn't realise what I did was wrong” or “I made a mistake”, pleading negligence or incompetence, is not allowed as an excuse for people claiming jobseeker's allowance or family tax credit - why should it be any different for MPs claiming expenses?”
Ms Pearce also has no truck with the claim that MPs need a higher salary to avoid claiming expenses. “Representing people in Parliament is a service and a privilege, it shouldn't be looked at as a “career”.
"When firefighters asked for a wage increase they were told that there were more people wanted to join the fire brigade than there were vacancies so there was no need to increase pay.
"I think that kind of logic would better apply to MPs when Parliamentary vacancies attract the kind of fierce competition that we often see."
In Erith and Thamesmead, the competition to replace retiring MP John Austin, tipped from “fierce” to acrimonious in recent months.
Ms Gould came under fire for her links to senior party figures such as her father and Tessa Jowell. The race was even suspended after a ballot box for postal votes was found to have been tampered with.
A party probe is still ongoing to find out if any members of staff at Labour's HQ were responsible.
Ms Pearce won by a “decisive margin”, according to the London Labour Party, with former MP Melanie Johnson second and Ms Gould in third.
It's a result that activists hope will heal the wounds of recent weeks.”Georgia was very hard working and able.
She endorsed me immediately after the result and agreed that we should meet to discuss what we have both learned from the campaign,” Ms Pearce said..” I think that shows great maturity and will stand her in good stead for next time.”
Reader views (4)
They wont go to jail because the police and the cps have been bought and they will be treated differently and let off with a slapped wrist..
- Jamie, leicester, 01/06/2009 16:35
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If you believe it then please sign the petition
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/MPExpenseFraud/
- Philip, Manchester, 22/05/2009 14:50
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I agree totally, that anyone found to commit fraud, particularly those trusted and paid by taxpayers, should be jailed. There should also be an enquiry as to those Officials who approved all of this alleged fraud.
One thing does now stand out, the fact that only one MP Nick Cleg, had the courage of his convictions to do his job by calling for the speaker to resign.
There is also the fact that the Tories very recently tabled a bill which would have abolished the ‘Minimum Wage’ and thus enrage those effected, which are the majority of would be voters. This signals to many others and myself that they maybe trying to scupper their chances of re-election. Why should they want to gain office when they can all sit on their backsides twiddling their thumbs, plus all those expenses of course?
- Carl Barron, Christchurch, Dorset, 18/05/2009 10:27
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Go fierce Pearce.
- Bloke, London, 18/05/2009 09:17
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