“Sorry” Isn’t Good Enough
Serfs cleared moats in feudal times, Douglas Hogg submitted a receipt to the fees office listing the £2,000 cost of clearing his moat, Sir Michael Spicer, claimed £5,650 in nine months for his gardening and hundreds of pounds for hanging a chandelier in his main manor house.
David Heathcoat-Amory makes us pay for his shit, literally, with £380 claimed for horse manure for his garden.
David Davis, who made his name as a hawkish fiscal disciplinarian on the Public Accounts Select Committee, disappointingly spent more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on doing up the house and buying soft furnishings.
Michael Ancram, (the Marquess of Lothian), claims tens of thousands for the upkeep of his £8 million of properties.
Sir Alan Haselhurst, the Deputy Speaker, claimed £142,119 for the upkeep of his country home, despite having no mortgage to pay.
James Arbuthnot and Stewart Jackson have the good sense to have promised last night to repay their pool cleaning claims. Notice this is only for a few hundred pounds, not exactly a great hardship.
Sorry won’t be enough. They should all pay back the money they have claimed for feather-bedding their nests. Members are responsible for the probity and propriety of claims submitted. This bluster about it all being approved by the Fees Office, therefore it is not down to the individual MP, is spin and an abdication of responsibility by those culpable. The rules are very clear, in signing for allowances, “the MP’s signature verifies that the expenditure was wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties”.
Swimming pools, roses and chandeliers are not necessary for the performance of an MP’s duties. We want our money back, sorry won’t be good enough. No matter how grand, no matter what the excuse, no matter which party. If they won’t give it back, we want them sacked.
lets hope they start on Council troughing next,
Come on Cameron, : There’s an open goal for Dave, here : get on with it, man.
These bastards can afford to pay the money back, then you can take the piss out of Labour, who can’t.
Pour Encourager Les Autres
Keel-hauling is cheaper
That attitude goes along way to explaining why Labour still has a core support. This is not about Labour or Tory, it is about corrupt politicians of whatever tribe, and paying back what’s been stolen is not good enough. If a bank robber is caught, will you allow him to pay back what he has stolen and carry on robbing banks? Will you let him off because he votes tory?
If the Tories think we of “the right wing blogosphere” are going to be softer on them than we are on ZanuLieBorg (or the Cleggies for that matter) then they have another think coming.
The problem ultimately is not _just_ the GramscoFabiaNaziLieBorg scumbags, irremediably evil, wicked and premeditatedly in-your-face though they of curse are: the problem is the politicians we have allowed ourselves to be saddled with, while our back was turned. What Sean Gabb calls The Enemy Class is universally spread across all parties (except possibly the LPUK.)
Dave, PLEASE just sack the bastards, don’t drag yourself down to the same level as Hoon Broon nor Mr Speaker – the public expect the next government to be above this, if you don’t deal with it the next government could well be led by someone other than you…
They should pay the money back. Then they should be sacked. And then the police and Inland Revenue should be called in. Nothing else is going to satisfy the rage.
Ha! : Told you so
The Tory “Grandees” could easily afford to pay back the money, whereas the Labour “Flat-Flippers”, whose money is tied up in devalued flats, could not. A great opportunity to score points, eh?
Expect Cameron to go on the attack now: “Why can’t they do the same?”
Good point. Councilor’s expenses and all their trips need looking at. Definately money should be paid back with interest.
Amen to that.
If we get a grip on politicans & councils & the BBC’s spending of our money the economy may not look so bad.
I am beginning to see the point of yer Muso weakness fer chopping bits off – hands, – etc.
In public of course!
Or does that go against oomun roights?
I’d get a grip of the fuckers!!
Those MP’s have’nt got a clue. Get yourself into a nice rotten borough like mine. I control allowances,so my loyal placemen are beholden to me. i’m directly elected with no opposition so they can’t organise a coup. The local paper is in my back pocket, no worries about pesky journalists poking their noses in. The only other local publication is produced by me, plenty of photo opportunities, and i’ve got my own private police force. The wages are better than Gordo’s, with none of the flak.
And you were given RIPA to make sure no-one tries to change a thing
Sir Robin, I like the cut of your jib. How does one apply to a rotten borough?
Frankly I don’t see why I should sit here and work for a living when there’s a perfect opportunity for me to rip off the taxpayer with minimal effort.
I did not see any party leader complaining about MP’s expense toughing twelve months ago!
How convenient now then to slap a few wrists, have a little cry then sweep the nasty truth under the carpet, wait a bit then carry on milking your countrymen to pay for your excess with the highest taxes in the EU as if the current scandal was all a bad dream.
I would need to see a lot more constitutional action as opposed to posturing from discredited political leaders if I am expected to get out of my chair come next election.
They lead this Country and set our laws from the comfort of the moral high ground! Ha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. I advocate a US system combined with Trotskyism ie 2 terms and then shoot them.
Yes the bent tories can afford to repaid their swag but doesn’t that just showthat they shouldn’t have claimed it in the first place.
Anyone know how long the country seat of Mr Hogg was in his family before he decided that we should pay for it’s upkeep and not him? Same old tory contempt for the rest of us
Dave needs Eric to get him out of this pickle.
Unfortunately we’re both dead.
There are several newspaper reports that DC has cleared his diary and has gone to Westminster to start removing some heads. I hope to Christ he does.
Ive never been ashamed of being a Tory, hopefully by the end of the day I will be proud to be one again.
Seconded.
The danger, though, in seeking to differentiate on the degree of outrageousness of MPs’ expenses is that their general venality can be obscured. Sure, the moat-job is breathtaking, but how different in principle is it to Blears’ flipping and Smith’s £500 sink? In picking on the star turns some lesser lights, equally grasping, may escape their fair share of opprobrium.
Thatcher had the “wets” and “with us” tories. Dave needs to draw a line between the “piggies” and “us”. Ease the greedy bastards out…!! Don’t “wobble” Dave
But which piggy does he choose? All of them, or none of them? Why replace one injustice with another? Conservative M.P.’s aren’t stupid; and they have clever lawyers.
Conservative M.P.’s aren’t stupid
No but some have managed to let the goverment off the hook to a certain extent on this subject. I’d sooner have a stupid honest MP that tries their utmost for us than a intelligent greedy pig who is there to feather their nest.
I fully agree. My point is which sacrificial lambs does he choose? Why are these 5 worse than those 5? Why would any M.P. agree to end his/her career on that basis?
I disagree, I would always prefer a clever MP to a stupid one – I don’t want to be governed by the stupid as we unfortunately have been. The troughing that has gone on is not evidence of cleverness but of a stupid lack of social understanding and blindness to the risk of it all coming to light. Only an idiot takes such risks if they don’t have to.
