EU shenanigans threaten to come to light at a rather inopportune time:
I first heard the rumours on Monday that led me here to details of a secret report that uncovered “extensive, widespread and criminal abuse” by Euro-MPs of staff allowances worth 100 million a year. The first Parliament officials I spoke to knew nothing of the report, so secret it had become. The first MEPs I contacted also knew nothing of the audit (that soon changed, as the excellent Chris Davies stepped up to the plate).
The first line from a Parliament spokesman I got was this: “The report does not name people but contains sensitive information that can easily be linked to individuals. For data protection reasons the report can not be published.”
I also got: “The decision was made by the Secretary General himself (Harald Rømer, a powerful bureaucrat who manages the Parliament’s behind the scenes administration)… They do not want any collateral damage.” Another well placed official explained: “Look we want reform and to do the right thing but we cannot make this report available to the public if we want people to vote in the European elections next year.”
Here’s hoping the socionomics people are correct and that the ongoing economic downturn will demolish this stealthy Enlightenment oligarchy that is attempting to succeed where the National Socialists failed.