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Maria Miller: clemency in club Cameron Maria Miller: clemency in club Cameron
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What would David Cameron have said about the financial foibles of an individual such as Maria Miller who sat in high office while he was in opposition? We don't have to imagine too hard, because Mr Cameron made a point of being brutal with the moat-maintaining grandees on his own side in 2009, almost irrespective of whether they had technically broken the rules. He wrote at length about how the expenses debacle required sweeping reforms to break open the Westminster club, after its compromised members had paid the price.What would David Cameron have said about the financial foibles of an individual such as Maria Miller who sat in high office while he was in opposition? We don't have to imagine too hard, because Mr Cameron made a point of being brutal with the moat-maintaining grandees on his own side in 2009, almost irrespective of whether they had technically broken the rules. He wrote at length about how the expenses debacle required sweeping reforms to break open the Westminster club, after its compromised members had paid the price.
Public office cannot be the preserve of saints who are sticklers with receipts. Trial by a media that hypes some details and neglects others must be resisted. Politicians that run into difficulty deserve a fair hearing, indeed fairer than that which Mr Cameron gave some on his own side in 2009; the possibility of showing mercy to Mrs Miller needs to be considered. But after a weekend of silence on the culture secretary's part, the tricky question is what the case for clemency would look like.Public office cannot be the preserve of saints who are sticklers with receipts. Trial by a media that hypes some details and neglects others must be resisted. Politicians that run into difficulty deserve a fair hearing, indeed fairer than that which Mr Cameron gave some on his own side in 2009; the possibility of showing mercy to Mrs Miller needs to be considered. But after a weekend of silence on the culture secretary's part, the tricky question is what the case for clemency would look like.
While the designation of her London base as a second home is questionable, it was not outright wrong. And while Mrs Miller sits in the administration whose bedroom tax denies poor council tenants any room for adult dependants, she did not break the rules as they stood, by putting up her parents in her state-subsidised home. But these two acquittals are about as far as her case stretches.While the designation of her London base as a second home is questionable, it was not outright wrong. And while Mrs Miller sits in the administration whose bedroom tax denies poor council tenants any room for adult dependants, she did not break the rules as they stood, by putting up her parents in her state-subsidised home. But these two acquittals are about as far as her case stretches.
Mrs Miller may not be responsible for the old rotten rules, but she is surely accountable for having pushed them as far she did, by claiming interest not only on the mortgage that purchased her home but also on additional debt that she backed with it and then got the taxpayer to service. Debts serviced by someone else are free money, which the commissioner felt should be repaid, yet Mrs Miller's parliamentary colleagues took a more indulgent view, restricting reimbursements to overpayments that arose because of a later failure to alert the House when interest rates fell.Mrs Miller may not be responsible for the old rotten rules, but she is surely accountable for having pushed them as far she did, by claiming interest not only on the mortgage that purchased her home but also on additional debt that she backed with it and then got the taxpayer to service. Debts serviced by someone else are free money, which the commissioner felt should be repaid, yet Mrs Miller's parliamentary colleagues took a more indulgent view, restricting reimbursements to overpayments that arose because of a later failure to alert the House when interest rates fell.
On average MPs are no more fiddly with their expenses than the self-employed are with their tax, but that still leaves many compromised. Mrs Miller's conduct would not be so far out of the ordinary as to require resignation if she had showed some contrition, but since her formality of an apology it has looked as if she feels none. Even her fellow MPs, some no doubt worried about setting harsh precedent for themselves, bemoaned her dismal "attitude" to their probe. She put great energy into trying to restrict the inquiries.On average MPs are no more fiddly with their expenses than the self-employed are with their tax, but that still leaves many compromised. Mrs Miller's conduct would not be so far out of the ordinary as to require resignation if she had showed some contrition, but since her formality of an apology it has looked as if she feels none. Even her fellow MPs, some no doubt worried about setting harsh precedent for themselves, bemoaned her dismal "attitude" to their probe. She put great energy into trying to restrict the inquiries.
Furthermore, she retains a special adviser who felt it appropriate to pick up the phone to a journalist asking awkward questions, with a request to reflect on the "connection" with meetings that a perturbed Mrs Miller would likely soon be holding with editorial bosses to discuss press regulation. It is the most extraordinary adviser behaviour since the back-channel chat between the Murdoch empire and the sacked Adam Smith, right-hand to Jeremy Hunt, who went on to be promoted.Furthermore, she retains a special adviser who felt it appropriate to pick up the phone to a journalist asking awkward questions, with a request to reflect on the "connection" with meetings that a perturbed Mrs Miller would likely soon be holding with editorial bosses to discuss press regulation. It is the most extraordinary adviser behaviour since the back-channel chat between the Murdoch empire and the sacked Adam Smith, right-hand to Jeremy Hunt, who went on to be promoted.
Mrs Miller's friend Iain Duncan Smith on Sunday dismissed the attack from a press that is raging against post-Leveson reforms. The press is as dogged in self-defence as any other industry, and better placed than most to hound those who threaten it, so this line might have had some currency. But since her had made the link between media regulation and the awkward questions put by the press, her allies can hardly bemoan the connection. Mrs Miller's friend Iain Duncan Smith on Sunday dismissed the attack from a press that is raging against post-Leveson reforms. The press is as dogged in self-defence as any other industry, and better placed than most to hound those who threaten it, so this line might have had some currency. But since her own adviser had made the link between media regulation and the awkward questions put by the press, her allies can hardly bemoan the connection.
Mr Cameron once promised a new politics, but in office he has been a reliable reactionary force against big democratic changes, affecting the Lords and the way Britain votes. Even his modest post-expenses initiatives have come to little. The registering of lobbyists descended into a divisive mess, while proposals to give constituents the power to petition for a byelection if their local MP were caught up in some misdemeanour – a power that some of Mrs Miller's constituents in Basingstoke might welcome – have thus far failed to make the statute book. As he clings to his minister, the PM becomes the face of the politics of old.Mr Cameron once promised a new politics, but in office he has been a reliable reactionary force against big democratic changes, affecting the Lords and the way Britain votes. Even his modest post-expenses initiatives have come to little. The registering of lobbyists descended into a divisive mess, while proposals to give constituents the power to petition for a byelection if their local MP were caught up in some misdemeanour – a power that some of Mrs Miller's constituents in Basingstoke might welcome – have thus far failed to make the statute book. As he clings to his minister, the PM becomes the face of the politics of old.
• This article was amended on 7 April 2014 to insert the words "own adviser" into the sentence: "But since her own adviser had made the link between media regulation and the awkward questions put by the press, her allies can hardly bemoan the connection."