Prime Minister's Questions, 22nd October 2009

Sent by e-mail: Working so much recently that there wasn't time to watch PMQs live, but I caught the repeat after midnight on the Parliament channel (followed by Andrew Neil's Daily Politics which showed PMQs again). I was stunned by the coolness with which Jacqui Smith stood up and called for Surestart centres to be protected from public spending cuts. This is a woman who has looted hundreds of thousands of pounds from the public finances. Instead of facing prosecution she has been "pardoned" by her parliamentary colleagues in get-out-gaol-free scam that would have embarrased General Pinochet. The money she has siphoned from the public purse into her own pockets would surely be enough to fund a whole Surestart centre for the term of the next parliament. As Redditch is a slender marginal there is no point (argue the Commons establishment) in asking her to pay the money back. On the "awkward bench" next to Dennis Skinner a large gentleman got to his feet and blustered about socialism, but not a word did he say about Jacquie Smith's kleptomania (what does she want all that money for? - surely there is a limit to what you can spend in Redditch shops?). Several times the newspapers have said that there is no point in asking many of the MPs to give back the immoral amounts of "expenses" they have awarded themselves - these MPs are standing down at the next election and thus there is no sanction the party leaders can apply to force them to reimburse the public. Perhaps "Dave" should threaten to pass legislation so that where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing identified by the relevant scrutiny authorities the money should either be deducted from the MP's parliamentary pension fund or his/her parliamentary pension should be suspended until the money is paid back (they were happy to raid our pension funds when it suited them).