Dishonourable MPs Can No Longer Be Trusted to Self Regulate
Tory MP David Wilshire has been paying £105,000 expenses to run a company he owns. He has referred himself to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner before Guido could. In due course the Committee on Standards and Privileges will let him off with a slap on the wrist and he will not be the first six-figure expense trougher to be let off. The Wintertons and Jacqui Smith got the naughty step treatment from the Committtee of fellow MPs and paid not a penny back. Crime without punishment seems to be the operating principle, probably because MPs are thinking “there but for the grace of God go I”.
There is a Latin legal maxim: “nemo debet esse iudex in propria causa”, meaning no one should be judge in his own cause. The idea that MPs can be trusted to follow “fundamental principles of propriety” and self regulate according to the Green Book is laughable and it is now seen by the public as laughable. This has to change. The forthcoming Kelly Report to the Committee on Standards in Public Life needs to resolve this with tough transparency measures.
This is an absolute bloody outrage.
Thank God we’re leaving the UK. After reading this blog, I hope it’s for good.
What and UBER trougher
Financial misconduct = Conservatives
Oh, do shut-up Charles.
Financial misconduct = Conservatives.
Do you copy and paste that or type it in each time? I fear that you might get RSI and need a new keyboard before too long.
Arse clenching incompetence and corruption = ZanuLabour
There is also another latin legal maxim which states:
“Quod ad jus naturale attinet, omnes homines aequales sunt”
All men are created equal before the natural law. That means that NO man (legal man being the human man or woman) is above the law and all law applies equally.
In other words, these theiving bastards should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!
Very loosely interpreted House of Commons rules do not take precedence over the LAW!
These bastards have been committing a fraud against the public purse and they should be prosecuted.
Don’t forget Labour in your half baked inquisition.
The biggest clearout of MP’s in history is about to occur at the next general election, only then will public opinion on the whole sorry and incestuous saga of ‘expenses’ be laid to rest in a shallow grave.
The next parliament will be a very different place to the one now.
My only hope is that a certain Mr Bercow is shown the door too.
Pig fat troughing pig – Jacqui Smith
Here’s a particularly piggy picture of her, if you’ve not had breakfast yet, I suggest you don’t look.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Jacqui_Smith%2C_September_2009_cropped.jpg
You swine, Road Hog.
I had breakfast, but I haven’t any longer!!
THAT IS uber gross !
The picture below would make any Tranny look Feminine.
What a Gross vile person.
No wonder the husband loves Madame Palm and her 5 daughters.
It’s enough to make an ‘orse sick govenor.
YUK!
For pity’s sake do NOT click to enlarge the image! Big mistake!
Mein GOTT!
No. Typically,
Financial misconduct = Labour
Sexual misconduct = Conservative
I guess Labour MP’s get enough sex and Conservative MP’s have enough money.
The Wintertons, sexual conduct of any kind?
Maybe not.
Looking at the state of our economy – I would have to say Financial misconduct = Liebour
Resurgemus – could you pop a curfew on that comment at about 12.30 – I vommed my lunch out yesterday and have no desire to do it today. Thanks in advance!!!
And a married labour minister having an affair with a gay man and committing indecent acts in public is not sexual misconduct?
Or is that New Labour sexuality which amounts to a perverted free-for-all?
Methinks the Labour Minister was being paid by the gay man. Therefore it was primarily financial misconduct.
Financial misconduct = Conservatives = Labour = LibDems = UKIP = BNP …..
There is a simple fix to the whole troughing problem:
ANY MP guilty of “flipping” properties should get 3 years per flip.
ANY MP guilty of ANY financial impropriety should get 1 year per £1000 stolen.
The tariffs should be doubled for members of the cabinet.
We’d end up with the vast majority of the Westminster criminals locked up for a while, and in future we might get a “clean” Parliament. Incidentally, Blair would be liable for a sentence of well over 200 years!
Uddin, Scotland, Balls, Smith = Labour
don’t forget, this is not a labour MP committing open fraud but a conservative one bending the rules somewhat.
Therefore he’ll be asked to pay back the lot plus interest plus be hung, drawn and quartered, and on the front pages from now til april
If all Members of Parliament are given a copy of the ‘Green Book’ on first entering the House. There can be absolutely no excuses whatsoever.
Are they? If not why not?
Even though the Fees office approved paying £3250 per month to a company, or for a £500 chair or whatever, the MP in question must have had a nagging doubt….”surely this can’t be right’. They are now finding out…it is not right
Ponder a while.
David Cameron took out a £350.000 mortgage in August 2001 on his new constituency house in Dean near Chipping Norton just two months after becoming MP for Witney. Nothing wrong in that but worth noting that at that time the interest payments on Dave`s Mortgage were the maximum that an MP could claim
David Cameron took out maximum taxpayer-funded mortgage – then paid off own £75k loan four months later
But David Cameron actually paid £650,000 for the house
£650,000 Detached Freehold Not New Build
Is it coincidence that Dave put in just enough capital that he could then claim the maximum mortgage interest relief an MP could? A wise man would say no.
To make matters worse (not for Dave) he was then able to pay off a £75,000 loan on his London home just four months later.
When Dave Told Andy(Marr) that his wealth lay in his house, which house did Dave mean?
He meant the House of Commons.
It’s been renamed – House of whinging scroungers
House of Common Thieves more like
Hopefully soon to be renamed House of the Flying Daggers
Financial misconduct = Conservatives,
Jacqui Smith = Financial Misconduct = Labour
Thieving liars and stealers of civil rights=ZaNu Liebour
Financial misconduct = Conservatives..
Financial misconduct = MPs of all persuasions.
But some MPs is more misconductible than others.
Mandelson=dodgy mortgage=sacked
Tony Blair=dodgy mortgages=president of the EU
Don’t worry. The Blair dossier is being passed to the DPP in the next month. If nothing ensues, the DPP will be prosecuted as well.
Does he have as many houses as Prescott?
The mod doesn’t have as many houses as Prescott
Prescott has his own post code.
That git was on the telly again last night with his beard of a wife talking about being bloody Northern. He ain’t bloody Northern – he’s a truculent, greedy, vulgar, manipulative gabshite who, if he had any decency would take up fishing and keep the hell away from people.
PO’P
I read that as take up fisting.
Horrible image. At least the wife won’t have to feel that big ham opening her up. Pity the poor secretary though.
He was born on 31 May 1938 in Prestatyn, Wales.
He is no more a Northerner than Fat Boy Slim
This just goes to prove that Mr Cameron is a good money manager, unlike the chancellors we’ve had for the last 12 years.
