Public Hearings on MP’s Expenses
Sir Christopher Kelly has this morning announced the terms of reference for the The Committee on Standards in Public Life’s Inquiry into MPs’ Expenses. He says:
The aim of our Inquiry is to reform the system of MPs’ expenses to create a new set of rules which are trusted by the public, and which give MPs the support they need to do their jobs.
There will be public hearings, Guido intends to attend those hearings and make a submission through the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics.*
Over the last five years of investigating MP’s fiddles it is fair to say that Guido has become something of an (unwilling) expert on the system and the abuses of the system by which MPs enrich themselves.
Broadly speaking there are some simple principles which need to underpin any new system. Firstly and most importantly transparency. We need a completely transparent system of financing. The best protection we have against shady behaviour is sunlight.
Secondly we need full accounting. Every single penny must be accounted for, it is public money and the public are entitled to know where it goes. If politicians don’t like it, maybe public life is not for them.
*Full disclosure, Guido financially supports the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics. If you want to intern for the Centre (next month) email your resume to team@sunlight-cops.org.uk.
It’s a bloody vote winner too. Their hours of work are a piss take too.
So, let me get this right…
McBroon’s answer to reforming MPs Expenses is to replace the second home allowance (around £23,000.00 annually) with a daily £150.00 ‘turn-up for work’ allowance for MPs who are already being paid a decent Salary for – er – turning up for work.
So if an MP claims for all the days that Parliament sits, they can earn an extra £25,000.00 (or £2,000.00 more than the allowance it is replacing) on top of their Salary and other perks?
I knew I should have paid more attention in Economics class during my schooldays…
Yeah: because they can’t follow the rules, they abolish the rules.
And they won’t have to produce ANY receipts for it -
or stay for the whole day -
or do anything to earn it -
Yes Folks – its a McBroon solution !
Perhaps they should be forced to clock in AND out to prove they were there for a day’s work before they qualify for the day rate.
It staggers me that these so called leaders need to be treated as 5 year old kids.
Any person employed in the public sector should be made to disclose how much they are costing us private sector wallers. All council staff should make their remuneration known, published, and we, the tax payer, should be able to scrutinise and see whether we are getting good value for money. So, in Suffolk, we can ask if a CEO is worth £230k, an FD, who only has to control expenses and would struggle to obtain a well paid job in the private sector, is worth £150k, or whether a Child Seclusion Officer is worth £70k, or a Head Master of a Comprehensive is worth £120k, etc etc. We had a 52 year old teacher retire recently, he informed me that he felt he had worked hard enough, and given his bit to society and therfore could take early retirement. I suggested he went round the village and knocked on all the doors and asked people if they would mind contributing £5 per week so that at 52 he could put his feet up, what response do you think he would receive, he would be told to FUCK OFF you lazy useless public sector Huhne, I think. I have a business employing three staff, virtually no pension to speak of, will probably be working at 65 and will not be bailed out by the system or tax payer. Why do these people think we all owe them a living, because we DONT
your thought process is impecable. well done sir!
@Jonothegreat
If your teacher friend then asked if they didn’t wish to contribute £5 a week for him to put his feet up, and were informed that in that case £20 a week would forcibly be taken off them to enable paying his full salary for another 8 years, what do you think they would prefer?
Just asking, like.
Oh, and once he did retire, that they would then be paying £8 a week for his pension as he now qualified for a full, rather than reduced, pension…
Just goes to show how these people never really left the private school behind, this just reminds me of turning up to school just so you can get your name on the register then bunking off for the rest of the day, yet they are now getting paid for it.
Surely a simpler method would be a Clock in and Clock out system much like the average factory worker has to do? After all if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear right? All whilst being monitored by CCTv of course so you cant get your mates to clock in/out for you.
does that say public hangings on mps expenses?
Send Gordon the shirt off your back campaign at Old Holborn
The Rt Hon James Gordon Brown MP
10 Downing Street
LONDON
SW1A 2AA
.
.
.
Dear Gordon
.
Budget 2009
.
Please forgive the over-familiarity in referring to you as ‘Gordon’ – I felt that this was slightly more acceptable than referring to you as ‘thieving cnut’.
You will be delighted to hear that I have already analysed in detail the minutiae of your Government’s Budget, delivered by your darling Alistair. All I can say is, ‘thank you’.
Thank you for shafting my generation, who will now be paying to you and your like every penny that we earn between now and our retirement, irrespective of how hard we work, how much we try to save, how many jobs we create, or how much wealth we generate for the country.
