Up until very recently, Britain’s bankers were the lowest of the low, but there is now a group of people who have fallen even lower in public esteem: Britain’s politicians.

In a story that has now dominated newspapers and television for more than a fortnight, revelations about how Members of Parliament have misused taxpayer-funded expenses have turned the nation’s politicians into laughing stocks and hate figures at the same time.

An allowance to pay for a second home near the Houses of Parliament — away from the MP’s home constituency — has been the most abused. Two MPs married to one another spent over $200,000 of the “second home allowance” to help pay for their first family home. One MP claimed $30,000 for a mortgage that had already been repaid. Less expensive but more memorable have been the claims made by one MP to clean out his country house’s moat and another MP’s claim for a $3,000 house for his ducks!

The public, struggling to make ends meet during the most difficult recession in a generation, are incredulous at this extravagance with their money. Watch this or this video to witness the national anger.

The MPs tried to keep the details of their expense claims secret, but the Daily Telegraph newspaper acquired copies of the relevant receipts and has been drip-feeding them to the nation on a daily basis. Its circulation hasn’t been as high for many years.

Half a dozen MPs have already been forced to announce their retirement from politics. One of them was a chief adviser to the Conservative Party leader David Cameron. There is speculation that 20 or even 40 MPs — from all the three big parties — may go by the time the Telegraph has finished probing the massive archive of data it has collected.

It’s difficult to see much immediate benefit from this crisis. My top fear is that it will lead to a big increase in support for fringe parties, some of them extremist. But there may be one big long-term benefit. No British politician will be able to credibly tell the British people that they spend taxpayers’ money wisely for some time. It’s just possible that British taxpayers will become more anti-government than in living memory. Britain certainly needs an anti-state mentality. Public expenditure as a share of national income is set to rise above 50 percent this year as the Brown-Blair Europeanization of the economy that Thatcher built comes to its devastating conclusion.