guardian editorial today -
'It is simply not on to dish out money and then turn round several months later and suddenly demand the cash back. So ruled the court of appeal yesterday, forcing the government to write off welfare overpayments it had been busily trying to claw back from 65,000 claimants who had fully complied with the rules. The judgment places the responsibility for maladministration squarely with the administrators, and acknowledges the great difficulties with retrospective redress. The people's representatives should have been celebrating this important coup for their most vulnerable voters. But the only botched admin most MPs are concerned about just now is that of the Commons fees office, and the only retrospective justice stirring indignation in Westminster is Sir Thomas Legg's demand for the return of excessive parliamentary allowances.'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/15/mps-expenses-repayments-legg-letters
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