Street talk

Just in case some politicians aren’t aware how angry the public are over these rotten expense claims, I’d recommend they read Patrick Barkham’s article in the Guardian today.  He’s visited the constituencies of five MPs who have been implicated in the mess this week – Geoff Hoon, George Osborne, Hazel Blears, Alan Duncan and Douglas Hogg – and simply recorded the views of folk who live there.  Perhaps tellingly, Barkham picks up on more anger directed at Labour than the Tories.  Here, for instance, is what was said about Hoon:

“‘Disgusting, absolutely disgusting,’ says Kate Cooper, 45, as she passes Hoon’s constituency office in Kirkby-in-Ashfield on her way to her shift at Somerfield. Pinned to the window are photographs of a diligent MP at work: Hoon posing beside a community bus and clutching a football with schoolboys. Last weekend, one disaffected local resident added a new poster: ‘Robbing bastard,’ it read in large type.