Thank you for pissing all over my children. They, too, will be unlikely to live long enough to see the repayment of the £1.4 trillion of debt that you have borrowed. Borrowing money is a funny thing. You borrow, you spend, and you pay interest on what you borrowed. And you then pay the money back. Yes, pay it back. It doesn’t come free, for ever, no strings; and you can’t just print more and more and more. You (or more correctly, the generations which follow) must eventually pay it back. You prick.
Thank you for continuing to pay huge swathes of my money to work-shy slobs. By that I do not, of course, mean those that sit on their fat arses watching Cash in the Attic day after day. No, the real ‘work-shy slobs’ that you waste my money on are the armies of public sector layabouts that have never done a real day’s work in their lives. But moan like nothing else about how they are over-worked, under-paid, and under-valued. Well of course they are under-valued; it’s because they do bugger all work in the first place. Sitting about doing hee haw, just waiting on their fat, guaranteed, taxpayer-funded, pension at 52. And did your darling Alistair do anything about it? Bollocks he did.
Thank you for bankrupting our once-great country. See when you need to give the IMF a call, just let me know. I’ll drive over to your grace-and-favour gaff in Downing Street (which I pay for) in my car, which I finance out of the pennies left after I pay you fortunes in income tax and national insurance – a car for which I pay you VAT, road tax, insurance premium tax, fuel tax (and probably a rubber and paint tax if you thought you could get away with it) – and drive you to the IMF myself. I have in the boot a long piece of rope, a bag of cement, and some rather tasty sweeties. Don’t be afraid.
You know, Gordon, we have a lot in common. You are Scottish, so am I; you are a member of the Kirk, so am I; you are a Bluenose (despite your misguided attempts to hide it), so am I. Where perhaps we differ is that you are a podgy, baggy-eyed, lying, immoral, closet homosexual – thankfully I can only lay claim to the podginess. I trust that your convenient marriage to Sarah does not interfere with your previously frequent jaunts to the leather bars of Amsterdam.
I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I am enclosing my shirt. That’s right – the shirt off my back. You might as well have it now as you are going to get it, come hell or high water, anyway. I do hope it fits and is not too whiffy. Not that an arrogant, ignorant, incompetent runt like you would care.
Peace and love, you turd.
That SCOP graphic remains a winner. The sun literally shining out of Guido’s ass hole. Whoever came up with that deserves … all they’ve got coming.
We’re supposed to look up to our MPs, aren’t we? I’d have thought MPs would want the ‘transparency’ to be far higher then the public might expect.
look up to MPs?
Only if they’re 6’5″
One strike and you’re out, you troughing bastards.
MPs should be made to publish a diary of their work on the Web.
It is a prerequisite that Caesar’s wife [and Caesar for that matter] is beyond reproach. Therefore they should have morals far higher than anyone else in any profession. That way they have the right to create rules that we [and they] should be obliged to obey in this private club called ‘UK plc’.
Re Caesar’s wife, Caligula appears to have been the MPs textbook.
This has been a long time coming… how about some of the MPs going the same way as a certain ex-UKIP MEP?
You’re surely not thinking about Gorbals Mick, are you?.
Given that Labour have decided to really mess things up for people on more than £100,000per annum, how about taking up the suggestion that Justine Greening made on Any Questions yesterday evening, and making taxable everything that is not “wholly, necessarily and exclusively” for the purposes of their employment as members of parliament.
I wonder how many would end up becoming bankrupt if that went back even 6 years.
Just where are the Inland Revenue when you need them?
Just a small point can we stop writing billion its losing its meaning and start to write it out : £237,000,000,000, we can now see what it really is. John Redwood did a great speech after the election and summed up all the thoughts that show up on this blog. Check this, good read
http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/
even the “sad” loss of Mr Mc Bride gets a mention.
I think you’ve got it wrong, a billion is a thousand millions, you’ve written two hundred and thirty seven thousand million pounds? If you are trying to wirte two hundred and and thirty seven billion pounds it should be 2370,000,000.00 ( the two final zeros are for the pence). However its written its still to much,were fucked…….
You are a NuLab Treasury spokesperson and I claim my extra zero.
Back of the class Rebecca.
Or is it 2,370,000,000.00, Come on down Tuscan Tony how do you think two hundred and thirty seven billion pounds is written then..
like the original guy wrote it you idiot
No Old Tory has written two hundred and thirty seven thousand million. A billion is a THOUSAND million (nine zeros) not ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILLION (12 zeros, which is what Old Tory has written you ignoramus). Also you express numbers of money differently to ordinary numbers because of the denominations used, that is you need to include cents/pence etc, ergo the final two zeros are preceeded by a full stop rather than a comma which is used to seperate the first nine zeros. Try being an accountant! So up your’s Anoymous.