Were did everyone go?
He needs to get the money back off them, then fire them, then hand over the details to the serious fraud office so an investigation into potential criminality can begin. Then the Tories have my vote.
Just paying back the cash like Guido says is NOT ENOUGH. Crimes were committed. At the very least resignations are required.
and that applies to ALL dishonourable members and house employees and above all to the Captain, shop steward and Mickeytaking Martin
Any politician, who has claimed for ANYTHING which wasn’t directly beneficial to their constituants needs sacking instantly, whether they be Tory or labour or LibDem, or whoever.
Granted this might leave us with only a handful of MPs left, but so be it. Our government, and I’m talking cross party here, is rotten to the core and they all need to go. A fresh start. To hell with DC making a symbolic gesture, any of his colleagues who have had their noses in the trough, whether they are shadow cabinet, or back bench, need sacking.
All, except the 25 who voted against trying to conceal expenses, should be executed and their assets seized.
Guidoaf Orcs,
Librarian and comitted, what a waste of space.
Of course millionaire Tories can pay back these piffling sums you twerp.
What about Cameron claiming for a 500,000 ppound mortgage, that’s a bit excessive.
Oh but it’s within the rules.
YOu don’t get it do you?
This whole thing is blowing up in the Ashcroft funded smear campaign’s face.
Lord Ashcroft should ask for his money back.
Take another pill dear and have a lie down
Go play in the traffic, you small boy.
Ashcroft should ask for his money back? As indeed, should the unions.
Can I have some?
Absolutely, and sell the houses they bought on the back of their expenses. Given the state of the property market there will be some thundering losses, and, if I remember rightly you can’t be an MP if you are bankrupt. Thats the current bunch of Hoons sorted!
Good point.
Funny how this clown can’t make a comment that disagrees with this blog without having to get all personal – it’s not clever or funny, it just suggest the kind of ignorance we’ve come to expect from labour cheerleaders.
The distinction is that you don’t make any point at all.
In not putting any points you concede the case and prove the point, do you see?
The point is Cameron has a massive mortgage paid for by the electorate.
The effort to denigrate politicians is reflecting as badly on Cameron as any other and that is an own goal or several own goals.
Your silence on the point logically indicates your agreement.
By the way Guidoaf Orcs is a Librarian that is committed and a waste of space, but that is a colourful aside, which is why you picked up on it since you have no answer to the actual point.
OK? Numbskull (that’s a colourful aside too)
I rest my case.
Or at least my vanity
Just a quick thought.
Why not give discipline to the local constituencies.
Each member can account to them and if the constituency workers do not feel able to present their current MP to the public, let them select someone else. Democracy relies on local volunteers to campaign after all.
If some of the new candidates are women then the tory party could make a great leap forward and the labour party could cushion the effect of have the Blair Babes ejected
Nice idea but in a world of you scratch my back and I will scratch yours,it falls flat ,it only requires one slime doing a bit of corruption and falls flat again.
Whats the point…..
The local members of the party, e.g. 1% of the voters, decide who will stand as an election candidate. Then we mugs elect that individual. That individual is then told how to vote by an even smaller number of twits e.g. whips. So we are governed by a very small majority of perhaps 0.001%
There are more members of the RSPB than there are party members.
Candidates should only ever be selected on merit, not chromosomes
It’s in the jeans. Sorry – genes.
agreed
Agreed.
Maybe the introduction of an American style primary system for the selection of candidates is the way to go. Get democracy in right from the off, let the whole electorate of a constituency register with whatever party they choose, and then vote to select to best candidate…. not that I’m suggesting the yanks have got it right and there’s no corruption, but it might just make MPs and political candidates think a bit harder about their actions if they knew that the public had a greater say in their selection as a candidate, and then their election as MP.
http://juryteam.org/
Good scheme – bring a little grass roots democracy to the proceedings, claim the moral high ground and then get back to burying labour and the limp dims.
Ab. Fab. idea. The problem is that “A” list professional lobby fodder who owe all to the centre would be interviewed on merit rather than diktat, and overall both Lab and Con PLP nebbies would have to be leaders rather than drivers. Can’t see it happening, as all three party leaders couldn’t lead a bunk-up in a unisex Brothel.
Any candidate picked by the existing political organization, locally or nationally, will have the same aims and aspirations as those who picked them.
Do what we tell you or we won’t select or help you is the message given to all candidates, both new and old.
Have we learned so little that we wish to continue the rape of Britain by the “political class”?
If no one learns from history, the same mistakes happen again and again and we will get the government we deserve. Again.
If Cameron’s got any knackers he should sack the fuckers, make them pay back every penny. Careers over. Call in plod to investigate and make it public.
We can live in hope – but he’s not exactly shown himself to be cojones city to date.
If Cameron calls in the police to investigate his own MPs we can look forward to another 5 years of McDoom. As night follows day the BBC and the newspapers will forget about all the Labour scandals and just spend the next year picking off Tories one by one and demanding Cameron sack them and call in the police.
Prison works
My thoughts exactly.
When was the last time Tescos went round to Slapper Lils place and asked nicely if she would mind returning the 3 bottles of Johnnie Walker she stuffed up her jumper that morning.
Hire a coach and drive them down to Charing Cross nick. They can prove they are “honourable” by handing themselves in.
What about a league table of the amounts MPs have half-inched, with a tasteful, shiny statuette of a Porky Pig for the winner and silver-effect troughs for two runners-up?
Angry Dave and Hogg refuting ‘Moat’ claim on YouTube here: An Angry Cameron
This was interesting.
Hogg claimed that
-He has 2 houses, one in London and one in the country.
-He is in London all week, and the country house is unoccupied
-Someone has to keep an eye on it during the week.
-He thinks its reasonable for part of the cost of this to come out of his allowance.
-Those in charge of the dosh agreed with him, and pay a portion of the running costs.
-Every year he sends a schedule of the costs, and claims a portion.
-He did not claim for the moat specifically, it was an item on the schedule.
-This has gone on for several years with full agreement in writing.
Its still theft from the public.
I think that is an oversimplification; I thought he made a decent case for himself.
He doesn’t seem that big a trougher, actually; 550 more expensive than him.
Have a squint at this
Hoggs expenses
Quite how I have ended up defending Hoggy I don’t know.
Weirdly, I too found myself begining to think he was more straightforward and honest than the Morans, Blears, Hoon lot.
I nearly ran his Dad (and dog) over in Parliament Square in the mid-late 1980’s, so perhaps my judgement is skewed by guilt (but I’nm not sure which way).
