SORROW, ANGER and CONTEMPT

In years gone by, it was said that people paid their taxes in sorrow and their rates in anger. And in those days of yore the rates we paid covered just about everything - drainage, police, fire and rescue as well as the `normal` Council services. These days, there are seperate charges for drainage, police, fire and the cumulative bill for all these things keeps rising.

Be that as it may, recent reports suggest that the division between sorrow and anger has been blurred, giving rise to a feeling of contempt among taxpayers. And it seems to be directed at most - if not all - layers of `authority.`

Now, I suppose it`s worth saying that in the context of the vast budgets and expenditure incurred by public bodies, the `allowances` paid to elected members is probably very tiny, so what`s all the fuss about? Well, it`s pubic money, of course - yours and mine - and I for one do not take kindly to being taken for granted or having my intelligence insulted. It might be one thing for MEPs, MPs and local councillors to be regarded as little more than self-serving chancers - however inaccurate that may be - but quite another when the one person who really should be above all that turns out to have pushed the rules of propriety to their limits.

Let`s just say that it appears that Speaker Martin has a lot of explaining to do. But since he has already refused to publicly disclose aspects of MPs allowances, has appointed a bunch of cronies to look into the whole business and saw fit to hire (at public expense) a £2,000 a day PR man (who has now had the grace to resign,) the damage to the office and to himself has already been done.

And it doesn`t end there. I was shocked - just like Captain Renault - to discover over the weekend that members of the European Parliament have £3,000 paid directly into each of their bank accounts each and every month to cover `expenses.` They don`t have to produce any receipts for this £36,000 a year - just trouser our cash. No wonder the EU is another of my pet dislikes.

Finally, coming closer to home, I was intrigued by the recent revelation concerning payments made to local councillors. Here`s an interesting table showing the average allowances paid to councillors in England in 2005/6:-

It all adds up to a large bill for taxpayers. But it also adds up to something arguably more damaging. The politics of envy, of which I might have been accused, have been overtaken by the politics of contempt. And, as that feeling grows among an increasingly disgruntled electorate, that is much more serious for public confidence in our fragile democracy.

Someone needs to get a grip....but I`m not holding my breath.