A tale of our times.....

The Haircut

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door..

Later, a police officer comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you , I'm doing community service this week.' The cop was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen doughnuts waiting for him at his door.

Then a Member of Parliament came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I can not accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The Member of Parliament was very happy and left the shop. The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen other Members of Parliament lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

BOTH POLITICIANS AND DIAPERS
NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN
AND
FOR THE SAME REASON!

Confused? I know I am

Like most people, I suspect, I have been following the errors & omissions of our Elected Representatives with bated breath since the Telegraph first started covering MPs' Expenses last week. Newspapers, radio, TV & blogs, all being constantly updated as yet another example of MPs' creative accounting is exposed - usually each one worse than the last.

There have been so many disclosures & exposures that I'm actually getting confused as to which MP has been involved in which particular piece of troughery.

Maybe I've led a sheltered existence but I continue to be shocked by the sheer venality, greed, mean-mindedness & avarice of our MPs. Men & women who earn 3 or 4 times the salary that I ever achieved (and I considered myself as well-paid at the time) are claiming for packets of Hob Nobs & Mars bars, in addition to bath plugs, pornography, expensive repairs to their partner's house, non-existent mortgages & Council Tax that they never paid. Not to mention Capital Gains Tax avoided by 'flipping' between main & second (or third, fourth, fifth or sixth) homes.

Didn't their parents ever teach them about lying, cheating & thievery versus ordinary decent law abiding behaviour?

Workers in the private sector taking such liberties with their employer's money would pretty soon find themselves jobless and probably with a criminal record to boot. Why should MPs be treated differently? Sauce for the goose is still sauce for the gander.

For MPs the mantra appears to be 'it's not against the rules' even when some of their actions very obviously are.

These are the people who feel it's quite justifiable to snoop into every aspect of our personal lives. Strangely enough, they're very unhappy when we treat them as they treat us.

Complaints have already been lodged with Mr Plod & the Inland Revenue - I do hope these are pursued, without the whitewash provided for Cash for Honours & illegal donations.