When I served in the Armed Forces and was posted away from my own home, I had to rent out the property. No allowances were available for that home. If I had not wanted to let the house, I would have had to bear the cost of mortgage, mainternance etc. That did not seem unreasonable to me or to my many friends and colleagues faced with similar situations.
I do not see why MPs or Lords should be entitled to any better treatment than servants of the Crown.
Mr Hogg is, IMHO, taking the mickey and should repay the money. So should his colleagues.
The expenses and allowances these people get are far too generous – that is the element of the ’system’ that needs to be reformed.
The integrity of the individuals might usefully be guided by the rhetorical question ‘What kind of questions would be asked about these claims in the local pub’?
Time for him to get a cheaper fucking place to live then. It cannot be right for taxpayers to support these hoons in their accustomed luxury.
165 Just a couple of points.
Firstly,it has been agreed that MP’s can claim from an allowance for keeping either a constituency or London home going. The case is slightly different from your’s, since presumably when you were posted there was no need for you to have 2 seperate houses.
Secondly, do the Forces not provide accommodation?
171 Spoken like a true socialist. Hoggy doesn’t get any more because he’s got a big house, as far as I can ascertain.
@Sir Reginald Titbrain
That’s part of the problem – the press are giving titbits of information for maximum spin factor. The public would be better placed to judge by being given a simple league table of all MP’s total expenses for the last year.
But of course that would involve the MSM having to tell the unbiased truth, and they don’t like doing that.
Quite right Guido. If Dave can do this, he will prove incontrovertibly that he is PM material.
Do it today, show leadership, and watch Brown having to follow (again) if he dares.
If Dave doesn’t sling those sh*its and out and leaves it until a GE then the NuCons will be the loser,if he thinks that this will be forgotten then he is in his own world it won’t, this blog and other blogs will keep it on the boil.
Can the party leader sack an MP?? He can certainly remove them from a shadow post but surely it’s up to the local party whether or not an individual MP will be de-selected?
Conservatives parliamentary candidates have to be approved centrally before they are allowed to apply to constituencies. If the approval is withdrawn or if a sitting MP has the whip withdrawn they can’t be selected by the local association.
…but they don’t leave the House until the next election.
I have a few spare coffins
The Daily Telegraph has put an end to the Tory hopes of giving Gordon Brown a good kicking at the June elections
Yep, it’s looking more and more like a fourth term for bounce-back Gordon, just how does he do it the magic jock.
Postal votes will help Brown score at least 5 points better than opinion polls.
Glenrothes, where the marked voters register went missing after a fourfold jump in postal votes, provided for a good warm-up.
That completely depends on what Cameron does in the next couple of days. If he cleans house FULLY, not just a few token firings then he has my vote – otherwise a third party gets it. DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE DC! NOW!
Snotty’s not immune from this either. Don’t forget the “flipping” that the Hoons in his party have been doing to defraud the expenses system and the taxman. What will be damaging for the Tories is that the “Tory Toff” mudslinging will once again begin to take effect, despite how hypocritical it is.
And claiming expenses when Brown and other hoons have enjoyed grace and favour homes. They are completely unneccessary. Utterly without justification. Brown has been at it for 12 years. On Theyworkforyou.com his ACA expenses for the last 7 years total over £110,000.
Anon:
Fortunately I believe you are wrong. The bile directed at “New Labour” by people who voted for them is at least as vehement in C.I.F. as it is here. Their traditional supporters will exact a fearsome revenge, I think. A few only will switch to Tory. Many will stay away. Some, maybe many, will vote B.N.P. – probably the only opinion I share with Harperson. A fitting legacy for Blair, Brown, Blears etc., to make the B.N.P. electable.
The Daily Telegraph has put an end to the Tory hopes of giving Gordon Brown a good kicking at the June elections
No, the Tories did that. All by themselves
That’s something we’ve come to accept as night follows day in the past decade
[...] This post was Twitted by guidofawkes – Real-url.org [...]
Well I’ll be buggered!
Nah – not really – just jokin’ !!
Oh you tease :(
Little wonder then that Mrs David Davis thought David was bonkers for standing for re-election, their new Portico was on the line.
I once thought that DD was a cut above the rest, but I’m afraid such faith was misplaced. How very disappointing.
That’s one dream now shattered,I thought he was supposed to be above that,balloon well and truly burst.
Every silver lining has a cloud
By appointment to the ‘Arse a’ Common Crims ‘n Crooks
Rooms cleaned fer the Bruvvers
Loight fittens done
Garderns dun up
Moats done fer the toffs, also Ivory Towers fer Grouniad hacks
Beams cleaned and installed
Empty arsez cleared and cleaned
No job too small for us ter fiddle for yer!!
Pay it back? What kind of deterrent is that? They have responsibilities to the people of this country. With responsibility should come accountability.They knew what they were doing and didn’t give a shit because they thought they would never be found out. Without FOI they would still be troughing and not a thought of paying back. They should be sacked and prosecuted.
What unfolds now will tell us if Cameron is the right person to lead the country.
My thanks to Heather Brooke. You are my star.
I am thankful that the right wing are equally as scathing about Conservative greed & troughing as we are about Labours.
Anything less would be hypocrisy.
This is not a party political matter, this is a matter of fraud, theft 7 common decency from those in public office.
Still, there are those on the left that refuse to see it that way.
DC has lost my vote forever until he gets every over claimed penny back into the Exchequor that his party has defrauded & stole from the taxpayer – its that simple.
I couldn’t agree more. Labour are done. Are the Tories done too? If David Cameron doesn’t fire everyone involved in dodgy claims then he is just as bad as the Labour party, who have lost my vote for good. Gordon Brown will not clean Labour. Will DC do what is required? I doubt it but I can hope. I want a party of honest people to vote for – even if it’s a right wing party with 90% of it members first termers due to the resignations and firings of the old thieving lot.
So someone please get this organised a march or if they dont pay it back a candidate at each constituency to stand on PAY IT BACK pass the law and then dissolve Parliament again . Destroy this RUMP
It’s the system. The system has failed. The system is broken. The system needs fixing.
Like fixing the plumbing or roof can MP’s put fixing the system on expenses?
