How Wonderfully Ironic

If nothing else our politicians have a brilliant sense of timing. In the very week that a report is published into how our Social Workers are unable to fulfill the vital function of protecting children because of bureaucracy, MP's are absolutely scathing about their own bureaucracy. I've just watched a few of them being interviewed on Channel 4 news saying they are outraged at having their time wasted by bureaucracy. Now it's not that often that I laugh out loud and shout at the television, but this is absolutely terrific news as far as I'm concerned. After all it's not that often that as a mere citizen you feel you can get 'one over' on our usually smug politicians and shout out loud 'I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever!'  In fact I'm inclined to say 'welcome to the real world' - indeed the world you've created because you make the damned laws!

Just how long is it that police officers, probation officers, social workers, teachers - well the list goes on - have complained endlessly about bureaucracy? About how it is such a senseless waste of time and effort and how it saps our energy and makes us lose the will to live sometimes?  With impeccable timing Inspector Gadjet gives a graphic example of form filling in his recent post here. I suspect anyone in any profession could do similar. It gets us very angry, indeed just like a lot of MP's appear to be getting.

How sweet it is though coming after the Freedom of Information Act eventually turned round and bit them on the backside over expenses they had hoped to keep secret. They are even having to pay the near going-rate for food and drink in the Palace of Westminster long after subsidised canteens were removed from the rest of us. And now the final insult, they can't get their expenses because they have invented such a wonderfully bureaucratic payment  system. There's only 650 of them for goodness sake and paying expenses strikes me as a pretty straightforward process that would be familiar to all of us in paid public service. But they set up a new super-quango IPSA complete with plush Westminster offices, fat salaries, an impenetrable set of guidelines and lengthy application form, just to process their expenses. I think I heard running costs alone are £2.5million. 

I'm going to suggest that all our elected representatives should calm down and take a little time to reflect on this somewhat ironic situation. I want to hear the sound of humble pie being eaten. I want to hear them say sorry. I want to hear them promise to lift the bureaucracy that strangles all the rest of us on a daily basis. Only then am I prepared to be the least bit sympathetic to the sorry self-inflicted plight they currently find themselves in. I apologise for the rant, but I feel better already.