Unless you’ve been under a rock or sunning yourself abroad (lucky you), you’ll have seen all the media frenzy concerning MPs’ expenses.
As we saw with Swine flu, this story is likely to run until the media feel they’ve milked it for all they can, or until another major news story comes along.
Back to the MPs.
I heard today on the news that the abuse of the expenses system goes back many years. It’s only now that many of the details are coming to light. What beggars belief to a lot of people is that for the rest of us the rules appear very different.
Take expenses below £25. Apparently receipts are not required for MPs.
Excuse me?
Can you imagine what HMRC would say to you or I if we argued this point? No receipt? No problem, we’ll simply disallow that as an expense claim.
So why should MPs get away with it? One MP on the radio said that it was too complicated and unreasonable to expect MPs to keep lots of small value receipts.
What!?
The way I see it is that they should be subject to the same system as the rest of us. And there should be an independent body that oversees the expenses rules. Not the cushy protocols that apply now.
I’m not holding my breath…
Today is Wednesday and I’m on my way to London to be part of and to speak at an event Arun Mehra of specialist dental accountants Samera is hosting – Work Less, Make More.
I’m sure we can all resonate with that in some way!
I’m really looking forward to it and will let you know the top tips that I’ve picked up on the way back up to Newcastle tomorrow.
Back on the train now, what a day!
Arun ran a fantastic event, with approximately 20 in attendance. Some had travelled from Scotland and Northern Ireland, and there was great interaction during the day.
Here’s Arun and the Samera team:
Even though the event was ‘Work Less, Make More’, to me it was really about Working Less and Being More. In my opinion the whole working culture has conditioned many of us to strive to achieve certain ‘things’ and status in our lives. Whilst many of us do earn a very good income, we don’t always have the time available to enjoy non-work activities.
Only you can decide what is important to you, so I encourage you to take some time to sit down with your significant other and discuss what you both want out of the rest of your lives and then take action, if necessary.
I challenge you to write down 4 goals that you want to achieve during the next 12 months. And, crucially, attach a reason why those goals are important to you.
Having a reason why makes all the difference and will help you stay on track towards achieving what’s important to you.