They are the ones that devised the system,they knew what the system would do therefore they are still corrupt,the system is faulty they are the sytem they must be faulty,one little expensive for us loop
Any MP who is found to have abused their expenses (ABUSED as opposed to having ‘obeyed’ the rules) should be disqualified from standing at the next general election. Before that election takes place (ideally tomorrow) the rules should be changed to prevent any reoccurence of recent events. That way, the next parliament can be clean and stay clean. And another thing, shouldn’t second homes all be within pissing distance of Westminster? How does a home in Redditch or Southampton aid a member carrying out their duties in London. They should pay it all back, but, that shouldn’t excuse their actions. A thief that gets caught and gives back what has been stolen is still a thief and should never be put in a position of trust again
They should be branded across the face with a red hot iron. T for thief. If they die of it, so much the better.The constituency associations should be obliged to check regularly on their candidates and MP’s and councillors, and punished alongside the crooks when misdeeds are discovered.
Come on, David. Fiscal leadership required – insist that they pay it all back. Every last penny.
And if they are going to kill themselves, do it quietly. I’m trying to get some sleep.
Repayment, criminal charges with sentencing and fines where appropriate, sackings (not resignations) and demotions in even the lightest cases. Minimum!
Cameron can take an unassailable position here and lead by example.
If they don’t give it back, can they be arrested for fraud and benefits cheating as well? Oh go on, Mr Bill, show us you aren’t in their pockets too.
Modern-day serfs you are and modern-day serfs you will remain.
You little people should know your places and don’t get ideas above your station.
At least we now have proof that Cameron is stark raving bonkers. He paid for his windmill, hugs with hoodies and kisses with polar bears out of his own pocket (or the Conservative party’s).
Dave will come up with a half arsed punishment of being publically whipped by feathers by nuns or something.
That way they can say they have been punished when every interviewer has a list of their expenses just before an election. This is really what scares them.
Why come up with a solution when you can half-bake it?
Dave seems to be better at PR than leadership
They look like clear cases of fraud to me.
“the MP’s signature verifies that the expenditure was wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties”
Where MPs have claimed for things that do not fall into that category, that’s fraud. They should be prosecuted. All this bluster about it being all within the scope of the rules, and how the rules should be changed is not the point. There is no particular reason to change the rule above, and that rule does not allow them to claim anything they like. They can always try that defence in court. If the jury accepts it, fine. But the courtroom is the right place to test that excuse, given the prima-facia evidence.
Paying the money back doesn’t alter the criminal nature of what went on.
It’s also tax evasion. Bumping up your income through a tax free expenses system is unpallatable and must come to an end. Bumping up your income by putting unsuitable things through a tax free expenses system is disgusting and must come to an end.
Yep, tax evasion is illegal too. Their law, and it applies to them too. Lets see how many are prosecuted. They’ll need to make a few examples.
Come on everybody: PAY IT BACK .. PAY IT BACK .. PAY IT BACK
PAY IT BACK! (with interest)
A million protestors converging on Westminster should do it!
Didn’t stop the Iraq war
Probably because there was no direct threat to the livlihood of the pigs in Parliament. Every body on the street would represent notification of votes lost to the main parties.
It is the solidarity of the Political Classes and cross party alliances that must be abolished.
They need to understand that the people of this country are every bit as angry as the pre-revolution French and the American colonists. If they do not get things right, there could be some interesting history books written in the coming decades.
We are no less human, nor more civilised, than our forebears.
No that just gives plod kicking the shit out of innocent people practice ,we need a more subtle way that even us northeners with lard arses can do without to much exercise.
I mentioned this on another post a few days ago, but the only way to bring about effective change is through the use of direct action in the form of a mass, general strike.
The politicians will be loving the fact that we are all venting spleen on these message boards and what-have-you, but the fact remains, until we take direct and sustained action these hard nosed, thick skined gits, will not budge.
I said it the other day that we would get platitudes about how sorry MP’s are along with a few symbolic sackings, but no real action, and look what has come to pass. The next thing I said was that MP’s will be banking on good old British apathy to save their sorry backsides. They know that in general British people don’t like to rock the boat and challenge the system directly, so therefore they don’t think we have the balls to challenge their crimes. Whining and venting our anger on here is all well and good, but it wont change the problem. I’ll bet any money that at best we will get maybe a handful of low key symbolic sackings from DC and GB (if we are lucky) but no real significant, radical attempt to put the problem right. Just wait and see.
If the people of this country really want democracy and a better system we need to force the governments hand. I say mass, general strike, until they call a general election, or we will simply get more of the same.
Not just pay expenses back, pay taxes where applicable as well.
Brown’s tax returns could be interesting regarding entries, or their absence, for rental income from his constituency office, which he sublet against the rules.
BBC News (spin):
LATEST:David Cameron meeting some of the Tory MPs whose expenses claims were published
I see the old bill is not going to send Jacqui Smith to stand trial……….why not??????????????????
erm, she’s the boss?
or perhaps they have a different fate in mind – they seem to have been indulging in target practice recently
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8045128.stm
and the pensioner in Fernhurst the other day
Petition news:
Even with Polly Twaddle having called for the head of the PM, the petition now seems to have stalled altogether. AFAIK, no further signatures have been added since 8:30 a.m. this morning at least.
Current “resign” total is 56992.
Check back after 10:32…
Probably because, like me, most of us couldn’t give a fuck – they are all just a bunch of troughing, swollen egoed numpties who can’t even spell ‘public service’.
They can sure as hell spell ‘expenses claim’
Now at 57000 exactly – just 8 signatures added.
Brown would do nothing if it were 57 million. He would call his arrogance ’strength of character’. The man is a despot!
There must be enouh MP bought flats and houses in the UK now to meet the needs of any conceivable honourable members’ whims.
Let’s nationalise every house that received a subsidy for its mortgage in the last twenty years. Compensation for the equity the MP or ex-Mp holds at 50%.
Keep one in each constituency for whoever wins the next election and for future use and a couple of hundred in London for the use of MPs who come in to work in Parliament. Elected MPs stay rent free, but abolish all expenses in future except travel between these places once a week when Parliament is sitting.
Any left over castles and moats can be rented out to the public at a reasonable rate.
I know this post will not go down so well, but here we go.
Do you think these revelations are almost too good to be true?
I do.
I think we’re being manipulated
I would point out, that even a week ago, the Telegraph was being reviled here on this blog. Mainly for it’s devious and dishonest approach to journalism.
Now it’s suddenly the the best thing since sliced bread.
In one week the Barclay Bros. have seen the light and changed the agenda.
Right, just as they did on Sark when they didn’t win a democratic election.
Think about it.
oooh you cynic,I think most of the gorillas on here will be thinking the same thing,what are they up to,is this just business or are they plucking our strings for somebody, at the moment they are feeding us good stuff and have the crowds braying for the lamposts and piano wire and at the same time selling loads of papers,I think we are starting to find out whose side they are on.
