It is astonishing that without the freedom of the press the electorate in May 2009 was as ignorant of MPs expenses as the serfs of old. Public disgust has been unprecedented.

The 50 plus MPs who have done good work and deliberately and knowingly complied with the letter and spirit of the expenses system (Ref 1) deserve commendation and full support. What a great example for young and old alike. On the other hand the 450 plus MPs who deliberately and knowingly did not follow the example of the honorable 50 plus do not deserve trust or support and should pay the price for their greed by standing down, deselection or removal from office.

There is no excuse whatsoever for making multiple wrong claims. (Ref 2) One or two possibly yes, more than two wrong claims, no. This could be the criterion for standing down, deselection or removal from office.

No person in their right mind would trust or employ a greedy person known to have deliberately and knowingly ignored either the letter or the spirit of an expenses system. Why should the electorate?

From June 2007 New Labour headed by Gordon Brown has by incompetency been paving its way to loosing the next general election in 2009-2010. However Her Majesty’s Official Opposition led by David Cameron is helping to reverse this process by cronyism and paying lip service to public disgust over MPs expenses.

In 1653 Huntingdon MP Oliver Cromwell dismissed wayward MPs, addressing them thus “You have sat here too long for the good you do. In the name of God, go!”

Now as in 1653 the country is in need of dependable Members devoted to service to reform the House, effect good government and advise and help constituents. Current MPs, especially Party Leaders, being part of the problem are not the solution. Mass apologies and paybacks are debasing and no substitute for a record of transparency, honesty and truth.

Fortunately internet technology enables the electorate as a whole to act as a modern day Oliver Cromwell and cleanse parliament without fear or favour.

If you wish to help restore trust in Parliament, no matter which party or individual you support, lobby your local constituency party, family, friends and acquaintances to sponsor and support only candidates who have shown that they are capable, honest and hardworking.

At the General Election vote only for candidates who have shown themselves to be capable, honest and hardworking.

Do not support or vote for MPs who have not abided by the letter and spirit of the MPs expenses system. (Ref 1)

There are many capable people ready willing and able throughout the land who deserve and have earned our trust and vote.

If you agree, be a modern day Oliver Cromwell act and pass this email on to family, friends, neighbours, acquaintances, councillors and local constituency parties.

REFERENCES

(Ref 1) The Green Book – July 2006, Parliamentary Salaries, Allowances and Pensions Use of Parliamentary allowances.
Page 3 reads
“It is your responsibility to satisfy yourself when you submit a claim, or authorise payments from your staffing allowance, that any expenditure claimed from the allowances has been wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for the purpose of performing your Parliamentary duties.”

(Ref 2)

The House of Commons Members’ Reimbursement.
Form C1 (03/05) INCIDENTAL EXPENSES PROVISION.
An Authorisation and Declaration is to be made by members as follows: “I claim reimbursement of these costs which I incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of my Parliamentary duties.”

I congratulate 38 degrees on their formation and hope to participate in depth as future issues become clear.

thank You

I didn’t campaign for Obama but I had a little thought: Encouraging campaigners to cut and paste letters to their PM/MP may not be a good idea. Having worked in a council mailroom, I know that cut n pasted emails go into one pile, personal emails into another.

Identical messages take much less time to deal with. Personal writing will send a more powerful signal to the ruling elite, simply by virtue of costing them more to process.

Oh, and they might actually have to think about what people are saying if it’s put to them 5,111 different ways…

Would you be prepared to sleepwith a politician to effect change?

Have done.

And would be prepared to do it again.

But who exactly would this ‘cadre of people with vision, morals, experience and knowledge’ be? People who know better than I do? Perhaps I’m (relatively) an ‘illiterate with a low horizon’?

The ‘cadre’ sounds a bit like a self-appointed group of the ‘great and good’. A form of political organisation favoured by the Nazis I think. If ‘they’ want to get together and persuade ‘us’ by writing and argument – ok perhaps. But George Washington’s ‘mixed bag’ had, and still have, the ‘right to bear arms’. Is Arkwright also arguing for the armed revolution?

Obama was and is, through his writing and now very public voice, an inspiration. Let’s be inspired but are there any more like him in the UK or Europe? And don’t forget the response to Obama of the ‘rednecks’ in the US – still with that right to bear arms. Obama himself counts Lincoln as one of his heroes – the first Republican.

How to make things better does seem to be a conundrum and although Mr. Arkwright may have some valid criticisms of your current petitions, I feel he overstates his case and that the new ‘freedom of the press and people’ through electronics and the internet really is something new which can enable a more participatory form of democracy.

I stood yesterday as a candidate for Libertas in the EU elections – with no chance of being personally elected though I hope Libertas may secure some MEP’s. Yes we must reform the EU, UK politics and perhaps recover some proper sense of values and proportion but how to achieve this is not at all clear.

Whilst 38 degrees may be independent of any party, it is clearly not apolitical and I trust that making ‘party political’ points will be OK here.

We should look at who was partly responsible for the decline Arkwright refers to. Who said ‘there is no such thing as society’ then set about destroying it? Quite – Margaret Thatcher, who has done more damage to Britain than the above mentioned Nazis (including the promotion of greed and our economic meltdown).

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown don’t seem to have helped much either. Can we trust the ‘nice’ Mr. Cameron – very probably our next PM – to be a better bet than Thatcher?
Well, time will tell. It’s hardly surprising if in current circumstances the far right should do well (national socialism and all that) and proportional representation might strengthen their hand. So, in some parts of Europe, having been elected, they could seize power like Hitler.

Yes, perhaps we do need the guidance of the ‘wise’. Let’s listen out for more ‘Obamas’ and support them. In the meantime, let’s use these new electronic methods to promote people power – just ordinary people who are not so ‘amorally illiterate’ that at least they can be bothered to petition and vote and march and write until the world changes.

Following Obama, ‘Yes, we can’. Let’s do it!

In the UK it just seems to add possitive connotations to any sort of reform and at present the most common use seems to be in progressive Conservatism.