Can’t see the forest for the trees
The BBC is reporting this morning that the person who leaked the receipts and information about the extravagant expenses of various MPs this past summer did so because he thought that in light of soldiers in Afghanistan having poor equipment it was unfair for MPs to be spending so frivolously. The BBC has also reported that “Gordon Brown said he did not understand the motivation for the leak.” To that I just want to say ‘Really, Gordon? Really?!’
How could one NOT understand the motivations behind this civil servant’s leak? I suppose he has to say that though, since leaking private documents is technically a no-no. But where would we be today if it weren’t for leaks such as this? Watergate, for a prime example, would never have come to light and Nixon would have remained in office.
Neither of these scandals is anything more than just that: scandalous; but regardless of their consequences in world politics the corruption, malfeasance and, to a certain extent, outright stealing that these two leaks exposed was very necessary. How can one put trust in a politician if he or she is stealing from you or others? Many would argue that you cannot put trust in any politician. There are certainly many MPs who use the expenses system rarely and only for absolutely necessary reimbursements. Unfortunately it seems that a very large number – more than one would have hoped – use it for almost diabolical thievery of the public taxpayer.
What this civil servant did, to leak this information to the press, I feel was – heroic may be too strong a word here – brave at the very least. He saw something he felt was not right and blew the whistle. He had a conscience. If this person had leaked this information out of spite against a specific person or MP then, no, he would not have my support. But because he saw an inequality of sorts in the system and chose to highlight this I wholeheartedly thank him for his actions.
It is just so unfortunate that the expenses scandal, despite several pleas that the system needed to be changed, ended up changing virtually nothing. Sure, a few MPs lost their jobs; but with next year’s election a whole new crop of them will turn up ready to abuse the very same system. Until that changes, nothing will change.