Alternatively he looked at his savings, then looked at what he could “legitimately” claim and calculated what was the maximum amount of cash he could afford to pay for a house.
I’ll yield to no man in the contempt for politicians (of all parties) stakes, but this is spurious.
But the idea of a second home allowance is to buy an out of London MP a crash pad in London so he can carry out his MP duties, It was no brought in to allow MPs to buy country mansions in their constituencies.
I doubt that even Vince Cable thinks that £650K buys a mansion in Witney.
All Cameron appears to have done is work out what was the best option he could afford in his constituency, once obliged to find a residence there. I presume that Mr and Mrs Balls also worked out what was the best they could afford for their ‘second home’ in London using two lots of mortgage interest allowances once Ed was parachuted into a safe seat. If they had been concerned about the taxpayer, they might have stayed put in their previous London residence and continued to claim for a ‘second home’ up north.
The £650K price tag was Aug 2001
£650,000 Detached Freehold Not New Build
Probably worth 3 or 4 times that now . Take a satellite look on Google earth or the Microsoft mapping sites.
Diamond Dave doesn’t have ‘a mansion in Witney’. His constituency is called Witney because Witney is the largest town in it. It covers a lot of rural Oxfordshire as well. Dave has a cottage in Dean, a small village, no… make that a hamlet… right out in the countryside some way north of Witney. It is not mansion-sized at all.
For an MP with a huge mansion in this area look at Nulabour’s Sean/Shaun? Woodward, the very undistinguished ex-Witney MP, who crossed the house, and who really is a hoon. I think he married a Sainsbury heiress.
Doesn’t matter. The second home allowance is there to finance a modest flat near parliament so that an out of London MP has somewhere to spend the night. Dave is milking the system and is no better than the other troughers
Ahh
The House of the Green Book, now didn’t Col Khadaffi have a racket called by the same name, many years ago? Wonder if they are related
Did the fee’s office know it was his own company? How could they, really? So if not, what value can we give to their ‘approval’?
This is the fundamental point – the fee’s office doesn’t validate claims, it ASSUMES the member is right.
I believe they did and approved it. Not a lot of teeth there.
Why call it Moorlands Research Services?
the moorland he can get with his name on the better?
The company was used to arrange office supplies and the like. Why then have ‘research’ in the title, if not to give it some faux credibility?
Why not arrange office supplies directly, like most other M.P.’s do?
If there was no financial gain for the M.P. or girlfriend then why bother doing it this way at all?
Why was the company registered to the girlfriend’s daughter’s address, though the daughter didn’t know?
No need to ask why Mitch. It was a scam to make money out of the public purse. It beggars belief that Dave has not withdrawn the party whip from him, if only until the inquisition is complete.
‘more land the better
National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Says
NSIDC Scientist Walt Meier said, “We’ve preserved a fair amount of first-year ice and second-year ice after this summer compared to the past couple of years. If this ice remains in the Arctic through the winter, it will thicken, which gives some hope of stabilizing the ice cover over the next few years. However, the ice is still much younger and thinner than it was in the 1980s, leaving it vulnerable to melt during the summer.”
At the end of the Arctic summer, more ice cover remained this year than during the previous record-setting low years of 2007 and 2008.
BBC Says
The Arctic Ocean could be largely ice-free and open to shipping during the summer in as little as ten years’
Arctic to be ‘ice-free in summer’
yes
Pen Hadow(?) doing the rounds of news stations saying the arctic will be water in the next decade and completely water by 2020 (ie one year later) – interesting science that – although he claims not to be a scientist – FFS – more scare stories and tax rises ahead sir, keep on the straight and narrow…
the bullshit greens and their propaganda drive me mad. Declining populations of polar bears? Not according to facts but dont let that stop you telling you everyone they’ll be gone in a decade.
So the Scientific experts write
We’ve preserved a fair amount of first-year ice and second-year ice after this summer compared to the past couple of years. If this ice remains in the Arctic through the winter, it will thicken, which gives some hope of stabilizing the ice cover over the next few years
And the BBC report.
Arctic to be ‘ice-free in summer’
What makes me think the BBC have an agenda here?
Read this excellent article relating to the above:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/10/15/top-ten-reasons-why-i-think-catlin-arctic-ice-survey-data-cant-be-trusted/
The Catlin survery was not scientific research, it was PR and fraudulent PR at that.
10.
High profile news and PR from the beginning, plus an unrealistic vision of self importance related to the mission. The entire venture was publicized well in advance of the actual expedition, and the mission was “too important to fail” according to the January 23rd interview with the Guardian he said:
“During this mammoth expedition we will gather the essential data that scientists need to more accurately determine when the permanent floating sea ice will disappear altogether. We cannot afford to fail on this mission – there is too much at stake.”
With pronouncements like that, you also can’t afford not to bring home a result consistent with the theme of the expedition.
9.
Reality Show Science as reported here, “The trio will be sending in regular diary entries, videos and photographs to BBC News throughout their expedition.” When you tie science too closely to the media from the beginning, it predetermines some outcomes. That pressure is always there to produce the story rather than focus on the task. This is why most proper science is done well away from the media and the results are reported afterwards.
8.
Hadow, by his own admission, has an unrealistic and biased warmer view of the Arctic that doesn’t match the current data. In his Curriculum Vitae posted here, he writes:
“Twenty years ago, you could walk to the North Pole – now you have to swim part of the way there.”
Only problem is, the satellite data showed a completely different picture of solid ice, and Hadow’s expedition encountered temperatures of -44F (-42C) along the way, and the vast majority of the trip was below 32F (0C). He didn’t encounter vast leads of water along the way, and in fact encountered ice conditions far worse than he expected. This shows his bias for a warmer trip from the start.
7.
The Catlin team’s scientific advisor at the beginning of the trip seemed to already have a predetermined outcome for the Arctic. In this BBC article and interview they write of Professor Wieslaw Maslowski, a science advisor to the survey:
“Ultimately, Professor Maslowski hopes to finesse his forecast for when the first ice-free summer might arrive.
Currently, he has it down for 2013 – but with an uncertainty range between 2010 and 2016.”
So if they already had this figured out from the beginning, why make the trip at all? Is it so the BBC could recycle the headline again today saying Arctic to be ‘ice-free in summer’? Why do “science” at great personal risk when you already are sure of the end game? There’s also another nugget of predisposition wisdom by Catlin’s science advisor Professor Maslowski. Read on.
6.
