MPs' expenses would shame third world dictatorship, police tell Smith reports the Grauniad.
This is why people are angry:
Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, was hauled over the coals by members of the Police Federation of England and Wales.
She was forced to defend expenses and allowances for all public servants, saying they were necessary for them to work effectively.
Steve Morley of the Metropolitan police questioned why so many police allowances, from dry cleaning to extra cash for working on rest days, had been dropped.
He said: "Home secretary, can you explain for the benefit of my members, your electorate, why all our expenses and allowances have been taken away?"
Morley added that some claims by MPs would be "jaw-dropping in a third-world dictatorship let alone in the country of hope and glory".
The police have received a lot of formal complaints (one example) - maybe they are sufficiently pissed off that they will investigate. Certainly the old ones have awakend from their slumber, but that won't get public. Well, maybe they will - after all HMRC has a record to live up to.
