A period of economic crisis is a bad enough time for everybody – austere times call for drastic draconian measures and cuts in spending. Even the language of advertising is shifting to take into consideration the changing priorities of the consumer. We still want to spend, we still have the consumerist instinct yet we are all vaguely aware that endless spending backed by unjustifiable loans are a thing of the past.
One particular social class that will bear he brunt of this “spending awareness” is the political class. It’s one thing having your average David Beckham (yes, he can be average) prancing around with multi-million euro contracts because he is part of the Pan Circenses – distraction and entertainment for the people. It’s another for your most high of public servants spending their salaries and ancillary pay packets on anything like travel, accomodation or – god-forbid – light entertainment.
In the United Kingdom Labour MP Jacqui Smith is at the centre of a whirlwhind caused by some ugly discoveries regarding Expenses Claims by Members of Parliament. Smith’s sin was to claim the expenses of two pornographic movies from her MP expenses account. This forms part of an even greater scandal involving MPs funding second-holiday homes over the years thanks to expenses calculated on the distance from Westminster.
European MEPs are not new to this kind of controversy as both Simon Busuttil and Saviour Balzan know. There was always an case for improved transparency among MEP’s and a better justification on how they go about spending the money of what is (not always wrongly but rather exaggeratedly) perceived as an automatic gravy train. The stroke of bad luck for MEPs is that now, more than ever before, the justified need to scrutinise expenses and funding is topped up with a vengeful, envy-driven motivation that is closer to issues of status anxiety than any moral or practical considerations.
