The Civil Servants are the Professionals, not the Politicians

Iain Dale gives a good explanation here as to why the expenses issue needs to be addressed now. But, who could possibly think otherwise? He is surely right that 'the overwhelming majority of MPs put the hours in and when Parliament isn't sitting, they are to be found doing constituency work," but, this is not really the main point.

The reason why greater swathes of the public appear to be less willing to give them any respect is because they increasingly see themselves as belonging to a 'profession', a tag which Iain also gives them. Technically this might be so, but conceptually politics in a democratic state is not a profession. This implies exclusivity and a requirement for expertise. Of course they need to be capable people, but what they really need is judgement and integrity, characteristics possessed by many ordinary people.

MPs are there to represent us, the people, who afford them the privilege of legislating and governing on our behalf. The professionals are the Civil Servants. They are the ones who implement policy, they are the ones expected to provide the professional expertise required in government. This separation of functions was once sacrosanct, but it has been grievously weakened by the professional pretensions of our MPs who are too busy seeking validation of their worth to govern properly.

It is this conceited, vain and misguided attitude that needs addressing. Do this and the other bits will follow.