You said it yourself Rebecca – a billion is 1000 million pounds. Therefore, 237 billion is 237 thousand million pounds (£237,000,000,000). As Old Tory wrote it.
You don’t happen to work for Darling do you?
For the love of God listen will you..two hundred and thirty seven billion pounds is written like this £2,370,000,000.00, that is one million two thousand three hundred and seventy times. You have written one million, two hundred and thirty seven THOUSAND times. Or 23.7% of a trillion which is a million millions.
rebecca,
I wouldn’t bother trying to reason with dullard daleks like posh tory. they are running on a programme that is updated daily from central office via youtube.
they have no brains, they are intellectually bereft.
they are just millionaire daleks and they who would feel much, much safer if they could only exterminate..exterminate the working class.
tories = the bankers friends.
if we strung the tories up at the same time as the bankers we would be making great progress.
REBECCA DID YOU GO TO A BOG STANDARD COMPREHENSIVE?
try
237,000,000,000.00
Bekkie says
For the love of God listen will you..two hundred and thirty seven billion pounds is written like this £2,370,000,000.00, that is one million two thousand three hundred and seventy times. You have written one million, two hundred and thirty seven THOUSAND times. Or 23.7% of a trillion which is a million millions.
Bekkie wrong. stay in after school.
and write it out 237 billion times, or 237 times ten to the nine, or 237,000,000,000.
The thing is do we use true billions, i.e. million million, or the US billion, thousand million, that they used to make themselves sound richer than they are in fact?
If it’s true billions then we are well and truly done over – if it’s US billions we’re only buggered.
Right, I’ve just been out for a strong black coffee to clear the brain cells and come to a conclusion and here’s a first for Guido, I WAS WRONG. It is actually written £237,000,000,000.00. Right now that I’ve got that of my chest you can **** off.
bad attitude Bekkie.
one should show humility and then apologise unreservedly, unless of course you are a NuLabrador
I think Rebecca that you are perfect for a very senior job in the Treasury. I joke not, they are always on the look out for people who can help with the issuance of gilts.
So how would you write twohundred and seventy four billion and fifty five thousand.
If you make it look not very much you’re in.
completely out of order. Rebecca should instantly leave the building, not speak to anyone for two months, let her personal advocate place ads in all the papers expressing deep regret, then turn up on Jonathan Ross and cry a lot.
Apropos of nothing in particular, I would like to announce that I once groped a junior Treasury Minister in a haystack.
Complete transparency and cost effectiveness are the definite ‘musts’ for any new system – but equally important in my view is the ability to prosecute anyone who is found to be fraudulently claiming expenses…
They’re all currently ‘at it’, because they can all get away with it without any fear of criminal prosecution. Rectify that, and the expense system will clear itself up…
Of course, the best way to do that would be to change the law retrospectively (as they wanted to do with the FoI act to hide their expenses) – make past fraudulent claims open to criminal prosecution, then have a couple of show trials… Jacqui Smith, Tony McNulty, Derek Conway & Caroline Spelman. A public, televised, trial followed by a long spell in prision… I bet the amount MPs claim as expenses would drop by half overnight!
And surely the Despicable Wintertons and Keens.
Not forgetting that grasping pair of Balls.
Now there’s a thought…grasping a pair of Balls… Nurse the screen!!!
I think all MP’s expenses should be picked up by their own constituency party. Perhaps then parties will select the more frugal of the applicants.
Better still, let parties put up more than one candidate for elections. We could vote for the party , and additionally select our preferred candidate from that party. The party with the most votes gets the seat, the candidate with the highest percentage of selected preferences gets the job. Then we can ensure that we can get rid of the freeloaders (as well as those annoying parachuted candidates) without being forced to vote against the party we would prefer to be in power!
John Redwood asked why do we need six layers of government ( He mentioned “Regional” as the latest. Can someone tell me what the “six layers” are, and why we need them. Also, why do we need so many MPs?
My North Yorkshire village has:
• Parish council: OK
• Scarborough Borough Council: shiftless, inept and in some places corrupt
• North Yorkshire County Council: “if your former foster sister is kiled or seriously injured by the incompetent cretins we have contracted to care for her Social Services and about whom you have repeatedly warned us, will worry about bodyswerving responsibility then”.
• North Yorkshire National Parks Authority: “No you can’t”. Unelected. with planning an economic development powers. Should all be impaled.
• Regional Office for Yorkshire and The Humber. Lobster pot bait.
• An MP. Tory. Talks a lot, does fuck all, claimed to within £100 of max second home expenses, employs wife. Trougher.
