John Wick blows the whistle on corrupt MPs in the UK :)

[heavenlyboy34]

Hopefully, something similar will happen here!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...l-running.html

Mr Wick, who served in the elite special-forces regiment during the 1970s, can now be identified as the man behind the disclosures.
The Daily Telegraph now publishes further details of questionable claims made by senior Labour and Conservative MPs on the 16th day of this newspaper’s investigation .



Details of the expenses claims of more than 200 MPs, from senior Cabinet ministers to backbenchers, have now been disclosed.
On Friday, MPs returned to their constituencies to face public anger over the systematic milking of the system.
In an exclusive interview with Telegraph TV, Mr Wick – who commanded a British anti-terrorism team during his 10-year military service – says he was always aware of the risk of his actions. But he explains that he decided to act after the public was frustrated in its attempts to learn about MPs’ expense claims.
Mr Wick, who is now the head of a corporate intelligence company which specialises in negotiating the release of hostages in foreign war zones, said: “We’ve all had concerns about the expenses and how they’ve managed it, purely because of how they’ve handled our requests for information.
“We’ve reached a stage in society where they want to know everything about us – I think we’re entitled to know about them.”
As a result of his actions, he said, the expenses system had been “exposed to its rotten core”.
The disclosure that a respected former Army officer, who trained at Sandhurst and served in the Parachute Regiment, is behind the release of details of MPs’ expenses is likely to surprise many in Westminster.
Former commissioners of the Metropolitan Police have served on the boards of Mr Wick’s companies in the past.
However, Mr Wick said he had “no regrets” over releasing the information and said he hoped it would lead to an improved Parliament.
“Parliament will be a better place, society will be a better place,” he said. “Sometimes a marker has to be put down. The public’s put a marker down. It’s good.”
It can also be disclosed that Mr Wick is a Conservative Party supporter who had to put his political allegiances aside to allow the full exposure of questionable claims.
He has acted as an officer for one of the party’s fund-raising clubs and counts several senior Conservatives as friends.
“This was a scandal across the political spectrum with some Conservative MPs’ behaviour as reprehensible as their Labour counterparts,’’ he said.
“The public release of the information had to be thorough, across every party, and the Conservatives would have to accept the consequences with the other parties.”
The Conservative Party was until now unaware of his role in the expose.
Over the past fortnight, The Daily Telegraph’s investigation has led to an unprecedented wave of public anger at the workings of the House of Commons.
Michael Martin, the Speaker, has resigned along with a senior aide to David Cameron, the Conservative leader.
A Government minister has stepped down, two Labour MPs have been suspended from the party, and four
MPs have announced they will not contest the next election.
Both parties are braced for many more MPs to leave Parliament imminently.
As the ramifications of the scandal continued to sweep Westminster:

• Mr Cameron rebuked Nadine Dorries and Anthony Steen after the two Tory MPs gave interviews defending the expenses system.

• A Conservative minister agreed to repay £25,000 in gardening and cleaning expenses.

• John Bercow, the Conservative MP for Buckingham, said he would pay £6,508 to HM Revenue & Customs after The Telegraph questioned whether he had paid capital gains tax when he bought and sold homes in his constituency and in London in 2003.

Mr Wick said: “I have played my part in history. It is now for others to decide on the best way to move forward and punish those who have been exposed.”

[silverhawks]

Incidentally the reaction of the British Armed Forces was quite notable, seeing that the Government has been consistently screwing them over their pay for the last 8 years, even reprimanding the Chief of the General Staff for arguing for better pay and conditions for troops.

The Westminster government deserves everything it gets.

[Imperial]

British politics is quite interesting. It particularly shows the failure of an electoral system where the party is above the politician. Now that Labour and the Conservatives are tarred, the other parties hope to capitalize. I think the Liberal Democrats were tarred too to an extent, but I would need someone to vet that.

There are two major forces that can capitalize on this issue. First is the British Nationalist Party, which is widely regarded as extremist but does poll decently for a third party(much higher than any of our established third parties I think). The UKIP, which is also anti-EU, is somewhat more moderate. Its leader Nigel Farage fought a practical war with BNP sympathizers to moderate the party and had to deal with a celebrity who almost imploded the party. The biggest problem now is threefold: first, shrug image of fascism or extremism like BNP. Second, provide a comprehensive alternative to the status quo. Currently, it must straddle the line between the more paleo-conservative and libertarian members, and so its positions on some issues are muddled. It also has its own scandals from time to time beyond what I mentioned. Still, it is the fourth largest party in the UK and has a decent amount of MPs in a plurality representation system.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...anet-Ukip.html

By the way, other third parties could erode the UKIP's support, as can the more statist Lib Dems who support civil liberties and are anti-war.

[Pericles]

Incidentally the reaction of the British Armed Forces was quite notable, seeing that the Government has been consistently screwing them over their pay for the last 8 years, even reprimanding the Chief of the General Staff for arguing for better pay and conditions for troops.

The Westminster government deserves everything it gets.

Indeed - successive governments have taken the British Armed Forces to the dismantling yard whist giving them missions without any resource. Karma.