THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has condemned the "culture of abuse" surrounding MPs' expenses, warning that respect for parliament has reached a new low.
He said The Telegraph's revelations about the extent to which MPs of all parties have exploited the Westminster system of allowances and expenses had shown the "clawing greed" of MPs.
"The moral authority of Parliament is at its lowest ebb in living memory," Lord Carey wrote in the News of the World. "The latest revelations show it was not just a few MPs with their noses in the trough, but a culture of abuse."
The former archbishop is the latest independent figure to question the morality of MPs' expenses claims.
Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, has accused politicians of a "failure of moral leadership". Martin Bell, the former independent MP, has attacked "scandals of shamelessness".
"It is not just the clawing greed of painstaking claims for such minor items as tampons, barbecue sets and bathrobes, but also the egregious way some have transferred allowances from one second property to another – enabling them to refurbish homes at public expense, then sell them for profit," Lord Carey added, referring to practices that have been revealed by the Telegraph in recent days. MPs' Expenses: Lord Carey, Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Condemns 'Culture of Abuse' >>> By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Sunday, May 10, 2009