Can we get Alistair darling to pay back the £10k stamp duty on hiw house that we paid for?
‘Two Loos Prescott’ needs his septic tank dredged – can he claim for that?
And Brown is giving a speech today about crime?
They have absolutely no concept of what is going down – how can he stand up in public and give a speech on crime when Parliament is a crime-bepissed and beshitted cesspit?
Because he knows so much about it.
Tough on Expenses, Tough on the Causes of Expenses.
You’ve got the picture and why thses revelations are so dangerous to our democracy. Just how can any of these bastards get up in public and pronounce on OUR futures?
All of them have now lost any respect. They are floating in the wind. They are finished.
WE MUST HAVE AN ELECTION – NOW!
I need a regular shit in order to carry out my duties
You are a regular shit.
What would the police be investigating? If it is fraud, aren’t the rules too loose for any prospect of charges…??
Corruption.
What happened to all the suicides we were promised?
Sociopaths don’t top themselves
They become psychopaths and start topping others.
+ 1 to what Guido said.
How can these MPs lecture the public sector austerity or decry City pay schemes when they submit expense claims that are beyond parody?
As it is fashionable for MPs to make this sort of statement, how about . . .
Any MP caught by the Daily Telegraph must have their pension halved and their Knighthoods or possibility of Knighthood rescinded ?
In truth what is this all about? Where’s the INLAND REVENUE in all this?
Sorry guv’nor I’ll pay it back – what? First there is the fine; then there is the interest at a healthy double digit rate; then there is the criminal proceedings on top.
Criminal record, DNA on the criminal database and no more eligibility to be an MP.
Job done.
Guido
I take my hat off to you. You do what any investigative journalist worthy of the name should be doing, dealing with the lying thieving hoons without Political prejudice and without fear or favour. When it comes to sleaze you call it how it is. The press, from the owners down to the lobby journalists, have collectively sacrificed their objectivity on the altars of;
political bias
nepotistic relationships
vested interests
pursuit of personal gain
a pass to the whorehouse that is the Houses of Parliament
Had the press done it’s job properly we would not be here now.
On a separate point I am now starting to see something deeper in this, from the Labour perspective. I suspect that the gravy has been deliberately thrown the way of some of the less wealthy backbenchers as a sort of ‘opiate’ to stifle criticism and debate within the parliamentary party. This smacks of Diowning Street spin. Could it be that Martin and co are more scared than even we realise?
Just my thoughts. I did not realise how lucrative staying an MP for say 10 -20 years could be. The only requirement is to shut up and follow the whip at all times. So we get this pantomime of a Parliament.
I would like to look at a maximum term of 8 – 12 years for MPs – would force them to get experience before / after their time as a public SERVANT and not rely on milking the system and toadying to the whip to maintain it – usual safeguards to apply
We should also value independents more than party men – not sure how we go about that. Refuse a whip and gain 10% in salary?
Finally would they suspend the term Honourable Member until after the next election. They have forfeited this assumption.
An increasing number of MPs are paid additional sums for committee work. There are more cabinet members than ever – the number just goes on growing. They know when they are well off and are less inclined to rock the boat. By accepting sums above the standard MPs’ salary they find themselves inside the tent, thus making it very difficult to piss in from the outside – which is the intention of course. The same has happened with local councillors – instead of undertaking their duties as a form of unpaid public service (with basic travel expenses only) they now have grand titles and large sums of public money to go with them. They, too, have been ‘bought’ and have become, unwittingly or otherwise, a part of the new political class whose independence has been compromised by the thought of losing a significant income.
It’s deeply depressing and I can see no reversal in sight.
“investigative journalist ” – you fuck wit! sticking tittle tattle on a web site isn’t investigative journalism.
If you want to know what investigative journalism is just ask Jonathan Aitken – bang to rights, sounds familiar too
Douglas Hogg, a true diddicoy farmer, 50 acres, pathetic.
All hat and no land, just like the rest of you on this site.
And you.
Nonetheless Douglas Hogg is a diddicoy.
50 acres and a moat, pathetic.
In Lincolnshire people like that are laughing stocks.
Yet more racism from MB, our pet BN P troll.
The ‘D’ word is highly offensive to the travelling community.
Racism is abominable, but popular on this site.
Diddicoys are not Romany, they are masqueraders, a bit like Hogg’s lord o’ the manor routine.
Sarcasm is pretty popular here too. Usually from the loony far left.
Wrong. It is a Romany-derived word used pejoratively by the settled community.
It is the equivalent of the P-word to describe all South Asians
Your continued use of vile hate speech marks you out for what you are.
no it’s not.
Yes it is Lady P.
Suggest you go to your nearest travellers’ site and use it, in case you have any doubts.
he is a stallion not a lady.
neigh
Are you suggesting that Hogg is a pure bred Romany?
Don’t know or care what his ethnicity is.
What I object to is your repeated use of racist language.
Take another pill dear, the 1st one obviously didn’t work. On second thoughts, do us all a great favour and take the whole bottle you hoon.
‘Ere, stop messin’ about!
Ah Linconshire MB. Best stay there, you wouldn’t want to deny your village it’s idiot would you
No self respecting person would live in Lincolnshire.
That’s why yellow belly Hogg does.
@ MB (again)
Denigrating a group of people based on their county of birth or residence. Racist maybe, definitely prejudiced, definitely hate speech.
Racism is indefensible, so is ignorance is reprehensible.
Consider yourself reprehended.
People from Lincolnshire are yellow bellies, they know it.
If you knew anything, you’d know it too.
Stephen Fry’s not sure its worth all the fuss really…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8045040.stm
Spoken like the credit card thief he is.
A good poet, but he has spent too much time around the BBC crowd.
Then again he is a convicted fraudster.
David Cameron should place the Conservative party in an unassailable position of high moral authority over New Labour if he takes the initiative and sacks all the MP’s in his shadow ministerial team who have plainly been “troughing it” at the taxpayers expense as well as forcing them to repay their ill-gotten gains to the public purse. He should also make it clear to local Conservatives that he will expect them to de-select rank and file MP’s who have also been “troughing it”. History tells us that we should not anticipate Brown having the guts to do the same with the New Labour party.
Just do us all a favour and sack all his mps
Give the money back
Resign and have an election
Having deselected and replaced ALL the troughers.
Giving the money back is completely orrelevant, Guido.
The vary fact these claims have been made tells you everything you need to know about MP’s thinking.
Give me, give me, give me.
There is no way out for those who made the claims. They are hoist on their own petard.
