Expensive Expenses

Frequently subjected to social ostracism, MPs seem to have an uncanny ability to make themselves unpopular. The recent publication of the ‘John-Lewis-List’, in which thousands of pounds of luxurious second home furnishings were revealed to have been claimed on expenses provoked furious uproar, with cries of indignation resounding throughout the country.

Yet, before we join the denunciation of our democratic representatives, perhaps we should step back and take a little look closer to home. Student Direct recently discovered that expenses claimed by some University faculties reached up to an astonishing £240,000 per annum. The data released indicated that although a diminutive amount of money is being spent on what could be called ‘worthwhile’ causes, such as conferences and tuition (this is, after all, a place of learning) the University was in fact blowing thousands of pounds on travel, restaurant bills and ‘entertaining’.

Emerging as the prime culprits, the Faculty of Life Sciences has claimed up to twelve times more than other departments. There seems to be a small sense of the kettle calling the pot black, is there not? Although wining and dining as part of an intellectual elite during your student years is a thoroughly enjoyable occupation, perhaps in this case it has been taken too far and we should be concentrating on conserving money for the things that really do matter.