They failed to advise of major equipment failure in a timely manner, inviting suspicion. The ice radar sounding equipment that was designed to do the thickness survey failed miserably, almost from day one, yet even though they were “sending in regular diary entries, videos and photographs to BBC News throughout their expedition.” the world didn’t learn of that failure until day 44 of the 73 day expedition. When Apollo 13 had a problem, the world knew about it almost immediately. When Catlin had a problem, it was covered up for well over a month, yet that didn’t stop the BBC from paraphrasing Apollo 13’s famous words for a headline ‘London, we have a problem’ as if there was some parallel in integrity and timeliness here.
5.
Hadow and his scientific advisor erroneously believed that their expedition was the only way ice thickness measurements could be done, and they seemed oblivious to other efforts and systems. While this was obviously a selling point to sponsors and an ego boost for the team, it was flat wrong. For example, there’s a bouy network that provides ice thickness data,. Then there’s ICEsat which provides mass and balance measurements, as well as ice thickness maps, shown below:
This sequence shows Arctic sea ice thickness derived from fall campaigns from the ICESat satellite. While the sea ice extent might look similar from year to year this thickness data shows dramatic thinning especially near the North Pole (shown in dark blue). This image was generated with data acquired between Oct 4 – Oct 19, 2008.
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003592/seaicediscrete.png
ICESat data for Fall 2008, source NASA Scientific Visualization Studio
As reported on WUWT, another data source of Arctic Ice thickness in 2009 came in the form of an aerial survey with a towed radar array from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. They didn’t have to risk lives, create drama, or bleat constant headlines to the BBC while doing the science. They simply flew the plane over the ice a few times.
Here’s some excerpts of what was reported on WUWT in the story Inconvenient Eisdicken – “surprising results” from the Arctic
At the North Pole ice sheet is thicker than expected
Das Forschungsflugzeug “Polar 5″ in Bremerhaven [Quelle: AWI]
The “Polar 5″ in Bremerhaven
The research aircraft Polar 5 “ended today in Canada’s recent Arctic expedition. During the flight, researchers have measured the current Eisstärke measured at the North Pole, and in areas that have never before been overflown. Result: The sea-ice in the surveyed areas is apparently thicker than the researchers had suspected.
Normally, ice is newly formed after two years, over two meters thick. “Here were Eisdicken up to four meters,” said a spokesman of Bremerhaven’s Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. For scientists, this result is still in contradiction to the warming of the seawater.
Gosh. Where’s the polar death defying drama in that?
Due to the extreme cold conditions they were not fully prepared for, they completed less than half of the planned trip. Originally it was to be a 1000 kilometer trip to the North Pole which according to early interviews given by Hadow was easily done. yet they failed. The original start point was to be at 81N 130W but they actually started closer to the pole by about 100 kilometers.
According to the Google Earth KML file provided by Catlin
Click here to explore the Catlin Arctic Survey in Google Earth (right click and save as)
They started at 81.7N 129.7W and ended at 85.5N 125.6W for a total distance of approximately 435 kilometers over 73 days. Hardly a broad survey of the Arctic Ice when put into perspective on the Google Earth and ICEsat maps shown below:
Catlin Route Map from GPS data with planned and actual start/end points
Catlin Route Map from GPS data with planned and actual start/end points
Here’s the Catlin Arctic Ice Survey Route overlaid on the ICEsat map. You can see just how little of the ice was actually surveyed.
Catlin Arctic Survey Path over ICEsat map
Catlin Arctic Survey Path over ICEsat map – click for larger image
Note that the ICEsat image is from Fall 2008, while the Catlin trip was in the Spring of 2009. Since we all know see ice moves, it is likely that the path depicted does not represent the ice Catlin actually traveled over. The sea ice may have moved so that the Catlin path traversed some of the thinner ice to the west, though some thickening of the ice would also be expected during the winter of 2009. The point of this map was to put the route in perspective.
3.
There’s very little actual data return for 73 days on the ice, only 39 datapoints. See the dataset they provide in the Excel file here:
Ice Report CAS Snow Ice Measurements – Final 2009
Final surveying results from the 2009 expedition.
The actual number of holes drilled and measured for ice thickness by Pen Hadow is said to be in the hundreds, and what we see in the Excel file is the average of those many holes at each drilling session. While I commend them for providing the raw hole data, problems with potential measurement bias don’t appear to be well addressed in the methodology paper they provide here (PDF) while it is mentioned in the preliminary June report:
“One further consideration, when interpreting the ice thickness measurements made by the Catlin Arctic Survey team, may be navigational bias. Typically, the surface of First Year Ice floes are flatterthan that of multi‐year ice floes and because the team systematically seeks out flatter ice which is easier to travel over and camp on, there is a risk that the ice surveyed will not be representative.”
Since they make no mention of the potential measurement bias in the final report, it appears that there wasn’t anything but lip service consideration given to it in the early report, possibly to appease critics.
2.
One of the most prominent sea ice researchers in the world, Dr. Walt Meier of NSIDC said he would not use the Catlin data saying in a post here on WUWT:
“I don’t anticipate using the Catlin data.”
That begs the question then, beyond the use of the data for generating news stories like we’ve seen in the BBC and other media outlets, who will? Even the media outlets have ignored the actual data Catlin made available, preferring sound bites over data bytes.
Mr Ned
Thank you for a BRILLIANT POST.
It’ll do wonders for shipping, I don’t see what the beef is – there won’t be any ice or polar bears in the way of our direct shipments of much needed solar-powered fans from China.
The whole green slime argument is based around one thing:
The idea that things have ALWAYS been as they are and that is how they MUST stay.
The Ecologist has an article out saying forests and oceans eat up carbon better than anything
Forgive my pedantism, but the term is Carbon Dioxide.
Carbon is a black solid not a gas.
The continual perversion of language by the ecocretins (and driven by twats like the millibands of this world) tends unfortunately to rub off on the media who dont apparently question anything that gets pushed their way hence it gets ingrained into everyday language by the rest of us.
So, its Carbon Dioxide, not Carbon.
Try breathing carbon in and see what happens…
Oh, and i agree 100% with your Ecologist reportage.
hot Arab Babes on offer in the Mussy world
http://londonmuslims.blogspot.com/
I’d love to shag to that Babe
Unlike Arab slappers My Mrs gives good head
I can agree with that !
Hurrah for Geert Wilders
He wouldn’t like Section 28 though, would he?
Who does, ducky?
Kerboooommmmmmmmmm!
Yeah, but come on – most Muslim women look like brians mum from Life of Brian.
Anyway Cleese et al, how about “Life of Mohammed”?