• MEPs. Not sure what they do.
7 layers.
Grex – I used to work for GOYH and I can completely confirm that it is utter, utter bollox. Seriously, I reckon I could knock out vast tranches of the various departments and strata of bullshit bureaucracy by Friday and no-one would have a fucking clue.
That the same Scarborough Council that sold a £400 million pound road to developers (with links to council members) for a quid?
Public hearings hmmm – what entertainment that will be.
Is it being televised as well?
*rubs hands in anticipation*
*places bulk popcorn order*
To be fair i watched Cameron on Sky last night, and he seemed to be proposing some reasonablely transparent measures in conjunction with Cleggover. Of course control freak McNutter wouldn’t entertain them.
Did anyone else notice the scornful and comtemptable look Darling gave Broonhilda in response to his loonysmile backslapping after yesterdays Budget announcement, see todays Mail. Surely its a given now that Brown isn’t just deluded, he is actually seriously mentally ill.
I think it’s more of a fact he’s got serious mental issues. I’ve known it for years and I’m glad it’s now in the open.
brown is being prescribed amphetamines to counter his depression.
TaT – how come he’s such an obese twat that (no offence to your boyfriend or my sweet & floral hound)
Anyone know a good psychotherapist? To get a real professional they must be a member of BACP, so if anyone does immediately spring to mind you’ll have to be quick.
dick, er do try to keep up!
brown has lost weight.
I also think his doctor prescribing him amphetamines is aggravating his mental illness. his doctor should be struck off really.
You don’t think that scornful look had anything to do with the possibility the bogeyminer might have just wiped one on his jacket, do you?
1. No second home allowance. MPs should be paid capped expenses for night’s in London and required to provide receipts. Vouchers not cash for transport.
2. No allowances for Party Political propaganda – Parties can pay for that.
3. Constituency offices and staff to be provided by constituency party.
4. London staff – from a typing pool at the HoC and a pool of researchers for when needed.
That’ll do for a start.
Then we need a new Reform Bill, not of the Lords but of the Commons.
BTW do the members of the Lords get salaries? No? An attendance allowance instead of? Perhaps that’s the way MPs should be paid.
1. Difficult to provide receipts for rented accomodation on a nightly basis.
2. Already against the rules.
3. So an independent MP who needs a researcher or 2 to help with case work in the constituency will pay for this how? How will using party donations help with case work? Much better to have them employed by HM.
4. Because a Labour leaning researcher is going to do a good job for a Tory MP – or any pool researcher will do a good job for (God forbid this from ever happening) a BNP MP? Bollocks.
Are our underworked mp’s to have untaxed reward for turning up?. We all have to pay tax so why should they be exempt.
To be fair – 3 day weeks, 30 weeks a year and a bit of constituency work with no discernable output as Parliament has been traduced, select committees irrelevant, all work done by Spads & eager young things – weeelll, no qualifications or enthusiasm necessary – tough gig really for their subsidized grog and grub.
If you think civil servants take the piss then fuck knows how MP’s aren’t fighting for transparency – it beggars all reason.
And thirdly …….
Legislation implementation penalising any transgressions including, but not limited to:
(a) fines based on multiples of the quantum of the transgression starting at 20
(b) unpaid suspension from the house starting at a minimum of 2 weeks.
(c) bans from holding any public office – minimum period 6 months
(d) custodial sentences
Come on, BOF. Item (c) is a ridicululous tariff.
Try “For integer multiples of the maximum period of the elected office for which the miscreant stood. For Rebecca (Post 89 above) this means whole numbers starting at 1, then going 2, 3, 4 etc. And the minimum integer should be the number of times the politician has been caught with their hand in the till, not how many times they have been caught before. So for example, Jaqui Smith claimed for 2 porno films that we know about, so that is a minimum of 2 times 5 years for the porno films alone from any public office or employment in the public sector. and since the loss of the job was due to their own misconduct, perhaps we ought to have special rules about no benefits for that period too.
The deterrent effect is a complex function of what happens if they get caught and the likelihood of getting caught. If all expenses are made publicly visible, and a separate civil servant, who must make a public announcement if anyone attempts to contact him or her about payments to MPs, has to publicly display all payments to our honourable members, then we should have the problem sorted out.
An additional principle, which applies to all us “lesser” mortals, is that any money made on, or benefit derived from, expenses should be taxed. MPs should be force to fill out a P11D … that will screw them!
Don’t forget,
they should have their special status with regard to taxable benefits removed and suffer the random HMRC investigations that the rest of us have to.
Do I get expenses commensurate with the position of “intern”?
