So far, former Labour MPs David Chaytor (Bury North) and Eric Illsley (Barnsley Central) have been found to have defrauded the taxpayer of £22,000 and £14,000.
In these times when the public sector is bracing itself for cuts so deep that they will tear into the fabric of society, it is worth measuring in terms of the services that people rely on the scale of the fraud committed by Britain’s errant MPs.
So far David Chaytor, formerly Labour MP for Bury North, and Eric Illsley, formerly Labour MP for Barnsley Central , have been found in a court of law to have defrauded the taxpayer of £22,000 and £14,000 respectively.
Cumulatively these amounts are equal to:
• One and a half newly qualified teachers;
• Three part time occupational therapists that could support children with eating disorders;
• More than two therapy assistants who help mothers after childbirth
These are first and foremost legal crimes against society at large. But progressives have a particular greivance against them. Policies that feature the contribution of all to a common pot and the fair distribution from it, depend on trust: That no one is shirking thier responsibilities or taking what is not rightly theirs.
As custodians of this system, MPs should be especially trustworthy. That these are Labour MPs, the party that claims to have these principles at its very core, is shameful. Two more Labour MPs (Elliot Morley and Jim Devine)and two more Conservative Peers (Lord Hanningfield and Taylor), still face a legal verdict.
When it is all over, the entire political class, and those who wish to carry the progressive mantle, must be vigilant against any repeat of this tawdry episode.
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9 Responses to “The damage done by Illsley and Chaytor cannot be measured in pounds and pence”
Billy Blofeld
Daniel,
If you suffer from a weak disposition I suggest that you don’t calculate how many newly qualified teachers could be paid for if we weren’t paying through the nose for PFI contracts or paying so much interest on the vast national debt.
Progressives would wet their pants if they knew how much “investment” was being diverted from the front line to pay for the follies of the past.
Kevin Richards
Traitors to socialism & the Labour movement -The damage done by Illsley and Chaytor can't be measured in pounds & pence http://bit.ly/eivzBN
Daniel Pitt
RT @leftfootfwd: The damage done by Illsley and Chaytor cannot be measured in pounds and pence: http://bit.ly/eGZ0M3 writes @DanielElton
The price of Jim Devine's fraud | Left Foot Forward
[…] false receipts. He was today sentenced to 12 months in jail. This can now been added the sums taken criminally by David Chaytor (£22,000) and Eric Illsley (£14,000) to a total of almost […]