MPs fiddling expenses worse than smoking crack say Londoners

Photograph by Gene Hunt

The distrust of the British public in MPs has been highlighted once again in a recent YouGov poll in which Londoners said they would be more likely to call for the resignation of a politician for fiddling their expenses than smoking crack cocaine.

Crack cocaine is less of a problem in the UK, but its use has hit the headlines recently after Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was forced to admit to smoking it after being caught on camera. A number of British MPs have admitted, however, to sniffing cocaine in their younger days.

The British public would be more likely to want a resignation for an MP fiddling their expenses (85%), failing to pay their taxes (83%), or accepting gifts whilst in office (81%) than for smoking crack (72%), sniffing cocaine (65%), or frequenting prostitutes (64%).

Londoners appear to draw a clear line between acts of corruption, which many believe remain rife within the political class, and personal vices of drugs, sex, or alcohol.