In addition to my salary, pension payments and private healthcare there were expense accounts, which included out-of-pocket expenses, all the petrol I could use, free breakdown cover, payments for air tickets, taxi or rail fares, hotel bills, and all meals including an amount put aside for client entertainment. Of course, expense accounts are open to abuse and any misuse was dealt with most severely. For example, one company allowed one to fill the car with petrol at any time during the working week, including right up to one minute before midnight on a Friday. However, should one fill up at the weekend, and because this was outside of the rules, one would face immediate dismissal for misuse of expenses. I've seen this exact scenario played out!

Whether one finds a package of this nature to be excessive or unreasonable is irrelevant. They are the legal contract conditions agreed between an employer and the employee. That's why I find it remarkable that the media is so engrossed in the private expenses affairs of any Member of Parliament. The rules under which they operate may seem unfair, but if they are claiming within the rules then it's the rules that need changing, not the moralistic execution of a couple of MPs or even the Prime Minister. However, just like filling the car up at the weekend, if it is proven that anyone has broken the rules then the course of action is quite simple: they should be sacked.


One of the largest sectors of industry that should be well-accustomed as to how expense accounts operate is the media, which leaves me further astounded at their lack of grasp. Every single day internal meetings take place within boardrooms all over the country for employees, which are often accompanied with enough food and drink to sink a battleship. So much so that any leftovers are sometimes doled out to those uninvited less fortunate.

It's crucial to understand that none of this activity is in any way illegal. It is also important, especially for the wider media, to keep things in proportion, otherwise one might suspect political bias! Yet again we see our objective media is taking the moral high ground and telling us all how we should be thinking, rather than simply reporting the news.