TAG A TORY : label a lib : Locate a NuLab There is a case for the electronic tagging of our lying pork busting MP’s, at least we would know if the expenses chits marry up and exactly how much time they actually spend in da house. Even so everyone knows that London black cabs will hand over books of blank reciepts if the tip is right…
The Sunlight logo looks more like a bomb going off – or a gunpowder explosion. Which is of course what’s needed.
As long as its not ‘little weed’
I’ve just worked it out ! Darlings eyebrows come off! He’s really Paul O’Grady with a punch and judy swazzle in his throat! Thats the way to do it!
The presumption of honour that these people enjoy in the house should be consigned to the British Museum. A skeptical approach to matters from which they are able to benefit is clearly what is required.
My MP said to me very recently in a conversation “when all this MP’s expenses nonsense is over….”
And he is a Conservative. And he has claimed £94,848 (ACA) past 5 years This cost apparantly goes toward a property near the H of C where he spends 3 nights a week. (No idea if it is used during the months of recess). Easily commutable daily by public transport.
So that’s £18,969.60 pa (tax free) = £51.97 per day incl weekends. Remove say 12 weeks pa holidays (sorry recess) say 84 days, w/e 104 days, shall we say 3 days sickness pa?, travelling abroad on Commons jollies say 14 days pa = 205 days. Therefore approx 160 days requirement for overnight stay. Therefore the taxpayer pays tax free £118.56 per night.
Doesn’t sound much, but using a hotel means the cash is spent; we are buying this chap a home. The property should be sold on his leaving as an MP and funds returned to taxpayers.
And this MP is one of the more honest decent guys…(who I would vote for)
The Sheeple are waking up
Strange definition of honest – and I’m a staunch Tory
One thing that fails to separate the parties is expenses.
They’re all at it
They are all at it, and thats why the tories are so deafeningly quiet.
Francis Mauds second freebie home is yards from his first etc.
Ever since I can remember as a schoolkid it always seemed to be British voters choice of labour or tory was actually one between incompetence or corruption.
Nothings changed since then. I still don’t vote.
New labour since 97: Blair then Brown = war then recession.
“We need a completely transparent system of financing.”
Bloody right. No longer are our MPs trustworthy enough to not need to submit reciepts. It’s complete bullshit.
They need to get with the real world. If I told my boss I spent a couple of hundred quid on entertaining clients, and then tried to recoup this with no reciepts I’d be told to get stuffed.
ANYTHING that an MP claims on expenses should need a receipt. Before the expenses are paid out, part of the process must be a copy of the expense claim AND a copy of the receipt MUST be placed on the internet for everyone to see. If the receipt is not readable then the expense is not claimable. NO EXCEPTIONS. No ‘security exceptions’ bullshit. If the public who are paying the bill can’t see the receipt then the expense MUST be denied.
I’m guessing there would be a lot less claims for bath plugs and antique fireplaces if the MP in question knew for a fact it would be put up on the net the day before the expense claim was accepted.
I’d like to see the amount of time the HoC spend on holiday reduced by at least half. More if possible.
I’d like to see it at least doubled. While they’re not there they can’t fuck anything up.
Maybe better to pay a daily non attendance allowance then
Unlike the Government’s Frank, this one is absolutely spot on.
I don’t know. I quite like the idea of a tax free per diem allowance for turning up at work.
175 quid a day, 240 days a year is 42,000 a year.
yep, I think I could get my employers to change salary to a per diem.
That is, unless the MPs make a special tax rule just for themselves.
Why do we need over 600 MPs for such a small island – especially as most of the real decision making is done in Europe by a bunch of unknown troughers in any case.
I doubt we even need 300.
Most of them are clone droids anyway..no original thought, just follow the party line…Stephen Pound is a good example, token dalek for Zanu. Why should they earn more than £25k to do this!!?
I see Obama is talking about making some Bush aides face trial for their recommendations on ‘rendition’ Now if that catches on maybe we could have a real enquiry into David Kelly, sexed up dossiers, and the Iraq war culminating in criminal charges….
Please ?
Please ?
Pretty Please ?
Aye and none of the convicted NuLabor traitors should be allowed their pensions when they finally get out on licence.
The irony is that most private companies already now how to implement rules making it very difficult to abuse. Here is how.
