Politicians’ expenses - They must be named

WHEN scores of British political careers ended in ignominy because MPs claimed expenses for duck houses, moats, tennis courts or mortgages on unused houses, we might have been amazed but we dared not scoff because we did not know what our lot were up to.

Though we do not have anything like the detail that shook the House of Commons, today we report that over €750,000 has been spent on security at the homes or constituency bases of six politicians since 2006. The Office of Public Works oversaw expenditure of €765,495 on the private property of six unknown senior politicians between 2006 and 2009.

Though one politician had work costing a spectacular €285,735 carried out, the average is almost €130,000. Because this stinks to high heaven, we must be told who the politicians are and how many of their colleagues benefited from similar schemes.