I have as much contempt for MPs as anyone else, and firmly believe that they should be first against the wall come the revolution.
At the same time, the witch hunt over expenses is becoming, in some aspects, ridiculous. Kitty Ussher MP has been sacked as a minister for changing the home she nominated as her "principal private residence" for tax purposes for a month in order to escape paying Capital Gains Tax on its sale. That's just standard tax planning. You learn about it when you're studying for your tax exams when you're training as a chartered accountant. People do it all the time. If you look at any online tax forum (OK, it's maybe just me who looks at those) then you'll find tons of queries on the mechanics of how to do it, and how long you need to change the nomination for.
On top of that, it's somehow being held as further evidence against her that she sought and received the advice of an accountant on doing it. Surely seeking and paying for professional advice on the subject legitimises her actions? If she'd taken no advice and just hadn't told the taxman about the sale and hoped to get away with it (as other MPs have probably done) then I could see that as dishonest. But getting written professional advice in advance?
It's one thing to be angry when MPs exploit the rules in ways that we civilians can't or won't. But sacking them for doing things that "normal" taxpayers do all the time, on the basis of written professional advice, is frankly bizarre.
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