Reasonable Expenses

Well, here's a thing: the House of Claimants appears to be incubating a few more parasitic scourges besides the inevitable George Osborne. A hundred and eighty-five MPs have claimed for first-class train tickets: most of them Labour, since presumably the majority of Conservatives either pay for standard-class while travelling in first, or else remain unaware of the existence of the iron horse save as an unjustifiable tax burden. First-class train tickets can cost up to £300, which is five times the cheapest standard fare and considerably more than a week's income for the average welfare parasite. The official guidelines for MPs' expenses are full of friendly advice about what you can do if you care to travel among the plebs; but, as with the Government's friendly advice to the banks, it appears that among the right sort of people a discreet nudge here and there can be disregarded almost as freely as an election promise or the law of the land.