A rich comedy target envirnoment if ever there was one – if you can make light of the utter carnage Mo & his pyschopaths wrought across the Arabian peninsula & beyond.
The Holy Books though – the Hadith in particular – its a laugh a minute.
Come on Pythons – lets have it.
But I’ll bet you ANY money that you wouldn’t be willing to do similar if people knew who you were.
Separate if you will ideology (we believe in freedom of speech) with practicality (hundreds/thousands of muslims who would regard it as their RIGHT to kill you for offending their prophet).
This is the problem, it’s no different to insulting Jesus, but Christians have had 600 extra years to cool down about religious sensitivity (except obviously in the US).
So again Rambo; prove your bravery by NOT being anonymous.
And I have to say that the Old Testament is just as violent and merciless as the koran, to the point of advocating mass rape, genocide, murder, enslavement, abduction, expansionist slaughterings etc.
Even Jesus advocated death for disrespecting parents and had no objections to slavery, being so kind as to offer advice on how to be a good slave…
And furthermore, had you ever ventured out of your bedroom and tried the odd bit of interaction with actual people you may observe that in the middle-east the average attractiveness of girls makes (as with most of the world) british females seem incredibly ugly…
Bugger. I thought that I was the only serious trougher in this village. Time to set up a fake company. Richard ….
Hold on luv, I’m just want to see the end of this film.
Oh oh yes yes yesssssssss! Belladonna you dirty slag.
Don’t worry, we’ll clean up the mess, you go and enjoy yourself somewhere else
shellin-out: You are so lucky, I wish I was much younger I’d leave this cesspit country as quick as I could. Best wishes for your future.
You don’t need to be a millionaire to retire to Thailand or the Philippines. Check out retirement visas and the low cost of living. No more British winters to worry about
Sorry to disillusion you SO, but politicians are corrupt in every country, and in some EVEN MORE than in the UK!
The illusion they put about that they want to do ‘good’ by the people is cod’s wallop, they want to do good by themselves.
The difference between UK and others is that the UK always made out it was a whited sepulchre – and we were all stupid enough to believe them!
I see Griffin has caved in and will allow non white people to join the BηP. But he has also gone one step further (not asked of him) to allow all faiths to join. Now this is gonna fuck up the Mυslim groups who will not allow non Mυslims to join their groups.
I wonder who’s going to be the first black, muslim in the queue to join the BNP?
Gotta love some of those muslim /arab girls, absolute stunners, lovely ladies indeed.
Apart from the ones with beards.
When you go stay, we came back and regret it.
Off with his head ! DC must deal with this immediatey.
Dave hasn’t got time he’s too busy cooking his mortgage books
Financial Misconduct = Gordon Goldseller
I’ll help with that. I’m a dab hand at reiki massage as well. It will cost you mind, Connaught Square won’t pay for itself.
MPs took a sixpence,
And a pocket full of rye.
While four and twenty members,
Took a slice of pie.
When the pie was opened,
The press began to sing;
Wasn’t that a dirty dish,
To set before the king?
The king was in his counting house,
running out of money;
The queen was at the DTI,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Buying lots of clothes;
When down came a servant
And told them what they owed.
They send for the spin doctor,
who said its within the rules;
Mps are honourable,
And you lot are just fools..
There was such a commotion,
that little Jacqui wren;
Flew down her sister’s garden,
and apologised again.
Definitely should be set to the music and recorded on You Tube
**Applause**
Most amusing Mr Quango, even if it does show you have way too little to do.
I have a lot of Spad’s and interns to do the trifling amount of actual work.
Thanks for paying for them BTW.
Not me, I’m busy paying for Jacob Zuma’s four wives and Trevor Manuel’s million rand Beamer.
It’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Any word of the iceberg?
Iceberg’s all gone, been towed to the home counties to fill someone’s moat.
is that what is known as man made climate change?
Kelly will bottle it.
Who will swallow it?
Bet you say that to all the boys !
Absolutely. Self-regulation is almost always means no regulation. Just look at what happened in the city.
An independent commission (and when I say independent I mean it) or something should be asked to control MPs salaries and expenses.
But they’ve been allowed to do this for years.
God only knows how much money they’ve had out of us over the last 25 years or so.
If any one of us did this, we would be in front of the Judge so fast our feet wouldn’t touch the ground. It’s nothing short of fr*ud.
And where are the police investigations?
They are too busy regulating their own misconduct.
I think the only way is to abolish all allowances completely and give them public staff for their offices.We might have to give them a big pay rise(sigh) but we simply can’t trust the buggers with the cookie jar,with or without supervision.
We shouldn’t have to give them anything! They should do the job because they want to give a service to the public, not rob us all blind!
A salary of £70,000 a year would suffice. I defy anyone not to enjoy a good standard of living on that. They should have to justify every expense – with receipts, and an independent (outside) body should have very clear guidelines as to what is acceptable and what is not. Lunches at Scotts would be off the menu, as would subsidised food and drink at the HoC.
They should have to finance their own homes and furniture, and their constituency homes should be owned by the taxpayer, which means if they lose their seat they should vacate the property for the next MP.
They should only claim for second class travel. If they want to travel first class they should pay the difference out of their own pockets. Likewise if they want gardeners and/or cleaners, then the expense should be borne by them and not us.
All receipts should be scrupulously examined, before payment is made, and if an MP is found to have broken the Rules, they should be fined £1000 on the spot, and made to pay back every penny with interest.
…and above all – they should pay full taxes like the rest of us.
If this was implemented next week, I reckon we’d save quite a few million by next year.
We should have backed Elizabeth Filkin… but we were all too misty eyed about the new Blair government.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-479751/Hounding-decent-woman-Labours-brutal-campaign-destroy-ethics-watchdog-Elizabeth-Filkin.html
I think a statue of her should be put in the Lobby of the HoC.
What about the 4th plinth in Trafalgar square? where the public can see it.
Er, sorry mate, the Islamist have that one booked.
Oh bless! – misty eyed over me were you?
Big mouth gets that way too, – and in past times, up the duff as a result.
Bless!
But hey! – trust me – I’m a straight kinda guy – and look where a vote for me has led to.
no pay rises for MPs – not acceptable anymore. Only hanging the current lot will do, then we can think of a new way of governance
I give up. I’ve tried three times to post but it’s been modded every time.
try a few lines at a time? Unless it is a long post then it may prove too boring to read and put together.
Must have been interesting to take so long to try and get it published
There are a number of words that are quite innocent but will get your post moderated and to be honest once it’s gone to the moderating queue it has little chance of ever making it out of there.