MP’s have a choice,
Transport
1. Company car, in which they have a choice depending on their pay grade, these are fleet managed with private companies and all managed by HR. The cost of the car per month is added to their wages and is taxable so the more expensive the car the less money they get from their salary. Some companies say that you can receive the same value for the fleet car towards your own car, I say no they can’t be trusted with that one. All maintenance of the fleet car is done for them and is part of the monthly cost and fuel is available on their fuel card that will only dispense fuel for that car.
or
2. They are purchased a season rail ticket, which the value of is added to their wages and they are taxed on it.
Accommodation
A good time to purchase houses, Westminster should buy a load of properties and rent them to MPs. We could have a similar system to the car where their pay grade give them entitlements to say a better flat. The cost of the flat/house is added to their wage and they are taxed on it. The flats are furnished with the basics, bed, sofa kitchen and table, any extras are down to the MP. They must put down a deposit and during the summer council maintenances crews will clean and paint the house and repair any damage.
Sustenance
They can eat as much as they like, but they ain’t getting reimbursed for it.
Secretaries
Parties hire a small office of dedicated secretaries to organise the schedule of their parties MPs. All you need these days is a blackberry and you can be totally sorted. They may if they wish have the blackberry paid for my public Money. These secretaries are also their paymasters and will keep detailed records of where the MPs are, what they are doing. They will have to call in sick and produce doctors note etc. Failure to follow employment guidelines will result in a verbal warning followed by a written warning and then termination of contract.
There you go no brainer really.
John Prescott would choke on his two pies if he read that!
Good stuff though.
Sorry also in addition, they get 4 weeks holiday a year which will go to 5 after they have been in public employment for 5 years. They are expected to work 37 hours per week, Travel does not count as working and neither does lunch. They can have flexible time but within reason.
I made this same points on HYS
1. Give them a Train Pass
2. Give them a Hotel Pass
3. Give them a Meal Pass
Also as the housing marking is in decline what about the government buying 600 houses in the london area for the MPs and we RENT THEM OUT TO THE MP
joolz
How about running a “Targetting Expenses Fraud” poster campaign around Westminster?
I’d certainly chip in a few quid for that.
Ah yes, the Gravy Train. Choo choo, choo choo. Thanks suckers!
Send Brown the shirt off your back: SEND BROWN-A-SHIRT
Join Old Holborn’s campaign.
PM Gordon Brown: “Mandy, the papers have smacked our bottom this morning”
Lord Mandleboyz: “Mmmm”
BUT – Kevin Maguire thinks our budget has WON the election Gordon ! He thinks that our “wheeze” to divide the Tories over tax has “sealed the deal” with the electorate – rob the “rich” to pay the poor our “core voters” are ecstatic !!!!
And let’s face the majority are too thick to realise that we’ve “fucked over” the country !!!!!
Guido,
Can I assume ‘intern’ is in this case a synonym for unpaid?
Don’t forget that all the under 25′s that pass our course – will graduate with a degree in burger flipping from the Ronald MacDonald Institute and a guaranteed job at their local burger van!!!!!!
Forget daily living allowances. Send home all the illegals living in the tower blocks round Elephant and Castle and use the empty flats as ‘free’ accomadation for MP’s. Westminster is only 3 stops away on the underground. No money for food (they’d still have to eat at home at their own expense) Then let them tell us about integrated and diverse communities where everyone gets along just fine like in the Queen Vic. And after a couple of evenings walk to the take-away let them tell us how safe the streets are at night in a country where criminals have more rights than the victims. Best not to leave the ministerial Jag. unattended for too long either because it will either be nicked, trashed or have a ticket slapped on the screen, then clamped, and towed away. Let them live in the society they have created and then maybe they may accept it’s not quite the bed of roses they claim it to be.
Amen.
We are trying to treat them like adults not prisoners of war. However, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water since this accommodation block idea has got legs. We could even get a specialist designer in to engineer the tower block. That lad who did Ronan Point might be a good as project consultant.
Elephant and Castle is too good for them, I favour Myatt’s Fields Estate myself (like a dystopian and very depressing computer game) where they can hang out in the vibrant, diverse society they created.
PS By vibrant and diverse I mean teenage gang member murdering another teenager because he wouldn’t convert to Islam and join their criminal gang.
Did Viz add “Urban Vibe” to their Profanisaurus a few months back?
Quite right too. If he won’t convert to Islam, what does he expect.
Quite honestly I would deport all the whites and then we would have less trouble on the streets.
Make being white a debarment issue from the commons and all sorts of problems would be solved at a stroke.
Personally I would like to be deported to somewhere warm where English is spoken – but I digress
are we talking about the Elephant and Castle public house in Bexhill?must admit a lot of ‘strangers’ in there last time I went. don’t remember the tower blocks..but then I was on The Magnificent Gordo special ale.
“Tony, why has Brown hit high earners in yesterday’s budget”?
Just as well we’re doing so much offshore work these days, isn’t it?
Harpie Harpoison can’t get her words out right this morning.
