In office and out of touch?

7:00pm Friday 6th June 2008

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HARDLY a day goes by without some politicians getting it in the neck for either being greedy or not having any idea how the rest of us have to live.

If it isn't the MPs' expenses debacle - where the Speaker of the House of Commons used taxpayers' money to try to prevent the taxpayers knowing how much they subsidise our elected representatives - it's South West MEP Giles Chichester, dismissing an EU rule-breaking £400,000 expenses claim as a "whoopsadaisy" moment.

And many taxpayers are still fuming over the knowledge that some MPs have charged them for anything from a pergola and garden plants, to the cost of having their garage cleared, or to supply their second home with new lightbulbs.

Many commentators are claiming that, bolstered by their generous allowances and subsidies (they can all travel first class by train, for instance), MPs don't understand the concerns facing ordinary people.

Yesterday newspapers carried damning pictures of just 15 MPs taking part in a debate on knife-control, sparking yet more claims of out-of-touch-ism. Knife crime claimed the lives of two young men in London last month and is the subject of much debate in the country.

Tobias Ellwood, MP for East Bournemouth and final speaker in the 90-minute session, said after the debate: "I'm saddened. It's late in the week and a one-line whip."

He said turnout did not reflect the issue's importance.

Two or our MPs were asked the price of some basic household goods and just how in-touch they felt they were with the electorate.

Mid-Dorset and North Poole MP Mrs Annette Brooke said she had been unwell and unable to attend the knife debate but understood people's concerns about knife crime.

"If I hadn't felt so unwell I would have attended," she said. "I think the government's done it all the wrong way round and should have put in the supportive measures for young people and then the punishments. But it's taken its eye off knife crime, it's taken its eye off binge drinking with young people, both of which are often related.

"One of the greatest faults of this government is that it gets on one track and misses important things. Knife crime is very, very difficult to solve because the young people think they are protecting themselves."

So, in touch there, but what more mundane matters? How much would she pay for a loaf of bread, for instance?

"I buy these fancy loaves so they are quite expensive," she says. " I do spend about £1 on a loaf of bread. I could buy bread a lot cheaper, though. I could buy bread at 40p a loaf."

Not according to Tesco, she couldn't, which charges anything from £1 to £1.24 for a large sliced.

What about a pint of milk? "I tend to buy it at the House of Commons when I'm in London, to take back to my flat. It's about 45p. In my constituency I have a milkman, so I pay him by the month."

According to Tesco, a pint of milk can cost from 42p to 50p for organic, so spot on with her estimate there.

And what about petrol? How much is a litre of unleaded these days? Annette believes it is: "£1.50 a litre for unleaded." Wrong. Amazingly, the price of a litre of the green-stuff actually costs less - around £1.16.

Christchurch MP Chris Chope was well up to speed, however. "The price of bread? The last time I bought it I paid about £1.15 for a loaf. For milk, for two pints I pay around £1.30, not far off what I pay for one litre of unleaded!"

Not bad at all. But what about knife crime? "It's something I'm concerned about, but I was at the Defence Committee of the Western European Union which was being held in Paris at the time so I couldn't get back."