Today’s Independent carries a report that Boris Johnson used £1,955.25 of taxpayers’ money to pay for his hotel room at the last year’s Conservative Party conference.
I’m sure we’re meant to be horrified over this ‘revelation’ but I can’t really get very excited about yet another ‘Boris in trouble’ story because, in the scheme of past GLA expense rows, £2k is a pathetically small sum almost unworthy of notice in the wake of multi-thousand pound taxi bills for Assembly Members (which even managed to catch poor Konnie Huq in the crossfire) and £30k trips to Cuba.
According to the Independent, Boris’s office says he attended in his capacity as Mayor and that the spending wasn’t a case of using public funds for political purposes. Personally, if Boris says he stayed in the hotel solely in his capacity as Mayor and dreamt only Mayoral dreams in his taxpayer-funded bed I’m prepared to take his word for it.
That said, he did find time to engage in political knockabout which probably isn’t the best way to spend any part of a trip being paid for by the public when you’re talking up your commitment to providing value for the GLA precept.
I can get slightly excited by the obvious difference there would have been in the coverage if this had been a Labour Mayor pulling the same trick, but as you say, it’s a trivial amount, particularly compared to, say, this: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-chiefs-firm-cost-councils-163470m-1419272.html
Anyway, I’m more interested in the ‘Tory Assembly Member’ who outdid Boris in the spending stakes?
The GLA documents reads:
,HYATT REGENCY BIRMINGHAM LTD,Hospitality,”2,192.50″
I think I know who it was. Anyone else want to do the detective work?
I agree this is a small amount compared to others – but that’s how all the unjust justify their actions (because it’s not too bad because everyone else is worse).
I have never believed that expenses are neccessary for ANY public office. It merely encourages waste and excess – which would not be the case if the money was the person in office.
In this respct Ken, Boris or any assembly member are out of touch with the common man.
In the Ken story (30k trips to Cuba) it’s claimed about 11k was spent on flights – and yet Ken says that he only spent about 10 days a year on foreign trips.
The problem then is that our public figures are getting ripped off constantly – maybe because they have no understanding of the value of money (because most politico’s come from privileged backgrounds and have never had to earn a proper living).
If I were mayor then I would be able to pay for all my trips out of my salary. The same if I were a PM, MP or any other elected person.
There is no need for it – and unfortunately the results are clear to see. People are getting into politics for the wrong reasons which is why we always end up with some bungling fool.
If you cannot do one of the best and most respected jobs in the country for no other reason than ‘the good of your country’ – then you shouldn’t be allowed to take office.
I realise Plato suggested that ‘rulers’ should be paid large salaries (so they can get on with ruling and not have to worry about their finances) – but this doesn’t work in the modern age and if your goal is the pursuit of happiness then you do not need to be paid as your payment would be the joy the work brings.
It’s also a presumption that “you get what you pay for” – which has been completely dis-proven by the recent events in the Economy where the highest paid people didn’t see the biggest crisis ever coming!
The recent appointment of a ‘wage free’ Mervyn Davies should be seen as the way forward.
Until there is complete transparency then there will be no trust – without trust it’s no democracy it’s merely a choice between bad and worse.