In general, the response by the British public to the MPs’ expenses affair is a chronic over-reaction in contrast to their attitude to, say, the Iraq war.
- Iraq war
- One hundred thousand innocent civilians dead; 7.8 billion pounds spent; perfect recruiting sergeant for terrorists
- Current global financial crisis
- Unknown human cost; financial cost in trillions of pounds
- Usual incompetence (corruption?)†
- Millions and even billions of taxpayers pounds wasted
- MPs’ expenses
- No harm done to life or limb; total cost to the taxpayer perhaps a few million pounds
It’s like a Doctor focusing on the splinter in the patient’s finger and largely ignoring the bullet in the patient’s chest.
†eg governments awarding contracts to large corporates that have demonstrated their ineptitude many times before.