The common verb to operate a car is not allowed nor is the verb to consume liquid. There’s a few other as well and it can be quite frustrating until you’ve worked out the “forbidden list”.
to drink and drive?
oh god, you’re right
d.r.i.n.k
d.r.i.v.e
why would such words be banned?
c.o.u.l.d y.o.u p.o.s.s.i.b.l.y. s.h.o.w u.s t.h.e b.a.n.n.e.d w.o.r.d l.i.s.t p.l.e.a.s.e
In your face vee larf!!
Und welcom to zer nooEUSSR order.
Now get back to your work!
Pigs!
Maybe it’s not such a great idea to trust a bunch of self-serving tribal parasites to tax and regulate every aspect of life.
Section 28
Have you been Sectioned?
I’d section more than 28 of them my old dole-scrounging troll…
Good Law.
David Wilshire’s law
Isn’t Wilshire a Hunty?
cnuty
tabloid foaming appeasment law.
I’ve broken it.
We are their regulators – we can just vote the fuckers out and put decent people in parliament. The last thing that is needed is a quango, populated by reliable place-men who will do the bidding of the goverment of the day or get restructured if they don’t. “Independent” means unaccountable, and most probably corrupt.
No,that’s the problem,we CAN’T just vote them out,for we are replacing like with like.
The ONLY way to stop this is retrospective action,forcing them to repay what has been claimed outwith the SPIRIT of the rules,and also to PROSECUTE the worst offenders.
There will have been obvious no-no s, but in general WTF’s “the spirit” of the rules ? I would want to have to fill out claim forms while having to guess what “the spirit” was, and then get a retroactive bill years later if I had – in someone else’s subjective judgement – guessed wrong.
PS – once this is accepted, then what does it lead to ? You’ve organised your tax in an efficient way. Nothing oviously immoral or ganster-like, but you could have paid more tax if you had really wanted to. Now a cash strapped goverment decides that you were not acting “in the spirit ” of the rules and hits you for 10 years worth of retro-payments ?
er YES.
Ever heard of HM Revenue and Customs?
they do EXACTLY THAT
but in THIS CASE THE BURDEN OF PROOF IS ON YOU AND NOT THE TAXMAN.
Yes but many so called voters don’t have a clue what they are voting for,donkeys voting for donkeys. Voters should be able to demonstrate their political awareness and knowledge before they are allowed near a voting booth,and that doesn’t refer to slotmouth the scouse git.
Yes, we are the regulators, but that isn’t just limited to voting once every few years. We need to get more involved between elections – go to party meetings, kick up stinks, you name it.
As an aside in the US senators and congress critters also set their own salaries. The difference between them and us is that the law forbids any pay rise coming into effect before a scheduled election. In other words, the scumbags have to go to the polls knowing the public is well aware of how much they plan to skim if they get re-elected. It may not be perfect, but possibly worth considering as part of a package of control measures.
What about a recall law, it’s been suggested a lot recently and does really really really make sense, if you piss off a big enough proportion of your electorate you’re out on your arse without police protection to get yelled at by an angry mob.
I just wonder between now and the time that she dies of a heart attack, how many times people are going to shout C.UNT at Jaqui Smith on the street….
I hope the number is large… as large as her gut.
Cameron must withdraw the whip from this sleezeball.
Give him a whip
We need to break out the cat’o'nine tails and flog some sense of honesty into them.
Send the fuckers to CruelAmazons.com
How can they get away with this level of outright thieving, fraud & corruption?
Where are the Met?
Where is HMRC?
bastards have probably bought them both off with our cash.
How can Jacqui Smith be allowed to keeop the ill gotten gains of her fraud?
WTF is going on in this third way banana republic?
Yep. The answer is no special allowances, ‘rules’ and guidance. Put them on the same regime as the Civil Service and let them answer to HMRC and the police. They write the tax code, let them follow it.
Bring in the SPG they know what to do.
Just be sure that this is not simply using a service company that makes no profit and costs no more. Many, many people and organisations outside politics use such a system with no sinister intent. Wouldn’t want to look ignorant and unsophisticated, would you?
Very droll, especially on this site, eh Guidiot?
Don’t pretend you have a sense of humour.
Look who’s pretending.
OK,I give up who is pretending?
between 2005 and 2008, Mr Wilshire paid up to £3,250 a month to the business. Extra invoices were also submitted and the total paid to the firm was £105,500.
However, there is no official record of the company’s existence and it has never filed public accounts.
That’s more like it. Fookin boring zzzzzzzz
Bit like Jacqui’s overspend, then. We still don’t know what the £100,000 overclaim was spent on.
Perhaps you could enlighten us….?
A droll troll is something you most definitely are not.
Phantom activities seem to abound on all sides of the house -Malik,Morley,
Various Lords,Baronesses.
When will they all be kicked out ?
When’s the Star Chamber reconvening?
I agree with my pedantic friend. David Wilshire should not be judged until the facts are known.
Fair enough – but can’t we hang him in the meantime, “on account”?
“The forthcoming Kelly Report to the Committee on Standards in Public Life needs to resolve this with tough transparency measures.”
Yeah but will it?? What odds would any seasoned bookie give?
I’m glad they remember Dr David Kelley
But they soon forgot about me and I was in a TV series with Bill Oddie.
Kelly Report=just another whitewash
When is the next street riot ?
When is the first street riot?
It is already a year late…………..
31st oct 09, London (HoC, Downing St, Buck House, Trafalger Square. Be there, support sharia.
Sharia Law is Innocent!
Set the slag free.
Free the Slag Three.
People don’t riot anymore
In my view, we need a mass riot outside the House of Parliament until this Fuckwit Prime Minister and his Fuckwit Government are forced to call a General Election pronto! We need our own version of the Orange Revolution, so we can call time on the political classes who have been ignoring our wishes, whilst feathering their own nests for far too long!!!
Porky, never mind the Orange revolution, Hain has that covered, we need jihad
Can we hang the bastards ? and then get a pardon from the new government ?
is that how it works ?
Porky Smith is of course right. I cannot understand why it hasn’t already happened.
No this is not yet the time, we’ve tried labour, we’re unhappy (to put it MILDLY), we’ll try the tories, we’ll still be unhappy, but we won’t want to vote labour, so what are the other options?
This is when you might expect something genuinely interesting to happen.
And I obviously don’t mention the lib-dems because I think if they were the only party left on earth and we were forced to vote they’d still fail to break 15%
Perhaps People don’t, but Mozzy malingerers riot at the drop of a burkha.
November 5th hopefully
dont forget to actually prepare your cask of powder this time.