“He asked about…..the…..ummm…..ah….”
Guilt – or the effects of Gaultier poisonong from the pants for Rhondda?
Sunlight link doesn’t work?
My two pennies worth….
ALL MPs to be paid a basic salary of £150’000.
Wait. There’s a rider here.
ALL MPs from outside daily commuting distance to be paid an overnight allowance of up to £120 provided that it is supported by hotel receipts. Gov to negotiate rates with Westminster hotels. No second homes, if you stay with relatives you don’t get anything from us.
ALL MPs to get second class rail travel paid to attend parliament (taxable of course). Bought as a yearly card.
Central bank of support staff at HOC paid on set rates as per civil service. Can be family members if they are suitably qualified but taxed at normal rates with oversight to check that they work the required hours.
Tax rates as per normal working man.
That’s it. Nothing more. No more money.
Now here’s the rider on that lovely large salary. They are paid the £150’000 if they get 100% of the vote. If they don’t then they get the share that their vote reflects i.e. if they poll only 33% of the vote they only get £51’000. If they poll 50% they get £75’000.
Would incentivise them to work for their constituency wouldn’t it to increase their votes, and therefore their pay, at subsequent elections.
That should be the percentage of those eligable to vote, not just the percentage of those who actually voted.
Just being serious for a minute. I agree sunlight is good but having read the previous rules there is not that much wrong (surprised). The problems originate in how the MP’s have interpreted them. Worse still how the authorities have supported these warped interpretations. Even more unfairly how the rules effectively ban the tax man from grabbing a slice.
The public would be content if expenses paid were to support the MP in their duty as MP both “wholly, necessarily and exclusively” and “value for money”. To ensure this most if not all must be receipted.
The choice of getting it all checked before being paid or punishing those that cheat is up to them. I’d favour financial penalties like paying back ten times the error plus £5,000 for each case. With such a rule and spot checks the problems would quickly go.
Just to give an idea even under current rules correctly applied Jacqui Smith would have been able to claim for the bed sit but not her house, not the plug or the videos. Her husband’s travel would appear very suspect and need more explanation. Any MP thinking of remortgaging or renting on to get more expenses would find it blocked.
Also note if the tax man was allowed to tax MP’s expenses that were not WNE he could realy go to town on the bad guys – seven years of back tax would cause real pain.
Billbo9…. we think alike, see 74 below….. happy to be joint-Regulator if you fancy it?
Great Idea. I’d even do the job for a year on minimum wage plus reasonable expenses. That’s not a joke. Honest democracy is that important to me.
Expenses reform, my arse. Sack Parliament Now.
At the risk of being ridiculed……
…. the current system as documented isn’t the problem and makes reasonable sense…..
… the problem is that MPs have been claiming for costs that have not been necessarily incurred in performing their duties and/or which have not been the lowest cost option…. which the green book says they shouldn’t… and their claims have not been rejected….
… instead there appears to have been a tacit nod and wink that anything goes if you want to claim the full allowances….
the lack of transparency has allowed this to happen.
Any new system will continue to lack the support of the public if it is not policed, so what’s the point of inventing one?
The answer is simple:
1) stick to the current rules for now
2) put in effective policing – I’ll do it if they’re stuck for someone
3) publish the details of claims made, claims rejected and claims paid within 48 hours
R56
I agree with your points. well made.
Gordon Brown has defended his daily allowance. Apparently lots of MP’s don’t turn up so if we paid them an extra £150 a day we could all feel better because more would turn up.
Please tell me he’s off his head – Its like saying his MP’s are a bunch of theiving kids that no one should trust. If you MP does not work vote them out.
If your a Labour MP ask yourself why your PM wants you to clock in – he dosen’t trust you – that must hurt.
Unless some anarchist blows the whole lot of them to bits nothing will change, even if you put a 50% tax rate on the conniving rodents they would still milk the public.
Politics in the UK is now; do as I say and not as I do.
And do you know: its our own fault. We have let these weasels get to this point as there is not a single independent thinker amongst the whole boiling willing to challenge the status quo and shout the Emperor has no clothes.
The budget is a load of meaningless drivel. If any company produced such a load of old tosh as Darling and Labour have, they would be wound up and likely the directors banned for incompetence.
Dave and Osbourne are no better. Maybe a better way than mucking around re-arranging the fiscal seats on the Westminster deck of the Titanic is to have a legal requirement that all MP’s must have worked in a proper job and not just as party hacks and be of at least 30 years of age and that the rules for MP’s expenses are the same as for every other self employed worker in the country. Second homes would not be such a smart idea if the MP’s were paying 50% tax on them as a benefit in kind!
