The fact that Jacqui Smith got off scot-free says it all

14 October 2009

Rod Liddle is appalled that, after knowingly swindling the taxpayer, the former home secretary faced no punishment at all. It seems unbelievable after all their grandstanding — but MPs really don’t think they have done anything wrong

‘We have got to clean up politics, we have got to consign the old, discredited system to the dustbin of history.’ — Gordon Brown

That’s the problem with the dustbins of history these days — you just don’t know how often the collections are. And whether or not you have to separate out the organic matter and put it in a special green dustbin-of-history receptacle. One supposes that the former home secretary Jacqui Smith counts as organic matter, although it’s a close call. That quote above comes from the Prime Minister, talking all those months back in the early summer, about the MPs’ expenses furore. In fairness to Gordon Brown, it was the sort of sentiment offered up by every single MP placed in front of a radio or television microphone at the time — it really is appalling, something must be done, how we have shamed you, the voters, how on earth can we live with ourselves?

In the Commons tearoom it was different, however; the predominant mood was one of intense annoyance and indignation, a mood not for public consumption. But even if you were not privy to these private consultations, you might have suspected nothing would change. A day or two after Gordon Brown made that statement, also pledging politicians to transparency, scrutiny and openness, he ordained that the inquiry into the Iraq war should be held in private. Ah, that sort of openness and transparency. And now we have the House of Commons Standards and Privileges Select Committee report into the Jacqui Smith business: now we know just how seriously they took the matter, how resolved they were, how they took on board the public fury.

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