WIDESPREAD DISGUST WITH BRITISH POLITICIANS

SCANDAL: BRITISH MPS HAVE BEEN ORDERED
TO REPAY MORE THAN £1 MILLION IN ALLOWANCES

LONDON (Telegraph) - British politicians have been ordered to repay more than £1 million in expenses after an investigation into a scandal that tarnished the image of UK MPs at home and abroad. Thomas Legg, who carried out the review, found that more than half of all members of parliament had made inappropriate or excessive claims, including Gordon Brown, the prime minister. He said on Thursday that a "culture of deference" and a "prevailing lack of transparency" were to blame for the scandal, which saw MPs claiming expenses on second homes, gardening and cleaning. Legg said that between 2004 and 2009 senior figures in parliament had been more focused on furthering the "immediate interests of MPs" than "propriety in public expenditure". This scandal about repayments demanded for illegitimate claims has happened because MPs failed to observe the propriety in handling public money that they, as legislators, demand from every other part of the public service. It was not a failure of a system or a process; it was a failure by individual MPs to behave honestly.

Last year's exposure of politicians' expense claims showed how legislators manipulated housing rules for profit and attempted to bill the public for items including porn movies, horse manure and an ornamental duck house. However, this does not apply to all MPs. Sir Thomas has found that roughly half the House had “no issues” to answer, although voters will note their collective failure to speak out against abuses. But the other half took advantage of a “flawed” system, which they themselves created. The scandal, which touched every political party, provoked outrage in Britain and undermined support for the country's three main parties. Many MPs whose reputations have been damaged are expected not to stand again, while those that do risk being punished by voters.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

You have seen the picture of Vyasadeva. He's writing books just near a cottage only … he was leading very simple life, in a cottage. Even, say, 2,000 years ago or little more, there was Canakya Pandita. He was a brahmana, but great politician. … And because he was a great politician, diplomat, under his name in our India, in New Delhi, the capital, there is a neighborhood which is called Canakya Puri. So he was a great politician. But still, he was living in a cottage. He was not accepting any salary because he was brahmana. … The sudra accepts salary. “I serve you, you pay me.”

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“Steel-framed Hearts”
Class on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.24
Los Angeles, USA - June 22, 1972