Our democratic system has lost what relevance it had with the nations’ aspirations.

Those who aren’t actually ripping us off have covered up for those who are. The speaker of the Commons, there to maintain high standards, wanted to resign because of his own interpretation of the toothless rules they fashioned for themselves and was persuaded not to. We now see why !

Their Lordships, Including the good and the great, there to provide a check on the Honourable Members in the other place, did not speak a single word against what they all knew was going on. They are tarred with the same brush. The official Opposition did not denounce it, nor did the party leaders or the Standards authorities.

Only after being found out, and forced to do so, do they now speak out against it, to appear as moral revelations from responsible leaders. They should have done this during the long period they allowed it to happen secretly.

All we hear are denials, blame, anger, attacks on those who have revealed their secrets, revenge, bare faced justification about how hard and demanding the job is for too little money.

How many parliamentarians are going bankrupt, jobless, unable to heat or keep their homes, go cap in hand for benefits and risk being branded frauds for what their MPs take as their rights ?

A salesman, like millions in other walks of life, I am grateful for a full working life, long hours given without regret, payment by results and sometimes without a basic salary, never unemployed, my taxes paid in full, providing my own car at times, covering huge areas of GB, averaging 50,000 business miles a year, staying away from my wife and young family.

I created jobs in the factories of Carrs of Carlisle, Campbells kitchens in Kings Lynn, Playtex in Greenock, several other fashion factories around London, Pitney Bowes in Harlow and RR Donnelley at York. We moved house up and down the country many times in the pursuade of our work before returning to York. It was difficult and demanding .

Salesman, sales manager and operations manager, I used expenses to cover acceptable, genuine costs essential to the job, and made these standards a requirement for everybody. They were never there to augment earnings or as an open ended perk. Recruiting was thorough, followed by good training and continuous support. Teams were proud of their achievements and complaints, cancellations rare and faced honesty. High earnings were deserved. Managers trained their own replacements. We lost good people through promotion or moving on to better things, but we had a culture of pride and that led to continued success.

My pride would not allow me to do otherwise. It would have been like saying I wasn’t good enough for the job. I would have been betraying the trust of my employers and customers and being untrue to myself. PEOPLE CREATE SUCCESS BUILT ON RESPECT, TRUST AND CONFIDENCE. LEADERS SET THE STANDARDS WE WORK TO.

When they are low results reflect them, and work becomes a drudge without purpose.

The country is losing its pride and its heart.

The model being handed down is one I am ashamed of. We need to bring the worst offenders to book and punish them, as a strong message that their standards are unacceptable. Introduce a national Government, under some form of Proportional Representation and reduce the power of minority interests as represented in the two main parties. The present system has served its term. We need something better for the future of our descendants and the world we now live in.

As things are, our votes are devalued.