This Thursday will see elections for the European Parliament taking place. For many of those who can be bothered to vote, the election will be seen as a chance to send a message about the UK MPs Expenses scandal.But are the MEPs immune from all this?

The recent publicity has concentrated rightly on how 'our' elected MPs have been ripping off the public purse left, right and centre. So too by the way have the blue-blooded scrougers in the House of Lords. This is all part of the culture at the top which says that it is OK to pocket a little extra - well, quite a lot actually - whilst moaning about those at the bottom who are just trying to get a few extra pennies in benefit. This same culture enables bosses to claim huge bonuses and then go on to demand wage restraint from the unions. But why should we be surprised? After all, the whole capitalist system functions on the basis that one class (capitalist) exists by stealing the wealth produced by another class (the workers) for their own benefit.

But back to our MEPs sitting in Brussels. They have had more than their fair share of scandals concerning expense claims - thos intending to vote UKIP take note - but little has been said about what they legally can claim by right. Last week's Economist had a short item on the new 'reformed' system they will be enjoying. It is worth reproducing in full:

'The new system offers a €92,000 annual salary and a generous “non-contributory” pension funded wholly by taxpayers. In addition, members will get a €50,424 annual allowance to run a constituency office (though some don’t have one), attendance allowances of €298 a day, and top-up travel expenses worth hundreds of euros a week: no receipts are needed. If that were not enough, in March this year almost 70% of MEPs voted to keep future expenses secret, though some British, Dutch and Nordic parties have promised that their MEPs will publish accounts.'

For the Marxist view of the EU click here