My shirt is hairier than yours

[El Gordo]

I never thought I'd hear myself asking this question but are Stephen Fry, Ann Widdecombe and myself the last three remaining sane people in the United Kingdom?

This pretty much sums up my current bemusement:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/p...905131757/

I'm no apologist for politicians but I'm struggling to understand the level of hysteria surrounding the MPs' expenses issue.

Apart from rare individual cases that look dangerously close to corruption (like tonight's revelation that one MP claimed £16000 in mortgage interest on a property that he no longer owned), I don't see what most of these people have done wrong.

Let me get this straight. To help me understand the general indignation, and to keep this simple, I need an answer to this one question: Are people saying that in their position they would have behaved differently from the MPs?

To me, that's the heart of the matter. If people are saying that they would behave differently, then fair enough, I understand the wrath. If people are saying no, their rage is against the system and the rules, then fine, let's change the system and the rules, but why are we castigating the MPs for doing what the system allowed them?

Here's Stephen Fry on the subject. A superb rant that I agree with: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/ne...045869.stm