The Western Mail reports the comments of an unnamed Government Minister as saying that talented people will be discouraged from standing for election in Wales by a public perception that politicians are “dodgy”.
The Minister’s remarks indicate unease amongst some Assembly Members at the 108 recommendations of the Sir Roger Jones report into their allowances:
The Assembly Government minister said: “I didn’t like the tone of the report at all. I think it is quite wrong to suggest that AMs are in it for what they can get out of it.
“These stories (of expenses abuse) have created a situation where people think politicians are dodgy. The effect is that people with talent who would make good AMs are now reluctant to stand. One person said to me he would rather bite his leg off than stand for the Assembly.”
Another senior Welsh politician said: “It’s got to the point where almost everyone thinks that if you’re a politician, you’re a crook.
“People who have known me for years look at me slightly differently, as if they are thinking I am on the make. On one occasion I asked myself whether the job was worth it. But then I thought about it and realised that of course it is. I am immensely privileged to be doing what I am doing, and there is no question of wanting to pack it in. It’s clear that we must do whatever we can to reform things. We have to accept whatever recommendations are made, in the hope that public confidence will be restored.”
The mood of politicians in the Assembly has not been helped by the remarks of Sir Roger Jones earlier this week when he alleged that the claims culture that existed in politics was “like sending kids into the sweet shop with the shelves knee-high off the ground. They were told to help themselves – and they did.”
Sir Roger has a letter in this morning’s Western Mail in which he tries to undo some of the damage done by his earlier remarks:
“I would be grateful if you would publish this letter to make it abundantly clear that, as I state in my foreword to the report, Assembly Members work hard for the people of Wales and deserve their respect.
The point I was making in my interview with your political editor was that the current system of financial support was not devised by the current members, and so they should not be blamed for its failings.”
Perhaps it should be left at that. After all the priority for now must be to get the system right so as to restore trust in politics.
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