Yet Another Crooked Tory Resigns.

Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP for Newark, managed to get a reference to his service in the army and the word "God" into his announcement yesterday that he was resigning from parliament. He said that he was "ashamed" that he had attempted to cash in on his position as an MP and take money for raising questions in parliament. It was time to "fess up" as a good soldier should he told us. But, essentially, what he was saying was that he was sorry for getting caught. Like Maria Miller just last week, Mercer simply couldn't resist doing something illegal in order to stuff his offshore bank account with tax free money. Until he was exposed he had absolutely no intention of admitting his crime and no amount of crocodile tears now can wash away that fact. What he did was not only a criminal offence, it was also entirely dishonourable. You or I would go to prison but it is quite likely that Mercer, like Maria Miller, will get away with an apology and a bit of hand-wringing. This is how our so-called democracy functions - they get away with criminal activity and are licensed to grab what they can at our expense while we are told we are lazy scroungers for having no choice but to take the low-paid work they grudgingly allow us. We pay these people's wages and they should be regarded as what they are - mere hirelings, paid by us to perform a service. They are not, as they would like us all to think, our masters and, by-and-large, they are a dishonest and arrogant bunch of crooks many of whom belong behind bars. The question remains, how long are we expected to put up with this sort of shabby behaviour before we are forced to abandon what remains of our democracy and try to find something better?

Cameron Defends Maria Miller.

David Cameron waded into the Maria Miller scandal today, telling the BBC that she "did the right thing." We asked Britain's first part-time Prime Minister what he actually meant; "When I say she did the right thing I am, of course, speaking from a Tory point of view. Theft, when practised by the peasants, is wrong and should be punished without mercy using the full power of the law. However, it is not wrong for a Tory to steal because that's what we were born to do. Maria's only crime was to get caught and I don't feel that is a sacking offence. Of course she had to say "sorry" to placate the peasants and those stupid enough to vote for us but otherwise I am quite satisfied with her performance so far. She has exhibited just the right mix of arrogance, unconcern and sheer brass neck to mark her out as a truly great Tory in the making. Keith Joseph once told the children of peasants who had inadvertently been allowed to attend university that there wasn't enough inequality in Britain and the furore over Maria Miller's completely understandable little fiddle shows that he was right. We have managed to create enough inequality to make sure that Maria will never be prosecuted for theft but the argument over her actions demonstrates quite clearly that there's still a long way to go. When a Tory can steal what he or she likes without comment, then we will have created the right amount of inequality and the blessed Margaret's work will be done."

Yet Another Crooked Politician Gets Away With Stealing Public Money.

Maria Miller, the Tory MP for Basingstoke and Culture Secretary in the Coalition Government, bought a house in Wimbledon in 1995 for £234,000. By 2008 she had a mortgage on the property of £525,000. In other words in 13 years she had borrowed an extra £291,000 based on the increasing value of the property and pocketed the money while the taxpayer paid for the interest on the loan. Not content with this nice little earner she then "accidently" claimed for £44,000 more than she was actually paying on the mortgage and moved her parents into the house in breach of Parliamentary rules. To top this she then sold the property in February this year making a cool £1 million profit on the deal. After all this came to light she refused to cooperate with the Parliamentary Standards Committee, failing to "provide the commissioner with the substantive information and supporting documentation required." All this means that she used public money to pad out her bank account, lied to pad it out even further and then tried her best to hide what she had done. By any definition of the word this is blatant fraud and if you or I had done something similar we would now be facing a long prison sentence. Despite all this the Parliamentary Standards Committee failed to find any evidence of deliberate fraud and has chosen not to see what is obvious to the rest of us. Her "punishment", therefore, consists of paying back a measly £5,800 and apologising, not to us the taxpayer, but to her fellow crooks, spivs and wide boys in Parliament for being found out. Nor will she losing her job since, according to David Cameron, she is "doing a fantastic job" and has his "full support." Meanwhile "a source close to Maria Miller" is quoted as saying "It is not surprising that London houses go up in value well over a decade after they are first bought. It is also not unusual for people to move house." They might also have added "It is not surprising that yet another crooked politician has fleeced the taxpayer and got away with it."