The result of a police investigation into alleged expenses fraud:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8044705.stm
Not sure that Plod is best placed to deal with MPs….
From the story:
“Last year former Det Sgt John Gallagher, 52, was sentenced to an eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years after admitting misconduct in a public office for abuse of his corporate charge card. He repaid £9,622.”
Not an example that will thrill the kleptocracy
Whoops,see what you mean,they are all at it.
If you were inclined to a life of crime including theft, fraud etc. what ‘day job’ would be helpful in gaining the intelligence that would help your plans?
We’re oft to blame in this, is too much proved, that with devotions visage and pious action, we do sugar oe’er the devil himself.
The rules are simple, they are only allowed to claim legitimate expences WHOLLY, EXCLUSIVELY and NECESSARILY incurred in the performace of their duties full stop!!!. Any attemp to get any other money is simply fraud, if the leaders of the parties are truthful and are truley sorry for their members identified attempting to/ or already have STEAL/STOLE public money, they should fire them expel them and have them arrested.
But as we know with these leaders of the pork brigade we will not see pigs fly
Pigs might trough at Westminster but I doubt we’ll see them grow wings!
Theft is theft. When I worked in retail I used to regularly catch scum trying to nick my stock. They all offered to pay for the goods they stole. My reply was that they had their chance when they walked through the tills without offering to pay. These MPs are thieves. Offering to pay back the money won’t wash. If these troughing scumbags have nothing to hide they have nothing to fear. The Parliament logo is a portcullis. Drop the bloody thing and keep them all chained up out of harm’s way.
I notice that Labour MPs troughed hundreds of thousands while the Tories only troughed tens of thousands. Same old story. Tory sleaze was always about sex, labour sleaze about cash. Funny that.
I notice Al-Beeb haven’t picked that up yet.
Funny that.
Wonder what the Telewag has on the Lib Dems? Not seen them pasted yet. All this would be quite good fun if it wasn’t so serious.
I once got a kicking off the tax man because I claimed for my wife and kids to stay with me one weekend whilst away from home on business.
If moat dredging and property flipping is ok, next time I think I will tell him to piss off.
DC is considering the removal of the whip from some of his MP’s in crisis meetings:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/12/mps-expenses-david-cameron
Give the money back or be sacked! Hear, Hear.
Got to stop the corgis from using one’s new compu-thingy. Bad dog.
The Mail suggests Hazel could be a loose cannon:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1180667/MPs-EXPENSES-Brown-warned-Beware-sacking-Exocet-MP-Hazel-Blears.html
The Bunker and Jacqboots may have another fate planned for her: A Speaker Special arrest in the House (well, one of them anway – she has a choice, after all).
I believe the benches in Paddington Green are padded to prevent self-harm… could be the only ones she gets to sit on.
McBust’s position is completely untenable anyway and is already doomed. Not sacking the Ginger Minger because she will damage him is just some pitiful spin for doing nothing.
Right! Left! Right! Left! Left again:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5309794/MPs-expenses-Left-wing-MPs-118000-claims-for-second-home.html
All the highlighted Conservatives in the Telegraph are about to retire.
If Cameron takes action against them it would be like shooting an old dog.
Big deal and about as convincing as recycled trainers and wearing baseball caps.
He hasn’t made a specific proposal about what the present ‘additional costs allowance’ should be replaced with.
If Guidoaf Orcs wasn’t such an obvious Conservative sock puppet there would be some questions about what does Cameron propose to replace the current system and rules with.
You are not very good at this, are you?
Now now, he’s only an anoying little Troll and his therapist says it’s good for him to have some form of interaction with the human race in the hope that some day he will be allowed to join it.
Perhaps not, but a lot better than you.
In any event what does Cameron propose, inplace of the present ‘additional costs allownace’.
Or is it the same as all his other ‘policies’ — DO NOTHING?
At least he’s consistent.
He’ll not find any humanity here, so he should be safe
I notice that on the front page of the Glasgow Herald website that Snotgobbler is photographed wearing a blue tie.
Very subtle Gordon, but not subtle enough.
Roll on June.
Giving the money back is nowhere near enough. As Guido points out, they lied by signing.
“The MP’s signature verifies that the expenditure was wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties”.
Cameron needs to say “there is no place in the Conservative party for members who tell lies in order to rob taxpayers” and withdraw the whip from them.
As the campaign against benefit fraud by little people says, No Ifs, No Buts.
Politically he needs to get his retribution in harder and faster than Brown. If he does, this can be an opportunity for him.
P.S. Otherwise, what moral authority would the Tories have in calling for public spending cuts?
” If they won’t give it back, we want them sacked.”
This doesn’t deserve the opportunity to repay and stay as MPs.
I want them jailed for fraud.
Absolutely.
I’ve got a porsche. Daddy sends hugs.
I see you expressed disappointment over David Davis Guido, why? He’s just a greedy slime bag like all the rest, no different.
Dave has cancelled appointments this morning. I sense trouble ahead.
I will be fully supportive of him. Come on Dave time to show the UK your balls. It’s the public sector next. Shock and awe isn’t called for. Just honesty and integrity.
Sky news now saying that he has a number of ‘meetings’ with some of his colleagues who have found themselves in the news over the past 48 hours.
PLEASE PLEASE do the right thing, the country is watching this and waiting for you…
If DC has the balls to sack his thieves, where does that leave Brown? Snot has a whole cabinet of thieves.
WE HAVE STEPHEN FRY DEFENDING THESE CORRUPT GRASPING MEMBERS NOW
I AM AFRAID IF HE LIVED IN THE REAL WORLD AND HAD NOT BEEN PARTY TO THE CULTURE OF EXPENSE FIDDLING AS HE DECLARED HE HAS HE WOULD VIEW THINGS DIFFERENTLY HE WILL HAVE UPSET A LOT OF HIS FANS WITH HIS FLIPPANT REMARKS CALLING IT A WITCH HUNT WELL FOR A SINGLE PERSON UNEMPLOYED RECEIVING £63 PER WEEK PAID IN AREAS HE WOULD BE FURIOUS LETS HOPE NOW IT ALSO OPENS THE BBC UP ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL IS THE CASE IS IT NOT MR FRY ABSOLUTE DISGUSTED
Next – the BBC (so Shaun Woodward can’t get his biscuits free at multiple locations), the Quangos, the Mickey Mouse assemblies including Scotland, Wales, N Ireland and Local Councils. I am beginning to wonder just how much money the thieving bastard political and media class owe us and what a difference the repayments, fines and savings would make.
The clean up of Government, it’s Propaganda Unit and the State may even result in attracting some honest people to enter politics (not become ‘career politicians’) to serve the country.
