LPUK - Snouts Out Of The Trough

With all the righteous (and absolutely right) rage flowing freely about the newest revelation about the utter corruption and shameless, naked greed of our elected ruling elite, I thought I would point out this policy from the UK Libertarian Party:

"Sadly, we're all so used to corrupt politicians saying one thing and then doing another, that we would understand if you were to wonder why you should trust in our integrity. Don't—test us. Until some honesty has returned to public life, we will require that any candidate standing for election in the name of the Libertarian Party will make the following commitments:

• the full details of any and all expenses that they claim in the execution of their duties will be disclosed in their entirety on this website within 30 days of being incurred
• they will not employ their spouse, or any other member of immediate family, using public funds
• they will not participate in any pension scheme associated with their public position
• they will not accept offers of hospitality, travel junkets or similar freebies, which could be seen as an attempt by any individual or organisation to gain influence or favour

Whilst placing restrictions over and above the current state of the law on our candidates is distinctly unlibertarian, as a party we are prepared to swallow our principles on this to ensure that you, the public, don't have to keep swallowing yours in respect of how the political class currently abuse our trust."

It is ok to feel cynical when you read the above. After all, we are so used to hearing about the corruption of our leaders that anything like the above needs to be taken less with a pinch of salt, but rather with a hefty fucking chunk of rock salt. But the LPUK are actually demanding change in this area, and are prepared to sacrifice their chance to get their snouts in the trough to do it. Whatever you hear from those in the Tories, in the Labour Party and the Lib Dems over the next few weeks, remember this - they only start to fight corruption when it is exposed. Every MP will have known about this John Lewis list. And they all chose to ignore it, to hide it, to profit from it. And whatever you think of the LPUK, at least they are standing up from the outset and categorically stating "we will not do this." The challenge of resisting temptation will come if/when the party actually achieves power, but given the endemic corruption in the corridors of the Commons, now might be the time to consider a genuine alternative to the political mainstream in our country.