Paul Poulton comments

Paul Poulton

I'm trying to get some money from the Government, I've got some rather nasty looking algae floating around on the top of my moat and I want it cleared out. The UK Member of Parliament (MP) expenses scandal has been going on for so long now it's become a part of our everyday life. Each new day brings with it some new revelation of a politician who has claimed expenses "within the rules" but outside of the spirit of the rules. I suppose newspapers play an important role in a free democratic society. When self-regulation is done properly newspapers can work pretty well all in all; though the lesson of self-regulation was a very hard lesson to learn. Princess Diana may have lost her life because that lesson had not yet been learnt. Good journalism can highlight problems that are in the public interest, so a self-regulating free press is a useful tool for a democratic country to have.

People have sometimes hinted that politicians are shady, so now we have some proof we're not sure whether to laugh in derision or get angry and demand justice. Maybe we could pass a rule that for a few months MPs in the House of Commons must refer to each other as the Dishonorable Honorable Gentleman.

It's interesting listening to the debates on the radio about the spirit of the law because the bible has something to say about that too. If you break the law in the UK the Police will ask you if there were mitigating circumstances why you did what you did. i.e. you may have driven your car on the wrong side of the road, but you did so to avoid a lady with a pram who suddenly stepped out into the road without looking where she was going. That is a fair mitigating circumstance and no fair minded judge would convict you, although technically you did break the law, but you kept the spirit of the law, that of road safety. Members of Parliament are allowed to claim expenses that relate to their work in the House of Commons and for those who are devious there must be many ways in which that system can be abused for their own personal gain. Previous governments have shied away from writing every last detail down about what can and can't be claimed because it's tedious, time consuming and it implies our politicians can't be trusted. However we now hear talk of a committee being set up to write down every last item that can or cannot be claimed for. I have sometimes thought that God never wanted to write down all the laws in the Old Testament, because he wants those laws to be written on our hearts, but he wrote them down so that humankind (like our MPs) would be without excuse. The trouble with the letter of the law is that times change and the letter of the law has to change with it. Laws about building a parapet around the roof of your house (Deut 22:8) may not be very applicable today but the spirit of the law is exactly the same: make sure your house is safe for people to stay in, don't let your negligence or laziness cause harm to someone else. It's a lesson that health and safety committees teach pretty well in the UK.

Jesus taught us what really matters, love God and love your neighbour, make sure the law is written on your heart. Don't abuse your position just because you can, don't siphon off resources for personal gain, be honorable.

Of course it's easy for us all to point the finger, but are our hands so clean? If we steal from a large company or the local council we somehow don't think it's so bad as stealing from a person. People who exaggerate their insurance claims would probably never steal someone's handbag. What we are really doing is stealing a little bit from many people rather than a lot from one person. Simple things seem to make God happy, like Proverbs 11:1 tells us that God delights in accurate weights. So if your Greengrocer has tipped his scales very slightly in his favour so he steals a little from each customer, God is not happy about that. Everyone should be treated fairly, because God loves all people equally. In breaking the spirit of the rules on Parliamentary expenses MPs have stolen a little from each one of us.

What should be done about our MPs? I guess the upcoming elections will reveal what people think about it. It is right and proper for some MPs to lose their position, government and electorate are all on a learning curve, but in our anger let's remember that we pray forgive our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.