MPs' expenses and why it matters

I saw Stephen Fry interviewed recently, when he said that, really, the upset over MPs' expenses was not appropriate – that there were far more important things to care about. And this made me pause and consider – is he right? But I continued to feel upset by what I see as betrayal of trust and to wonder why this hurts so much.

I have concluded that much of my anger comes from (a) a concern that I can no longer trust people, who succumb so easily to personal greed, to make decisions objectively, since personal interest may sometimes intrude; (b) that is sad that all MPs will suffer being tainted by this (and they are not all greedy); (c) most importantly: there are so many really important things to care about, how dare they distract us and themselves from the job they are supposed to be doing?

This situation also poses a small dilemma for me… my own MP, Philip Hollobone, appears to be one of the decent ones – see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7845210.stm. I don't usually vote Conservative, but I can't help feeling he deserves my vote!