Poll: 68 percent think less of Brown because of expenses scandal
James Forsyth 6:25pm
Anthony Wells has news of a snap ICM poll for the News of the World on expenses. It does seem that Gordon Brown has been hurt by Friday’s headlines as much as we thought he would be; 68 percent say their opinion of him has been damaged. (I’m not sure if the poll contains this information but it would be fascinating to see the party ID breakdown on this).
The general standing of MPs has taken an even worse beating that Brown, 89 percent now think less of them. There is more than 90 percent support for publishing expenses in full and for having an independent body run the system. Only 29 percent think MPs should be able to claim for a second home.
One finding in the survey surprised me: one in five people think that MPs should be able to claim for food. I never would have imagined that support for this would be this high.
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marksany
May 9th, 2009 6:45pm Report this commentthe other 32% already thought as little of him as is possible.
paracelsus
May 9th, 2009 6:55pm Report this comment'89 percent now think less of them'.
We really are in uncharted territory now, in particular considering how low opinion was before this latest incident.
We need a General Election and a fresh start!
Steve Tierney
May 9th, 2009 7:16pm Report this commentI have no problem with the "second home". MPs who live far from London need to stay somewhere when they come to work in Parliament.
I just think those second homes should belong to the tax payer.
Once the MPs leave parliament they should either be given to a new MP, or sold and the money put back into public funds.
If MPs think they don't earn enough, they should state their case and increase their pay if they win the argument. Not skim the money in illicit ways, which is (I suspect) what has happened.
I don't agree that it's as sleazy as it looks. I just think they hid from the need for a rise to look good (taking the cash in other ways) and its come back to haunt them. Best to just come clean and make your case. All this could have been avoided. Now they look like criminals to much of the public.
I hope they learn the lesson.
David Ossitt
May 9th, 2009 7:16pm Report this comment"We need a General Election and a fresh start"!
No not yet; let the wound fester until next May, it will then be so putrid that labour will never recover.
Mark
May 9th, 2009 7:19pm Report this commentyou sure the survey taken was the public and none of them managed to phone MPs.
personally MPs should all be shot out a cannon, or given a gun to fight on the front lines of afgan. I'd pay to see that, hell, i'm sure many people would... that'll help the recession.
Money's on brown lasting 10 seconds or under...
bring back the monarchy, at least we KNOW how many homes they own and what they spend their money on :P
Bernard from Horsham
May 9th, 2009 7:24pm Report this commentTwo polls out 45/23 and 43/16
Source PB.com/sky
Interesting thing will be Others (BNP) and Lib Dems, how close are they to labour, and Expensesgate had hardly broken by these polls, though Ghurka story had
AndyLeeds
May 9th, 2009 7:29pm Report this commentGlad it has all blown up in Brown's face. He deserves it. Arrogant . . . . .
The Borg
May 9th, 2009 7:44pm Report this commentThey shouldn't be able to claim food, we can't thats why we get paid. scrap all the allowences and expensis. Do the job you wanted to bloody do in the first place
DM
May 9th, 2009 7:53pm Report this commentThe other 11 per cent couldn't have sunk lower in their opinion of him.
JohnAnt
May 9th, 2009 8:23pm Report this commentClaim for food?? Why?? Because it's something they need only because they work as MPs in Westminster? And because they don't have any subsidised canteen...oh, sorry, they do.
What on earth were these questionnaire respondents on?
oldtimer
May 9th, 2009 8:44pm Report this commentOnly 68%?
missinterpret_uk
May 9th, 2009 8:45pm Report this commentI pay tax,I also pay for EVERYTHING I have,and guess what,I ONLY HAVE ONE HOME and with this government ,I`m lucky to still have that.
Verity
May 9th, 2009 8:55pm Report this comment"one in five people think that MPs should be able to claim for food."
Why? That is just demented.
Death or Tory
May 9th, 2009 9:00pm Report this comment"One finding in the survey surprised me: one in five people think that MPs should be able to claim for food. I never would have imagined that support for this would be this high."
Not so surprising, James - it depends how the question was phrased (or nuanced) in the Poll. At first glance, it could appear that the question referred to 'sustenance' whilst on Parliamentary business away from Westminster or the MP's constituency - perfectly admissible in both the private and public sector (if my memory serves me well, the limit is £25.00 per day in the Civil Service).
However, if the question had clearly related to MPs being able to claim for everything they ever consume (including their local Tesco and Off Licence bills) that would, I suspect, have produced a rather different response...
Frank
May 9th, 2009 9:04pm Report this commentWhats the difference bewteen a Democracy and a Dictatorship.?
A Democracy allows any Taxpapayer to SUE an MP under the 2006 FRAUD ACT and get free legal aid while doing it!
Tiberius
May 9th, 2009 9:45pm Report this commentUnbelievably, the 31% that James blogged about the other day has grown by 3.2258%!
strapworld
May 9th, 2009 10:03pm Report this comment4 out of 5 people do NOT believe that MP's should claim for food! Mr Forsyth.
Nick Kaplan
May 10th, 2009 11:51am Report this commentIs the reason that only 68% think less of him that 32% couldn't have thought any less of him before they heard about it?
The Preston Park Panther
May 10th, 2009 12:24pm Report this commentOne thing needs to be pointed out more often about this expenses scandal: this is TAX FREE money they're swiping. In other words, it's worth twice as much as earned income. So they're not pinching £25,000 per year or whatever it is: they're pinching double the cash benefit, more like £50,000. Isn't it time they had a meeting with Hector the Inspector/Molester?
Foz
May 11th, 2009 7:48pm Report this commentI had to send food parcels to my son in Afghanisan while an MP claimed for dog food! The shadow MP for universities claimed over a hundred quid to have lightbulbs changed and my youngest son is struggling with huge universities fees! It's a joke. They should be charged with defrauding the British public and made to repay the money. I've never demonstrated in my life, but if one is organised I'll be there.
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