Probably not, if the last few weeks news stories are to be believed.
Peter Hain mislaid an amount of money that would buy you a pretty high end Mercedes, or decent Aston for that matter. Then there is Derek Conway (who I never knew existed until this week), who hasn’t been entirely transparent about his parliamentary expenses; they would keep most of us taxed and insured for the best part of a decade or two.
The trouble is that MPs receive some very generous allowances for their travel, which distances them from the everyday reality of transport costs that we have to deal with. That’s why they don’t seem as receptive as they should be about our plight when it comes to road and fuel taxes.
It is interesting to see that they are entitled to with travel all over the country for free whereas we would have to pay just to get to work. Lets quote from the parliamentary website: 'the first 10,000 miles per year is charged at the rate of 40p per mile, and over 10,000 it’s 25p per mile. This is better than 2004/05 mileage rate: which was the first 20,000 miles per year at the rate of 57.7p per mile, and over 20,000 at 26.6p per mile.'
Then there is the first class rail travel and air travel and, oh yes, if you are a right hon' MP with a push bike you can claim an absolutely astounding 20p per mile. Since when did cycling anywhere cost you 20p? The motorbike mileage rate is 24p per mile.
In 2005 it was reported in the Sunday Times that MPs clock up £3m in mileage allowance and one MP drove more than 62,000 miles on parliamentary business, netting mileage expenses of £22,845. It was not possible for Parliament to reveal who that MP was.
So would you buy a car from an MP that has done at least 124,000 miles since 2005?