Comment left here.

We can call them rude names here, and also be angry about the expenses that got out into the public domain. We don’t live in a totalitarian dictatorship where even speaking out would get us prison time or our religious beliefs would have us shot like dogs in the street. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that.

Myself I also don’t think we live in a democracy, either, because most of NuLabour’s (and the Tories before them) decisions over the last however many years have not been something I would have voted for and I know I’m not in the minority. The biggest of these being the Iraq war.

There was a lot of shite talked about Blair “needing to lead the people to make uncomfortable decisions” when we went in to that war and the majority were and still are against it. I feel that our armed services were severely let down by this and a lot of people who are willing to die on my behalf were used up like tissues by these cynical people. This offends me far more than the odd chancer taking advantage of their expenses, they should just be paid an allowance and be taxed on it and done with it. End of story.

Also in our unwritten constitution Parliament is actually only tasked with domestic affairs. Foreign wars are the remit of the monarch and the PM/cabinet. No amount of voting in parliament can change this. This is why those of us who have thought about this want the abolition of the monarchy and a written constitution. I’d also like a recall election like they have in the US, when Arnie got in (have’t laughed so much in ages, but the principle is sound).

We don’t live in a democracy, just a place where we can argue about the colour of the bike shed, but at least we don’t go to prison for dissent, and that’s a good thing.