Tuesday, January 05, 2010

John Barrett interviewed in the Scotsman

The Lib Dem MP for Edinburgh West, who is retiring at this year's general election, has an interesting angle on the expenses scandal:
"When I was a councillor, I had staff, IT, a desk and an office to work in. When I became an MP I was told, 'Go out, find an office, rent it from the landlord, get hold of your IT, pay your bills and claim the money back.

"Until that's swept away, until MPs are given the tools to do the job, it will be a major distraction and we'll never restore public trust."
And trivia fan will enjoy knowing that:

At Carrick Knowe Primary School, he played for the school team against nearby Broomhouse Primary, whose players included Graeme Souness.

And later he had a trial for Partick Thistle, but was rejected.

1 comment:

James Dowden said...

But in a funny sort of way that sums up all that's so right about the present flawed system: your staff have an interest in your staying the MP. However much that leaves one open to accusations of pathetic low-level corruption, it's far better than a professional civil service inertia machine deferentially running rings around you whilst waiting for the other lot to get in. In a funny sort of way, pathetic low-level corruption is good for democracy.