Same old - same old
THE Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) which was set up after the MPs expenses scandal to end the abuse of the expenses system is trying to prevent the names of any MPs under investigation from being released.
Under new rules that have been proposed, MPs accused of expenses fraud will be protected by secrecy to save them from 'reputational damage' and IPSA also wants to bar the public from hearings.
The authority claims that investigators will find interviews with MPs and their assistants 'more instructive' without public scrutiny.
The new rules have been attacked from all sides and especially by the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Sir Alistair Graham, who said the public had a right to know that their MP was under suspicion.
He went on to say that 'To introduce measures which undermine transparency is foolish and perverse at a time when we are looking for increased transparency.'
In effect the new rules mean that MPs will be able to string out an investigation for as long as they like, safe in the knowledge that their names will not be revealed.
The MPs expenses scandal has not gone away and this move by IPSA will only serve to reinforce the general consensus of opinion that politicians operate under a one rule for us and another for them system which gives them a free hand to do whatever they want and get away with it.
SENSIBLE IDEA?
WORK and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has announced a plan that he believes will force people on benefits to spend their money on essential items only and prevent them from wasting payments on drink and drugs.
Mr Duncan Smith said that he wanted to safeguard people and break the cycle of poverty for families on the margins. His plan involves pre-paid smart cards that can only be used at certain retailers.
Claimants will be able to buy essential goods at the retailers but they will be prevented from buying alcohol and without any actual cash they will also be unable to buy drugs or gamble.
The cards are already on trial in North Tyneside and the results will be examined by a future Tory government should there be one.
In principal I think the idea is very good but Mr Duncan Smith needs to make sure that the system is cheat-proof otherwise somebody will find a way of beating it to make money.
Giving people who are caught in a downward spiral of alcoholism or drug abuse cash is a waste of time and restricting how they spend their benefits is a good idea but it will be some time before a pre-paid card scheme is rolled out across the UK.
THE COMMON TOUCH
CAN a leopard really change its spots?
That is the question I asked myself recently when I read about Deirdre Kelly, better know as Dee White from the TV show Benefits Street, who gave a speech to a fringe meeting hosted by the Policy Exchange think tank during the Conservative party conference in Birmingham.
Miss Kelly said that Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith was 'out of touch with the real world' and demanded that job centres offer a greater variety of jobs because not everyone wants to work in an office or build a wall.
She also said that she thought Ukip leader Nigel Farage was doing a good job and that she was planning to join the party.
The icing on the cake though is that she is thinking of taking up politics and running for parliament and that she would form her own party if she decided to stand.
I admire her guts for standing up in public and having her say and I agree with her statement that just because you may be a little bit common it doesn't mean you are stupid and unable to contribute to society.
But given her track record I don't think she would go far in politics and leopards can't change their spots so maybe her piercing insight into the welfare system and job centres is just another way of keeping herself in the spotlight.
IT WON'T GO AWAY
A PROBE established by Northern Ireland's powersharing administration at Stormont, chaired by former High Court judge Sir Anthony Hart is investigating what took place at 13 residential children's homes run by religious orders, voluntary organisations and the state during the 73-year period up to 1995.
In particular it is looking at a Catholic children's home at Rubane, near Kircubbin on the Ards peninsula from 1951 to 1985, which has been described as a scene of ' rampant' sexual abuse of boys.
Around 1,000 children stayed at Rubane during this period and the abuse of a fifth of them ranged from rape and physical attacks to watching boys in the showers for sexual gratification.
Former Royal Ulster Constabulary Chief Superintendent Eric Anderson wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) advising that 'Sexual abuse by a considerable number of the De La Salle brothers on the children and between children is rampant' and he added that the 'full horror of the abuse in this establishment is reflected in 41 files already submitted to the DPP.'
Mr Anderson also said in his letter that the complaints made show it to be on a par with, if not worse than, the abuse at the Kincora children's home.
The probe has already interviewed 55 alleged victims and many more are expected to come forward over the coming weeks and their oral evidence is expected to be harrowing and difficult to hear.
Not for the first time have Catholic priests been named in child sex abuse scandals but it seems that each time a new scandal comes to light it is more horrific than previous ones.
I know that what happened in the past cannot be changed but when will somebody within the church stand up and reveal the full extent of the abuse which given its scale would hardly have been a secret within church circles.
I also find it difficult to understand how so many paedophile priests were allowed to work together unchecked and be allowed to carry out their monstrous crimes on children that were not afforded an ounce of protection.