Actually Hogg seems to be in the clear. He has a large constituency house with very significant running costs, even if he doesn’t have a mortgage, and very sensibly has an annual schedule of these costs. Rather than debate individual items with the Fees Office, some of which he fully acknowledges are not claimable, he uses the schedule to back up a claim for a proportion of the costs. Seems entirely reasonable to me.
Today’s Tory flak seems to be the media picking up on words like “moat” and “horse manure” rather than any real troughing. After all, the MPs concerned could simply have mortgaged their properties and validly claimed the interest while using this equity capital to earn for them.
The most serious troughing has been the flippers who use the allowances to build property portfolios at taxpayers expense. And even there, the act of changing the designation of primary/ secondary home is not necessarily a sign of troughing; apparently Michael Gove changed his last year when his family effectively moved to London as their primary home. It is hard on the other hand to see any genuine reason for often changing the designation, as Darling and other Lieborites did.
You are a good laugh, honestly fantastic.
Gove’s flipping was flipping don’t listen to the dimwits at the Spectator.
500 pounds for a hotel, that’ll do nicely.
In any event if Cameron can claim 20,000 p.a. on a 500,000 mega mortgage, how is that any better than the other claims?
Are massive houses for Cameron wholly and exclusively necessary for the performance of his duties?
No, of course they’re not, he’s just living off the near maximum of ‘additional costs allowance’ in as plush a style as he can.
Cameron doesn’t come out of it any cleaner than the rest.
The whole thing is a ridiculous astro truf operation that is going to blow up right in Lord Ashcroft’s face.
MB Why do you nut just restrict yourself to blogging on LabourLabia, its the natural home for you and the rest of the unemployed and unemployable looney left hoons
Well, it does not seem reasonable to me. He could rent out his empty home or, like ordinary people, accept that he will have to pay its upkeep if he chooses to live elsewhere.
I bet he and his colleagues would not give their employees such generous perks.
The government certainly do not pay civil servants’ and armed forces personnel for upkeep on homes when they have to work elsewhere. They have to understand that ordinary people are fed up with the unfairness.
Gordon Brown, the champion of the working classes (my arse!) knew about this for decades and did bugger all about it. They all believe that they have a right to prey on the people.
If they do not get a grip on the moral issues, and bloody quick, they may lose more than their dishonest and unprincipled financial gains.
Hogg’s big mistake was to use the word ‘Moat’ which twanged the clitoris of the lefty press with all its toff/lord of the manor resonance. “Ditch’ would have probably passed unnoticed.
And as we all know the left don’t like having their clitoris twanged. Unvle Harriet especially
Old rightie has an interesting veiw…
http://oldrightie.blogspot.com/
its just like old times… I always liked a good execution. Cummon Dave, off with their heads!
As someone currently residing in Australia, I have to sublimate my rage via this blog. If nothing else, it enables me to re-orientate myself to the libertarian ideals that are central to any philosophy which is fundamentally opposed to the sophistic profligacy of current events, irrespective of where they emanate from.
“sophistic profligacy”
Can ya guess what it is yet?
Stephen Fry says he has cheated the system and that everybody else has
too! Speak for yourself Stephen, perhaps somebody should be inspecting you, as if they havn’t already! You’re getting a bit above yourself aren’t you? You ARE a bit of a twit. Disappointed that Alex Salmond is on the list. Yes, they ARE all the same – a pox on all their houses!
Quote from Boswell “So, Sir you laugh at schemes of political improvement?”
Johnson says ” Why, Sir, most schemes of political improvement are very laughable things.”
I understand the feelings generated by these disclosures.
But looking back over the last three general elections, Labour
got a thumping majority each election for a total turnout of less
than the John Major election.
So basically the British public where not bothered about Labour
excesses which were obvious from day one.
Labour policies cost me my job three years before I was due to
retire and then stole half my pension and still they got voted back.
I have no sympathy for people who do not vote.
They got what they deserved.
[...] Fawkes, in a rather good piece entitled “Sorry” isn’t good enough points out that Members must abide by The Green Book – A guide to Members Allowances. He [...]
This site http://www.micandidate.co.uk actually has a designated section to display candidates intended ‘expenses’ should they get elected in the forthcoming Local and European elections. So the option is there to be forthcoming about this issue. Lets hope they take it!
“It wasnt me mister, it was the system wot made me do it.”
Or so seems to be the cry of all those caught out.
Funny how theyre now “sorry” as well isnt it?
Sorry because they got found out finally maybe, but sorry for fiddling? Not a chance!
The facts are that if this individual who has leaked the info hadnt ( he deserves a national award for services to democracy btw) then we wouldnt have been any the wiser and the piggies would just have kept on troughing away and theyd have still been sorry would they? Still blaming the system?
Certainly not!
Lets take the snouters view for a moment shall we?
” Its the system”.
If the system didnt allow extravagant claims then at least you piggies wouldnt be able to claim “within the rules”, but the greater issue is: The inherent dishonesty of these bastards has now been laid bare.
Because it matters not what system is in place, theyll try to circumvent it to gain monetary or power advantages.
In other words, theyre crooks and cant be trusted. Theyre inherently rotten, from the necrotised head of the government to the festering pool of fetid dishonest slime of their speaker, the whole lot of the piggies, and their system ( and it is THEIR system) is busted and it dosent represent the likes of you and me; the long suffering population and it takes no actual account of what we have to go through in daily life.
We need a change.
What kind of change?
A total sweep out.
The removal of every single one of these selfish shiteballs, the payment back of ALL expenses would go someway to paying for badly needed hospital equipment or kit for soldiers dying in the name of “democracy”, and the prosecution of ALL those involved, with NO exceptions, nothing less is acceptable to me at least.
Its about time that this poor country with its downtrodden population got a parliament it deserves instead of the festering boil masquerading in its stead, one that looks after its people and is absolutely answerable to them and them alone, not to the parties, or the whips, or the fat over stuffed speaker.
OUT! OUT! OUT! OUT! and so on and so forth…..
Two things come to mind.
1) I remember this time last year the Conservative Party and MPs came down like a tonne of bricks on their MEPs for their excessess. So why doesn’t Dave make his MPs do what the MEPs do and fill out a right to know form every six months.
2) The Labourgraph are obviously loosing market share as the tory readership have woken up and smelt the coffee (or is that rat?), therefore desparate to sell papers with their “accurate” journalism.
I’m 61 and have voted Conservative all my life. I was a YC branch chairman and a member of 3 different constituency parties.
