JERRY SPRINGER - SPRINGER WADES INTO POLITICAL DEBATE

SPRINGER WADES INTO POLITICAL DEBATE

Chat show king JERRY SPRINGER is so confident of his abilities as a former politician, he has been handing out advice to beleaguered British Prime Minister GORDON BROWN.
Brown has come under fire from the U.K. press in recent weeks over a string of issues, and was slammed after Queen Elizabeth II was left out of the D-Day commemoration ceremony in Normandy, France later this week (06Jun09).
Springer, the former mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, who is currently starring in a West End show, recently met Brown - and was not shy about giving the U.K. leader some stern advice.
He says, "I told him straight up I thought it offensive that the Queen hadn't been invited to go to Normandy on Saturday. Her family stepped up to the plate in the Second World War, after all.
"Brown said he would be going, but I responded that if the head of state isn't going then no one should. He didn't seem too pleased with that."
And Springer hasn't stopped there - he's also taken a swipe at Brown over the expenses scandal involving British politicians, which has seen a string of high profile Members of Parliament (MPs) resign for having over-claimed using tax-payers' money.
Springer insists Brown should follow America's example by keeping all information regarding politicians' salaries and expenses in the public domain.
He adds, "In America, politicians have to file a document every year with their expenses and taxes. Why have the public not been able to look at that before? The people in Westminster who have been seeing these expenses haven't been doing their job and (have) not flagged up the irregularities. If it is the case they are in bed with the MPs, they all have to go."