It just gets worse.
They are all at it.
How can they have gotten away with this level of blatant fraud & criminality for all these years?
I am truly shocked.
I heard an MPs wife bleating on Pravda Toady this morning – simpering bloated sow just does not get it
Gobble, gobble
That was Mrs Austin Mitchell that was; begging for symapthy and understanding for the majority of decent hard working MPs and their families…
Decent,Hard working MP not synominous
It’s an oxymoron.
How did he get caught?
Was someone about to “out” him for this, or did Dave tell him to come clean?
Duck houses are for amateurs.
“The forthcoming Kelly Report to the Committee on Standards in Public Life needs to resolve this with tough transparency measures.”
Are your sure you meant to use the word “tough” and not “trough”?
“cough” ? Hint of justified humour there methinks.
Wilshire “confirmed that his designated “main home” is in Somerset, more than 100 miles from his constituency on the south-west outskirts of London”
(From BBC today)
Luton rifles!
Luton rifles!
They don’t like it up ‘em.
It seems that you do though.
Aye,
Most MP’s are aggrieved, the establishment “a fickle breed at best” has deserted them, least the sunlight falls too on their own fragile little realm.
All that is left is the spectacle of honorable members squabbing amongst themselves.
The best of the worst take the high moral ground of repentance, the worst scramble for the safety of anonymity like the disturbed burglar grabbing all they can as the run.
I just thought that in the interests of free speech and democracy, that this article should be brought to your attention! and no it is not a piss take!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/14/stop-hating-tony-blair
Stop hating Tony Blair
Blair turned Labour around, ousted Saddam and now earns a good living. Bring him on as EU president
I guess he and his wife are earning all that money now so that they can make poverty history in Africa. I’m sure, being totally committed christian socialists, that is what they are going to do.
Poverty is certainly history for Blair and his fishwife! Blair is now a multi-millionaire and as for Cherie – she couldn’t see a freebie without taking two!
How can this tosser Irwin Stelzer see virtue in Bliar making Labour electable again. The man is obviously a complete gaping chump. We are living in Bliar’s legacy right now. Bliar is responsible for Brown being PM. Hate is a strong word but fucking hell!!!!!!
Bearing in mind the United States of Europe’s financial accounts have never been legally signed off, they need to continue employing politicians whose skills lie in the art of spending and spin.
NuLabour, the masters of the unintended consequence. Seems even Stelzer cannot see the irony in his article.
Bugger off.
It’s people like you who are responsible for the crock of shit we’re living with now.
I meant Steltzer – not Anonymous.
Well here’s a few reasons…
Bernie Ecclestone
cut benefits to single parents
Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet,Home Secretary Jack Straw ordered he was too ill to extradite and allowed him to return to Chile.
Welsh Secretary Ron Davies
British Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Mandelson resigning for failing to disclose a pre-election winning, £373000 home loan from Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson,
Peter Mandelson is back in the Cabinet this time as Northern Ireland secretary.
Blair is heckled and slow handclapped as he delivers a speech to the Women’s Institute.
Transport Secretary Stephen Byers resigns after a long running row over good day to bury bad news email sent by his adviser.
Cherie Blair apologises for embarrassment caused by buying flats with the help of convicted fraudster Peter Foster.
139 Labour MPs vote against the government’s decision to go to war with Iraq.
Clare Short quits over Iraq saying Tony Blair had broken promises over the country’s future.
On the Today programme Andrew Gilligan reports allegations that the government enhanced its dossier on Iraq’s WMD.
Ministry of Defence names weapons expert Dr David Kelly as the source for Andrew Gilligan’s sexed up dossier report.
Government weapons expert Dr David Kelly is found dead in woods near his home.
The government narrowly wins a vote on university top up fees an issue on which Tony Blair had staked his authority.
Lord Hutton’s report absolves government of almost any blame in Kelly affair and points finger at BBC reporting.
Key allegations about the government’s Iraq dossier reported by the BBC’s Andrew Gilligan were “unfounded” and the BBC’s editorial procedures were “defective” Lord Hutton said. He concluded that there was no underhand government strategy to name Dr Kelly. The report caused massive upheaval at the BBC with the resignations of Chairman Gavyn Davies and Director General Greg Dyke.
Speaking on Today Clare Short alleges UN Secretary General Kofi Annans office was bugged by MI6.
Blair confirms there will be a referendum on the EU constitution a U turn on his previous position.
For months the prime minister had denied the need for a vote but with clamour over Europe issues growing louder he said that he would “let the people have a final say”. Conservative leader Michael Howard asked him “Who will ever trust you again”
Butler report finds that some intelligence on Iraq’s WMDs had turned out to be unreliable but Blair had acted in good faith.
Home Secretary David Blunkett resigns over visa row.
David Blunkett stepped down after an email emerged showing a visa application for his exlover’s nanny had been fast tracked. The email had said “no favours but slightly quicker”. Mr Blunkett said he had done nothing wrong but that questions about his honesty had damaged the government. Education Secretary Charles Clarke took over as home secretary.
In a speech marking the start of the UKs six month European Union presidency Blair says the EU faces a leadership crisis.
The speech came barely a week after a turbulent summit in which Tony Blair refused to give up the UK’s £3bn annual refund from the EU budget unless there were reforms to farm subsidies. He said the EU would fail “on a grand scale” if it did not face up to globalisation and had to change to recover public support.
6th August 2005
Former Cabinet minister Robin Cook dies aged 59 after collapsing while hill walking in northwest Scotland.
19th August 2005
Former Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam dies aged 55. She fell down at home and never regained consciousness.
15th March 2006
Tony Blair wins the first Commons test of controversial school reform plans for England but only because of Tory support.
MPs voted by 458 votes to 115 in favour of plans to give schools more control over admissions and budgets. But 52 Labour backbenchers rebelled and another 25 MPs did not vote. The revolt was seen as a blow to Mr Blair’s authority.
16th March 2006
Labours treasurer Jack Dromey reveals he and other officials did not know the party had secretly borrowed millions of £s.
Mr Dromey told BBC News that neither he nor Labour’s elected chairman knew about the loans from businessmen despite being regularly consulted about bank loans. He said the Electoral Commission should investigate the issue of loans to political parties from non-commercial sources. Home Secretary Charles Clarke said it was reasonable for an internal inquiry to take place but denied “cash for honours” claims.
25th April 2006
The Home Office admits 1023 foreign criminals were released without being considered for deportation.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke refused to step down but conceded he did not know where most of the released prisoners were. Among them were three murderers and nine rapists. Opposition leaders accused him of failing to protect the public.
