New poll shows reimbursement would not be enough to cool public antipathy
Alan and Ann Keen have not been asked to pay back any expenses following the recent review carried out into the MPs' claims scandal by Sir Thomas Legg.
Alan Keen told a newspaper, “He [Sir Thomas Legg] wrote having looked at the records and we just have to get some information to clear an issue. We had no problems with it at all."
If they had been asked to write a cheque, the majority of the voting public think Legg has not been tough enough according to a recent poll carried out by PoliticsHome.co.uk which showed that public anger is as strong as ever.
The poll, compiled by results of interviews with 1,154 adults between 14-15 October, suggests that more than half the population believes the recommendations were 'not tough enough', 57% have 'no sympathy whatsoever' and 60% are as interested in the story as they ever were. The Liberal Democrat MPs are perceived to have behaved the best.
Asked to respond to the accusations of unfairness in the Legg recommendations, more than half of the respondents felt the latest recommendations were ‘not tough enough on MPs’, Three-quarters of the public have either ‘little sympathy’ or ‘no sympathy whatsoever’ for MPs being forced to pay back expenses retrospectively. More than half have no sympathy whatsoever.
David Cameron’s announcement that MPs who fail to pay back money will not stand for the Conservatives again was popular with voters. 81% supported this action, and saw large support across party lines.
36% of the public believe Labour MPs have behaved the worst in the scandal, although the same number said ‘no party in particular’. Just one respondent (out of over a thousand) said that Liberal Democrat MPs were the worst offenders.
Source: PoliticsHome
We have asked Ann Keen for comment on these findings and await her response.
October 16, 2009