Time to pull out

Wise Words: pull

Some politicians never get enough. Even when they have a reasonably secure job, a regular salary and long holidays, they feel hard done by. They want an expense account as well.

British politicians have recently come under fire for milking the government's expense account system. Legally, they are entitled to have a second home in London if their first home is in their constituency. Trouble is, some politicians have been "flipping" their homes. This means that they turn their main home into a second home so that they can claim back anything they buy for that home. Even Gordon Brown, The Guardian writes, has done this.

It's time to pull the plug on this system. When people start claiming for items that cost pennies to buy (one cabinet member claimed for a bath plug) or that really don't make a difference to their work (for example, a cleaner for the house they are not living in most of the time) they are clearly trying to pull a fast one. They may be legally entitled to such items, but is their behaviour really ethical? If employees tried something similar, most companies woudn't pull their punches.

For the politicians who live more than 40 km away from Westminster, I suggest the government builds a new kind of hall of residence. These politicians can stay there for free. Each room should be furnished like a three-star hotel. A gym, bar and restaurant would no doubt make their stay more enjoyable. But not too much. After all, they're in Westminster to work. They shouldn't have time for luxury. And the taxpayers shouldn't have to pull out all the stops just to make the politicians more comfortable.

Expressions with pull

pull a fast one (on sb.) = jmdn. übers Ohr hauen

If you pull a fast one, you gain an unfair advantage over someone else.

pull the plug on something = einer Sache ein Ende bereiten, etw. sterben lassen

If you pull the plug on something, you stop it from happening or continuing. This idiom is often used when a company has to stop something because the source of money has dried up or pulled out.

pull one's punches = sich zurückhalten

If you pull your punches, you are less harsh than you could be.

pull out all the stops = alle Register ziehen

If you pull out all the stops, you make a huge effort to do something very special. The idiom refers to the stops in a church organ. They are pulled out to make different sounds.