26th April 2006
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt is heckled for the second time in three days by health workers.
Patricia Hewitt was jeered and slow handclapped by nurses at a conference in Bournemouth as she tried to address their fears about NHS deficits.
28th April 2006
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott admits having an affair with one of his secretaries.
Another blow to Labour in the run-up to the local elections. The MP for Hull East said he regretted the relationship with Tracey Temple 43 which had ended “some time ago”.
minister tries to regain momentum after one of the worst local election results in Labour’s history. Mr Clarke is replaced by Defence Secretary John Reid. Margaret Beckett is the new foreign secretary with Jack Straw becoming Commons leader. John Prescott will stay as deputy prime minister but lose his department. Trade Secretary Alan Johnson gets education.
10th July 2006
John Prescott comes under pressure to quit after it emerges a US tycoon gave him a cowboy outfit during a visit to his ranch.
12th July 2006
Lord Levy is arrested and bailed by police over the cash for honours probe.
Tony Blair’s chief fundraiser denied any wrongdoing and accused the police of using their arrest powers “totally unnecessarily”. The peer was one of several key figures in securing multimillion £ loans to the Labour Party in 2005. Police are examining whether honours were ever given as reward for financial help to the three main parties.
6th September 2006
Tension between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown reaches all-time high after MPs demand a timetable for the PMs departure.
Reports of Mr Blair and Mr Brown having an “acrimonious meeting” over the succession issue are followed by the resignation of a junior minister and seven government aides who had urged Mr Blair to step down.
12th September 2006
In his last speech to the Trades Union Congress as Prime Minister Blair defends his record amid jeers and heckling.
26th September 2006
Tony Blair admits it’s hard to let go during final speech as leader of the Labour Party at the party conference.
14th December 2006
Police interview Blair about cash for honours affair.
Mr Blair became the first prime minister to be questioned by police in the course of an investigation. He was interviewed twice in December and January 2007 but not under caution so he was being treated as a witness rather than a suspect. Mr Blair’s chief fundraiser Lord Levy and Downing Street political adviser Ruth Turner were arrested on separate occasions in January 2007 and released after questioning. The case file is now with the Crown Prosecution Service.
from his (TB) biographer John Rentoul
“All the teachers I spoke to… said he was a complete pain in the backside, and they were very glad to see the back of him.”
Got a bleeding’ edake aint I? Free hoors dinna wiv that Vezi bloke and no shagg at th end ov it. Betta of wiv me old ildo. Iddear 4 me nekxt bit iv work. Asprins neded b4 start onn it tho.
Isn’t it about time we started referring to the House of Commons as The Den of Thieves, and pillorying the thieving bastards every time they put their snouts above the parapet?
Why do we give them, our employees, such an easy ride?
Time to break out the rotting fruit, at the very least.
Why do we give them such an easy ride?
You tell me! We are too damn complacent in this country!
We need mass protests, riots and civil disobedience to get change, yet people would rather sit at home in front of the t.v.!
Complacent fools!
“We need mass protests, riots and civil disobedience”
No shortage of that.
Mostly driven by the Bhurka Brigade, not been watching Youtube or TV recently then?
That would now be classed as assault. We can do absolutely nothing to these people. They’ve made the laws which prevent us from doing so.
We can do anything we want to do. The East Germans managed it, so can we.
Well for a start,they are not that easy to meet face to face. Especially if they are in a Ministerial post. Few of them meet ordinary people as they live in the Westminster bubble. TV appearances are in front of selected audiences. Very few meetings withe the average person in the street. Remember Balir in 2005 – a TV audience let him know that the average wait fir a GP appointment was 2 weeks. He could not believe it. Why would he? -they all have a taxpayer funded private arrangement at St Thomas’ hospital.
Out of touch nobodies,the lot of them
Westminster MPs are utterly pointless. Hang the lot of them. We are ruled by the EUSSR. Turn the House of Commons into a museum, or better yet knock it down and build a multi-story car park in its place – ideal for St Thomas’ Hospital.
My MP says the majority of MPs are honest, hard-working and conscientious.
Then he/she is a lying layabout with no sense of honour.
Such a comment implies a comprehensive and intimate knowledge of every current MP.
And that the commenter and the majority of MP’s are a useless bunch of bumbling, jobsworth toerags incapable of putting their toxic House in order.
Really? I hope you laughed in his face.
Then why didn’t they get together and do something about the scumbags?
Maybe the majority weren’t thieving on the same scale as Jacqui Smith and Wilshire, but they sure as fuck held their noses and turned a blind eye.
Guilty as accessories before during and after the fact, methinks.
We need a mass riot outside the House of Parliament until this F’wit Prime Minister and his F’wit Government are forced to call a General Election pronto!
We need our own version of the Orange Revolution, so we can call time on the political classes who have been ignoring our wishes, whilst feathering their own nests for far too long!!!
This issue can only be settled by calling closure on this Parliament and allowing the people to give their verdict in a General Election. It has to happen this autumn – we cannot be strung out for another 8 months of this rubbish!!!
We can’t demonstrate within one mile of the HoC of Downing Street.
That was one of Tone’s, I believe, which was probably passed at some ungodly hour in the morning.
Join me on November 5th then
http://bastardoldholborn.blogspot.com/2009/09/november-5th-2009-plans.html
All it takes is courage, commitment and numbers. If numbers reach a critical mass, then all the laws and all the police cannot stop them. The authorities are like King Canute if the tide of public opinion is strong enough.
500,000 should be enough to put a cordon around Parliament until this pathetic excuse for a Government caves in and agrees to a General Election. November 5th would be a good date.
The audit needs to be structured like Jury duty. A number of people from a constituency are called up to sit in judgement of their MP’s expenses. The selection of the jury should be completely random, and their remit should be to determine if the expenses claimed by their MP are fair and reasonable. This should happen once a year.
Expenses pay back: It’s a start, SNP predict breakthrough, Berlusconi backs his mate Blair for role as EU President -oh, God!- At last! Labour realises they have alienated their core members
No matter how we look at it, no matter if there are silly errors in some of the cases of individual MPs, it is a good start.
I agree that there should be anelection this November. Dragging it out to next year would be a mistake. But Brown’s very good at mistaken actions.
No, it would become too partisan.
Better twelve people randomly selected from around the country examining the claims of each MP but with the accused’s identity kept secret until after the verdict is handed down. Independent tax and accounting experts to be on hand to explain technical isues if necessary. Verdict of the jury to be final, binding and irrevocable.
