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Friday, November 18, 2005

He Is Not The Only One

Pro-war bloggers cannot hide their glee as news of George Galloway's extra-parliamentary earnings come to light. But what about the other MPs who use their positions as our elected representatives to feather their own nests? There is no denying that Galloway- in particular for asking for fees of between £5ooo and £10000 for appearances on the BBC, has left himself open to charges of hypocrisy. But to paraphrase the title of his recently published biography: He Is Not the Only One. Anne 'Doris Karloff' Widdecombe obtained (I again won't use the word 'earned') £240,000 on top of her MPs earnings last year- far more than her immeasurably more talented namesake received- in today's money- for his stirring portrayal of Frankenstein in 1931. William Hague gained a grand total of one seat for the Conservatives in the 2001 election- and is rewarded with- yup- a jackpot of £1m a year with publishers falling over themselves to offer him book contracts. And self-styled urban radical Dianne Abbott doesn't do too badly either-- with an extraparliamentary income of £85,000. What the register of MPs interests shows us is that the big political divide in Britain today is not between Labour and Conservative- but Britain's political elite and the rest of us.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The brit blogs are too
domimated By the "pro war Left"
how trying this blog out
http://ftssoldier.blogspot.com

The "pro war Left" only supports the Iraq war because of the oil and is concerned of Britains overall strategic position as regards other powers such as Russia and China.