Paying for their children - and grandchildren

Yesterday – the day when three particularly greedy and cocky MPs appeared in court accused of nicking more than £60,000 of our money in false expense claims – I discovered more evidence that a significant number of honourable and right honourable Members still believe they don’t breathe the same air as the rest of us.

To explain, the painting above – I couldn’t find a photograph – shows the building known as One Parliament Street (I’ll leave you to work out why that might be). Inside you can find the Westminster offices of probably a hundred or so MPs, as well as a couple of restaurants and, most relevantly for the purposes of what I’m about to tell you, Bellamy’s Bar.

I have very fond memories of Bellamy’s Bar. For example, I encountered the only real person I’ve ever met called Elvis in there, he was Welsh. And I have some bad ones – it was in Bellamy’s where I watched Ryan Giggs’ extra-time wonder goal sink Arsenal in that famous 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay.

One of the principal reasons I liked Bellamy’s was, essentially, because it was the researchers’ bar. MPs themselves were rarely seen there and journalists were actually banned from going in. So it was “our place” where we could talk freely amongst ourselves without either bosses or hungry newshounds getting in the way.

I think it had become a bit rundown in recent years and, a little while ago, I read it had been refurbished at a cost of £400,000. You could very easily argue that this amount was more than a little over-the-top – it certainly sounded that way to me – but there you are.

However, what have our moralistic, whiter-than-white, not-in-the-least-bit-greedy-or-self-serving MPs now decided to do with Bellamy’s?

Get this – they plan to spend another £400,000 of our money turning it into a nursery for their children and other assorted relatives.

To quote Labour MP Joan Walley:

“The important thing is that we treat the House of Commons as the workplace of parliamentary democracy.

“After 22 years of my being here, there may be a workplace nursery for my grandchildren.”

Whatever you think dear – and dear, you and many of your friends certainly are to the rest of us.

Not to mention grasping b*stards.