O/T
According to the BBC the stage is set for ‘Jade Goody – The Musical’.
Cue Gilbert and Sullivan
‘She is the very model of a modern fucking imbecile…’
I bags playing Jade..!
If Jade Goody, alive or dead, walked into the Cabinet Room, the total IQ would be doubled!
I’d like to see them investigated by HMRC PAYE compliance teams on the legal basis that the rest of us have to live by.
And hit with the same stick of penalties and interest.
The Penguin.
Scottish M.P’s for years stayed at the Caledonian Club Halkin Street SW1 at penny rates, much to the chagrin of ‘normal’ members and the Mp’s would be branded bedblockers, they rarely used the Club Restaurant and Bar, as the palace of westmionster catering and bozze was subsidised (!) they would get the overnight sleeper Sunday night pay for four nights room and back on the friday evening sleeper. so only four ngihts per week hotel accomodation required and anther reason for the House of Commons being empty on Mondays and Fridays..
perhaps a the troughing pigs should publish their tax returns, particularly those self serving ‘ministers’ with odd second homes, and those who havwe been employing family members.
But Guido, what should happen to people who give misleading disclosure?
Jimmy – I think PPER 2000 has some words to say on misuse of public funds and undeclared freebies and they are: ‘criminal prosecution’.
Sadly both Labour and the Conservethemselves have said that PPER does not actually say what the law says it says but like Humpty in Alice Through the Looking Glass, it says what ever they say it says (except of course if your name is Tom Wise, you are ex-UKIP then PPER says exactly what it says on the tin).
So while PPER 2000 says that Hain, Wendy Alexander, Straw, Harman, Smith et al are liable to criminal prosecution for their non disclosures the Westminster Humpty Dumpty says it is OK and Mr Plod will not be called if they apologise to the ‘House’, anyway the poor souls did not know the rules and PPER is still bedding in even though it has been law since being given the Royal Ascent in April 2002.
I was thinking more of the situation where someone gave information about their finances which whilst technically accurate was plainly designed to mislead, or may even have subsequently altered their financial position substantially without disclosing the change. Your point about prosecution is well made. Good to see a blog making the case for transparency and ethical behaviour.
Problem: MPs treat their allowances as salary
MPs’ solution: makes allowances salary
MP’s reasoning:
- No need for receipts, so can spend it on what we wanted to in the first place without having to pretend it’s all on necessary subsistence etc
- Will also increase the pension entitlement, don’t you know: sneaky one that, let’s hope no one notices
Just a thought or two:
- What other jobs have are guaranteed for up to 5 years, paid more than double the national average wage, live off expenses, and with a gold-plated pension? Hmm… only Fred The Shred, and look what Mrs Harman said should happen to him
- Converting expenses into salary DOES NOT equal transparency
Good work Mr Fawkes – keep setting the agenda and keep digging away at our ‘leaders’.
You finally got your Fax from Conservative HQ then, a bit vague isn’t it?
The only thing stransparent about the Conservative position is that they don’t have a position.
Where’s the response to the second jobs transparency? (ssshhh!)
You’re like an ostrich with its head in the sand.
We can see you, Guidiot/PeeStains, we can see you!
Its up to them!
MP’s are rightly embarrassed about their scams concerning allowances and expenses.
They really have to get reform completely right if they want the stigma of their blatant dishonesty and failing credibility to go away.
Utterly Transparent, Reasonable and Justifiable in the Taxpayers interest.
Otherwise MP’s huffing and puffing smoke and mirrors slide into disrepute will continue and more and more people sitting at home in protest on election night is the very real prospect for the UK.
That’s another fine mess you’ve got us in to!
how much of their income will MP,S pay tax on. !!!!!!! in particular the new proposed higher rate. Ill bet you that their expenses will be tax free thus lining their pockets with our money !!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh !!! and surely now, we certainly cannot afford to pay MP,s their gold plated pensions at our expense
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1172974/Good-times-ARE-just-round-corner-Budget-doubles-ministers-wine-dine-party.html
this from the daily mail. party budget for government ministers is being doubled.
MP’s are the individuals we trust to run our country, to abide by the laws they lay down, the same laws that they then disregard, (for the rest of us mere mortals) their actions would be dealt with in the Courts, probably classed as Fraudulent Accounting or Theft, followed by a Prison Sentence, with their assets being frozen and Confiscation Orders being applied……….. but NO! strings are pulled the POLICE don’t get involved…………. so they pay back a minimal amount to make them look good and apologetic,and walk away SCOT-FREE!!! Is this not “One rule for THEM another for US” and should we accept this ?? I THINK NOT !