No Ifs, No Buts Mr Laws, Benefit Fraud is a Crime

Having been found guilty of 6 breaches of Commons Rules and suspended for 7 days, David Laws is back!

"Mr Laws resigned after just 17 days as a cabinet minister, following reports he had claimed about £40,000 to pay rent to his partner, the lobbyist James Lundie. Such payments have been against parliamentary rules since 2006.....a long investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner had discovered other breaches relating to phone bills and building work."

"A parliamentary committee ruled in May he should apologise to the House of Commons and be suspended for seven days. The suspension began on 7 June."

Nonetheless, he was the economic glue that binds the coalition. The hard-line right-wing Lib Dem who It was thought could bridge the gap between the Osbornes and the Vinces. Without him we got.... well, Danny Alexander and it hasn't been pretty has it?

It's been clear from the first whiff of scandal that the Condems wanted him back and would bring him back as soon as they thought they could get away with it,

"Only a few months ago, David Cameron was expressing impatience at the time the commissioner was taking with his inquiry because he was keen to see Mr Laws back in Government"

but less than a month after his suspension expired? Quietly appearing in the House of Commons in the midst of a huge media scandal that's keeping everyone too busy to notice?

He cheated. He committed benefit fraud.

In fact, the DWP would call him a benefit thief

They are very clear on the matter :

"Deliberately withholding information that affects your claim is stealing. That’s why we are targeting benefit thieves! Those who steal benefits are picking the pockets of law-abiding taxpayers." 

Yet again, we have one rule for them, but entirely another for everyone else. Every time I see Mr Laws sitting in the HoC I will remember that he is a cheat. He was found guilty. But it didn't matter. After all the expenses scandals, after the promises that it would all change, after all that LibDem drivel about a "New Politics" we have to swallow yet another huge hypocrisy pill from politicians. 

And they wonder why no-one likes them, hardly anyone goes out to vote for them and no-one trusts them. 

They've got away with this systemic corruption for so long, they think they always will. "Oh, don't worry, the sheeple won't remember, the sheeple won't care"

I'm not actually sure they have much longer. Lip service will no longer do and too many more of these decisions might bring the whole stinking house of cards tumbling down. Hopefully they'll land on Rupert Murdoch.