Disgraced Lords

So, you may or may not be familiar with the story that emerged yesterday that 4 British Lords have been accused of accepting or suggesting they would accept fees in exchange for pushing through laws/amendments that would be beneficial for their 'clients'. When I read this story I was absolutely appalled. I literally felt the blood boiling up in my body. It's exactly the kind of thing that you suspect goes on, but almost don't want to believe it. It is no wonder there is political apathy in this country - I don't get any sense of democracy here with politicians just serving their own interests and ignoring the voices of their country. Obviously they need to pretend that your voices count, since they won't win an election without it, but I really feel that we are ignored. You can really see why people are drawn to politics - with a long list of perks including the second home and its furnishing with the John Lewis list (can it relaly be justified for Margaret Beckett's to have £2K of garden plants at the taxpayer's expense?)

Dammit I am even more frustrated that reading this back, it feels a bit like a Daily Mail rant.

However, my anger last night was actually abated when one of my close friends called me up with an interesting piece of information. Around 2 years ago, she undertook some 'work experience' with one of the above-mentioned Lords, who happened to be an alumnus of her university. During her few days, the Lord acutally took her out to dinner one evening, and then onto some kind of bar/club, and proceeded to pester her to retreat with him for further 'drinks' at one of their residences. My friend politely declined this offer, although rang me up the next day saying that she wondered whether this had been a missed golden ticket to a lucrative kiss and tell that might have funded her writing career. I said that since there was no actual kissing, and that no-one even knew who this damn Lord was, it wasn't much of a story. However, she would be in a better position now! So that she didn't endure his advances in vain, she is actually including this event in upcoming novel. I feel a PR story coming on for its release...