Is the expenses row something to be proud of?

I’m proud of the fury at MPs’ expenses, by Ally Fogg — Comment is free

Two opposing views about the ongoing Parliamentary expenses scandal: one by Joan Smith in yesterday’s Guardian, and one by Ally Fogg (above) on Guardian CIF today. Smith’s partner is an MP and she knows many others, and says that they have been receiving threats and abuse on the streets and over the phone and the net – even while constituents continue to flood their MPs with requests for help. Fogg pays tribute to activsts and campaigners who sometimes get by on a fraction of MPs’ wages and often pay for campaign expenses out of their own pockets. Great debate. Smith is right about the hysteria and mass hostility towards all MPs as if they were all just a bunch of crooks, but it’s right that the controversy has proven that we expect our lawmakers not to be crooks when a lot of us have to make do with a third of their wages, or less.