Peers plan to build expensive tunnel...

Despite their differing political beliefs, it seems that there are still at least three things that MPs throughout the nation have in common regardless of status or creed: First of all, their egos are inflated to monumental proportions which in some way allows them to believe that they are as angels or gods walking amongst the common people. This is a phenomenon that can be noted from the top of the political hierarchy - such as Gordon Brown being convinced that bad decisions will be made good because of status - or even something as mediocre as a lowlevel politician assuming in his blog that you'd like to know who he's having dinner with next Tuesday. Nobody. Fucking. Cares.

The second trait that these suited deities can have attributed to their characters is that their are inordinately profligate with the spending of public funds. Be it in the form of expenses, stadiums, or other projects that allow them to get carried away with the public cheque book, you can guarantee that they'll pretty much always spend more than they need to. Finally, there is the tendency to put their own needs before those of the public. If you have these three blotches on your personality, and a degree from either Oxford or Cambridge, it's guaranteed that the doors of Parliament will be opened to you with a buttery swiftness and smiles all around. And occasionally, if we're lucky, an event will take place that calls upon MPs to make use of a poetic synergy of these attributes at the same time...

A revelation made today over at The Times has claimed that MPs are currently planning to spend £100m on a new office building across the road from Westminster Palace. The building will be complete with a wine cellar, expensive furnishings such as chandeliers, and a cafeteria. It's estimated that it will cost about £1m per MP that makes use of the new building, due to capacity issues. But the best part of the project is that the Peers are considering the building of a £120m underground tunnel that will join it to the old Parliament building - so they don't have to walk the streets. Some conspiracy theorists have suggested that this is actually a bomb shelter for the inevitable WW3.

Some politicians have spoken out against the idea, such as Lord Oakeshott who said that: “The whole House should take a long, hard look at whether this really is value for public money. With millions of families struggling to pay their mortgages, should we really spend £130,000 on new chandeliers, not even in the Palace of Westminster but in offices over the road?”

If the plans do go ahead then our Political Personality Theory (PPT) will stand as being correct. In the mean time, we can only hope that politicians can take their heads out of their own asses long enough to look around at what kind of things the country really needs: namely someone who gives a crap...

Written by Oli Anderson on 4 Jun 2008 2:58 PM. Permalink