Dr Steve Goddard "Expenses court cases prove desperate need for reform"

11.19.59am GMT Thu 11th Mar 2010

Dr Steve Goddard, Oxford East Liberal Democrats parliamentary candidate has again called for far reaching reforms to politics to restore trust in the wake of the expenses scandal, as 3 Labour MPs and one Conservative Lord appear in court today.

Steve said "The spectacle of MPs lining their pockets with taxpayers cash has destroyed what little faith people have in politics. Labour and the Conservatives blocked Liberal Democrat attempts to reform the expenses system long before the scandal broke. Only when the public found out what they had been up to did Brown and Cameron speak out. Even then it has just been warm words, with no real action on the worst of abuses."

"Still nothing is being down on those MPs who "flipped" their homes, changing the designation of their homes to maximise how much cash they could get out of the taxpayer. It was a disgraceful act by Labour and Conservative MPs. No Liberal Democrat MP committed this blatent abuse of trust."

"These 4 politicians up in court today are only a small fraction of the problem. Our political system breeds complacency - a third of MPs are in seats which have not changed hands since the Second World War. MPs in those seats were far more likely to have abused the system. It's clear that a real change in the voting system is needed to make sure that this kind of complacency is rooted out."

"The Liberal Democrats also want to see people being given the right to sack their MPs if they have done something corrupt. Even those who have been forced to stand down are still collecting their paychecks, despite ridiculous claims for moat clearances, duck houses and profiteering on second homes. This is wholly wrong and must be stopped."