DRUNK
KIWI SPREE

If the moral test of a government depends on how it treats its piss-tanks, one ought not be upset that the U.K.’s Commons Health Committee felt it was their duty to take a good look at binge-drinking. What does irk the jolly olde taxpayer is that seven backbench MPs had to spend £70,000 and five nights in swank New Zealand hotels to do it.

With the House of Commons apparently ready to accept that U.K. drunks are indeed as troublesome as the rest of Europe says they are, senior MPs gave their blessing to the fact-finding endeavour. Some of the MPs even chose to stay on beyond their five-day official capacity. The MPs insist they worked very hard and spent very little of the money enjoying themselves.

Although 11 MPs from the CHC were granted permission to go on the trip, four stayed behind in Britain—at least two of those because they saw the junket as an unnecessary expense. Anger at the expense comes on the heels of earlier outrage at MPs, including Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, using government funds for everything from personal property fees to pay-per-view porn.

by SCOTT SAXON