2013-10-10

American habits the UK should adopt - jailing politicians

And I'm not talking about a few months in chokey for falsifying tens of thousands of pounds of expenses, or eight months for perjury. Ex-mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick is looking at twenty eight years in the slammer for running a criminal enterprise through the mayor's office:

Kilpatrick used his power as mayor … to steer an astounding amount of business to Ferguson. There was a pattern of threats and pressure from the pair.
This wasn't to protect minority contracts. In fact, they ran some of them out of work.
He was larger than life. He lived the high life. He hosted lavish parties. He accepted cash tributes. He loaded the city payroll with family and friends.
He had an affair with his chief of staff, lied about it, and went to jail for perjury.
Note: he's already done time for perjury. The criminal enterprise sentence is on top of this...

I'd personally add a year to the sentence for membership of Mayors Against Illegal Guns which is rampant posturing if I've ever seen it... Still, if we had decade-long jail sentences for criminal financial malfeasance in a public office, I wonder if it would put a brake on trough-wallowing politicos? Or do they inevitably believe "it can't possibly happen to me"?

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