I will not vote Conservative again until Cameron FULLY purges the party of hangers-on like Douglas Hogg, who I’ve just heard on The World At One, complacently trying to justify his greed. Paying the money back is not enough. We want these greedy b*s out and replaced by real people.
I will be voting UKIP next month, and until the Conservative party cleans itself up. That might be forever! They don’t deserve my voter or the efforts of their many supporters and fundraisers.
Seems like Cameron is making the running in terms of his anger at, and disapproval of, the expenses fiasco. Suggestions now that some Tory exes. will have to be repaid (some claimants have already done so); and of the whip being withdrawn from Tory troughers who won’t play ball.
As usual, nothing similar from Brown. No doubt he will catch on eventually and, in due course, will emerge from the woodwork to suggest on behalf of all parties that …………some expenses will have to be repaid and, in certain cases, the whip may have to be withdrawn ……..etc, etc.
Good for Cameron, at least he is picking up on the public vitriol.
Sorry – Gordon doesn’t do anger. He can only take it out on photocopiers, staplers and Nokia phones.
Message for PM Brown:
Read the riot act to Labour MPs TODAY: repay, or get Labour Party to repay immediately with accrued interest, or sack each and every one of them. No further delay. Loss of pension and no fake “independent” review panel. No fiddle faddle or excuses. We are watching.
That’ll do for the past 5 years. Then re-open the documents for the preceding 10 years. No fat cats made on the back of gullible taxpayers. This includes Blair and the suddenly rich ex-Labour gang of cronies.
Can you do me in the bum bum?
Speaking of emerging from the woodwork……….
‘Ere, stop messin’ about !!
Trident ready and waiting MB. Now grit your teeth, there’s a good Troll
you forgot the bit about them being sacked after they pay the money back.
Py it back with interest, then leave.
JD.
Have we ever had a sleazier or more unpopular Government?
The Thatcher Government came close for unpopularity
Major’s Government now seems like a paragon of virtue compared to Brown’s
Blair’s Government? Well that is where all this started isn’t it?
The plain fact is however that whilst these parliamentary freeloaders have been busy looting the taxpayer, the security services, enforcement agencies and the police service have been allowed to run amok.
The police force now seems to arrange live fire exercises on the British population somewhere in the country almost on a daily basis. The reaction from Labour to this outrage? Complete and utter silence.
Whilst the average citizen’s life has been made a nightmare succession of petty fines, heavy handed enforcement, ominous threats about tax and benefits and endless government interference, those at the top who created this Terminator style state have been left relatively untouched while they flip their houses and claim their fraudulent expenses.
This government is finished. It is morally, financially and ethically bankrupt. They know it and we know it. So why are they hanging on? To flip one more property before they are ejected from office? Perhaps.
I think a more likely explanation though is that they need time to finish their business. They need more time to collect those brown envelopes for services rendered. That is why they are hanging on, because those cash payments will stop immediately an election is called.
Hands up everyone who thinks that most MP’s are not using their position for financial gain in ways other ways apart from simple expenses fraud? No, I thought not.
I left Britain more than three years ago to get away from the increasingly bizarre and intrusive style of government being practised by Labour. I am very glad I left. But that does not mean that I would not fight to reclaim my country from these liggers. They have stolen from parliament and sacked the country. I would return in an instant to help remove them.
Enough is enough.
All it needs is a spark.
Government and Opposition Parties
NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE
ELECTION NOW
I’ve just spent 2 hours in hospital out-patients – that is 2 hours after the time of my appointment! saw the consultant for 5 minutes during which time he kept looking at his watch.
41/2 weeks ago waited in emergency out-patients for 11/2 hours to see consulatnt for 3 minutes who refered me to another consulatant who was on holiday for 4 weeks
5 weeks ago I waited 5 hours for an emergency doctor to call at my home
8 weeks ago I was due to see a consultant, he wasn’t available so saw his registrar for 3 minutes after a 1 hour wait, spoke to me whilst backing out of the door.
So where’s all the money gone to make the NHS a better place? – a better place to die maybe, you’ll only be dealt with properly when you’re dead!!!
And these bastards are getting away with murder. The lot of them should be sacked NOW. No ‘if or buts.’
To pay the managers & ‘consultants’ where else
3.25pm Dave’s on Sky reading the riot act They’er ALL having to pay it back
Your petition reads:
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to: ‘Pay back
ALL expenses ever claimed.’
The prime minister is hereby requested by the voters of this
country to immediately and without condition pay back to the
public purse all expenses ever claimed since becoming an MP and
to pass legislation ensuring all MP’s do the same. Nothing less
will restore trust in Parliament, you owe the people of this
country.
Response received:
Hi,
I’m sorry to inform you that your petition has been rejected.
Your petition was classed as being in the following categories:
* Issues for which an e-petition is not the appropriate
channel
Further information: The Prime Minister and Government do not
control the pay or allowances of MPs – the current system is
administered by the House of Commons. Therefore the Number 10
website can not accept petitions relating to MPs’ expenses.
Hang them! Hang them from the lamp posts lining Drowning Street!
Mps DO set their own pay and allowances so that replys a crock!
Resubmitted just to piss them off, and will keep doing so.
I am sure that Cameron’s desperate attempt to be seen to be “doing the right thing” today has nothing to do with his desire to be elected Prime Minister.
I am sure his first priority will be to amend the expenses system so that MP’s are more than amply rewarded for their indolent non attending ways.
It is time for a clocking on system for MP’s and a flat hourly rate, just like the rest of us mere mortals.
But surely that would only attract scum and parasites to politics?
Heads must roll.
The speaker’s position is no longer tenable. That he has made himself a laughing stock is of no consequence, but his behaviour has cheapened the office of speaker, and done parliament a great disservice by serving to reinforce the widespread public belief that MPs are only looking out for themselves. If parliament wishes to clean up its act it should first rid itself of this man.
[...] most anti-Cameron commentators had to acknowledge the rapidity of his response – but that is barely a half-step in the much-needed right direction on this issue. But what bothers me about this whole thing is [...]
Many will no doubt disagree with his politics but he may just be one of the very who can be trusted with public money
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5305149/Kelvin-Hopkins-the-MP-who-disdains-to-claim-MPs-expenses.html
I see the Telegraph is quoting a minister as saying martin has gone to far by having a go at & I quote “his own side” – They really don’t get it do they the Speaker is supposed to be above all politics he should have NO side to attack or defend
Paying back the money isn’t enough. An MP cannot be sacked, but anyone who does admit guilt and pay back wrongfully claimed expenses must be deselected at the next election.
Meanwhile the IR and Fraud Squad investigations must surely be getting off the ground by now?