Not just the politicians

Fiddling is a factor of life, doesn't matter where you work or even don't work, you usually know someone who's on the fiddle assuming of course it isn't yourself. Often it's minor, a few additional miles on the motoring expenses, free pens and stationary, even the use of the photocopier for personal stuff.

Our politicians are at it too, save only on a far larger scale than most of the public would dream of doing, well not without worrying about the possibility of prison anyway. But it's not just the Politicians, it's also our civil servants, those who implement government policy.

Independent.

Crooked civil servants have cost government departments more than £12m over the past three years through a series of frauds, including bogus benefit claims and expenses fiddles.

Managers caught more than 1,000 staff responsible for £4.2m worth of thefts and fiddles in the past year alone, an analysis by Treasury bosses has shown. The figure comes on top of £4.2m last year and £3.85m in 2006-07.

The toll of 1,320 cases in 2008-09 was almost double the total uncovered in the previous 12 months – and at least one of the cheats was caught selling their stolen goods on the internet site eBay. However, not all the perpetrators were reported to the police or confronted with internal disciplinary action.

The disturbing findings open up a new front in the campaign against the misuse of taxpayers' money, following the long furore over MPs' expenses.

The Treasury's study of 45 central-government bodies, including all main departments, found that 25 had discovered fraud in 2008-09. It noted a "significant increase" in the number of cases, particularly those exploiting assets and information, travel and subsistence fiddles and theft.

The most expensive payment fraud was carried out by a member of staff who banked more than £350,000 by creating false records and authorising fraudulent repayment claims. The employee was dismissed and faces legal proceedings.

Another fraudster cheated their department of £246,400 by creating invoices for a non-existent supplier, quoting a virtual office address and fictional Companies House and VAT registrations.

So, it's not just those making the laws, it's those who implement them too. Not that every civil servant is a crook in pretty much the same way anyone who makes a genuine mistake on a benefit claim isn't a crook, though you'd be hard pushed to get the government to admit that, at least in the case of the benefitee.
Corruption seems to be endemic throughout our society, in one sense it's human nature, but in another it's also an indicator of a change coming on how society views itself. I suppose it's also a sign of decadence amongst those who rule perhaps as well as hypocrisy in that what they allow themselves to take without prosecution they will not allow anyone else. It will be interesting to see when (or if) an enough is enough moment comes. Where those who purport to rule face the wrath of the public. Perhaps though it will not and we'll go quietly robbed into the night saving only our anger for an X Factor voting dispute.
They say people get the government they deserve.

Perhaps we have, perhaps we have.