Nothing wrong with a fair lynching and hanging.
Those who think the next Conservative government will:
End BBC TV Tax, thus starving Labour luvvies.
End money laundering to the Guardian through gov adverts monopoly.
Replace Labour’s inside man Bercow.
End illegal wars.
Institute tighter immigration controls………….etc..etc..
in for a rude dose of reality.
Seeins you’ve got your crystal ball out can you tell us who’ll win the William Hill King Georb VI Chase on Boxing Day. Kauto Star?
MB – don’t need a crystal ball to forecast the blindingly obvious. They have had all the chances they needed in the past to make these changes but did nothing. Even under the Thatch they left the BBC alone. Wake up and smell the collusion.
You’re rite. Kauto Star is 1/1 evens. Bleedin obvious winner innit.
Too right. Vote UKIP.
My thoughts exactly.
+++Dishonourable MPs Can No Longer Be Trusted to Self Regulate+++
The only thing they should be aloud to self regulate is the speed of their right wrists.
That should be allowed, of course.
I doubt that many of them can count to 99!
How many are likely to make it to 99?
These people–across all parties–are liars, cheats, thieves and chalatans. The whole system is rotten. Party politics in Britain is like something from a Dickensian novel: it is outdated and anachronistic.
People here carry on with their idiotic parochialism, heads firmly buried in the sand. Wake up, folks, and wake up now. Your cherished politics is shit and it is corrupt shit. No general election will change that, only fundamental, seismic changes of which so few in Britain can conceive–let alone act upon.
seen elsewhere, but can’t remember where:
MPs – innocent even if proved guilty
says it all
when is enough enough?????
dissolve parliament now as it has absolutely no credibility
Yep, right there with you! But since it is such a sensible suggestion, they won’t do it
The important point is whether the expenses he claimed were justified, not whether he put the money into a company he owned.
From what I have read he was just another grabber shovelling in as much as he could on the feeble pretext that the Fees Office had O.K’d his claims. Just the same as it would be all right to kill someone if a copper told you it was in order.
This case, much like the Wintertons, does involve a higher potential for fraud (or the appearance of) that MPs are recommended to avoid – that of paying expenses to family or firms you have a connection to. Which is why some MPs look on very shaky ground when they rent homes owned by other members of their families, when they pay expenses to firms they run or even when some MPs rent homes from other MPs.
They were meant to use their moral compass to be honourable. The needle is going crazy!
“The forthcoming Kelly Report to the Committee on Standards in Public Life needs to resolve this with tough transparency measures.”
Without a doubt. The regulator of MP expenses must be us, through stringent transparency and a power of recall. We put them there. They said ‘We’ll mind our own affairs’. No more. No longer. They cannot be trusted. We must wrest the whip from their clammy grasp.
MPs don’t even bother to cover up saying they are greedy little pigs.
Just look at Bill Etherington Labour MP saying pretty much: “do what I say, not what I do”.
Outrageous.
Under a code of ethics borne in a military zone somewhere in the galaxy, the lesser spotted MP-eus Thievus begins the ritual of fleecing. This ritual lasts the entire term of a Parliament and longer if the smaller spotted publicus are unable to use the grey matter.
The publicus bends over and thus the shafting begins. And then there was Guido, a Giant amongst Blogus spherus who brought down the wrath of his mighty word and the MP-eus learned of fear and loathing.
Now, can the last MP out of Parliament kindly turn off the bloody lights… it’s not environmentally friendly is it? Zero waste Britain? Burn some MPs for warmth!
Cold is God’s way of telling us to burn more politicians
Squeal piggies, squeal. Another fat pig using the ‘rules’ as an excuse to feather his own nest. These MPs have become as repellent as dog dirt in a restaurant.
Or a swimming pool, or on your shoe,or your brake pedal with the heater on.
Totally disgraceful but he has a right of reply of course and he needs to do this very quickly. If only certain Labour ministers were made to do the same but they never are.
My very serious concern having seen this all over the news channels this morning is the pumping up of this story and other stories relating to Tories only is bigger than all the Labour trougher stories put together. It is totally disproportionate given the amounts stolen by the government front bench alone.
The chancellor flipped, Balls is double dipping and Spliff robbed more by far and has been told she has no need to pay it back just say sorry yet this is less amounts and all hell breaks loose. Sorry its because he is a Tory and solely that. He should hang if he has done wrong but so should the others and this MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE STUCK ONLY ON THE TORIES WHEN THE BIGGEST TROUGHERS ARE ON THE GOVERNMENT SIDE.
I want them ALL to hang irrespective of what party they come from but the present style of MSM witch hunt reporting on Tories compared to the sweeping under the carpet of the Labour thieves including McFuckwit is as much if not more of a disgrace than the 100k as far as I am concerned. Robbery is OK so long as you are Labour if you are anyone else a prison cell beckons
Sorry but its all bollox and spin and I don’t want an election decided because of the distorted and inaccurate reporting by the left wing press and media that are constantly issued.
This is the kind of post indicative of the inability to see beyond the pathetic two party hoonery that passes for politics in this country. GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND. The whole thing is a shambles; there is no democracy; MP’s of all parties break the law with impunity and without recourse.
WAKE UP NOW. Such idiotic postings as yours merely confirm to party whores that the British public is too thick to conceive or real constitutional change. I know it’s difficult for you, that you would rather rant on about how this or that party or media outlet is being unfair etc, but you are simply talking bollocks because you can’t see any further than what these hoons have hammered into you. It’s beyond these antiquated, dreadful parties now; what is so difficult about seeing that?
Read the post again Fuckwit. Thats precisely what I said. The singling out of one person to such an extent allows the others to run and hide and I want then all as I clearly stated previously. Suggest you get your fucking head out of your arse and read posts properly before making your stupid inanae comments
Next time by the way fuckwit give yourself a name.
NOW FUCK OFF
On the other hand it gives Dave a chance to act decisively and put Brown and Harriet in a bad light.
They are all over the place.
Thanks. You’ve not only misunderstood my post but you too are incapable of seeing beyond this deeply undemocratic system that prevails in this country. You’re Dave or Gordon or Nick don’t want the constitutional changes this country desperately needs. Why? Because not one of them would survive that–and neither would the horrible parties they front.
Go have a read and then come back and tell us more.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1220494/Expenses-rebels-Theyd-strangled-But-says-leading-historical-novelists-democrats-Ancient-Rome-modern-MPs-shame.html
While you are about it, look up the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re.’
Moderators. Please tell me what is wrong with my reply to comment 35.
The post only highlighted my own opinion.
I re-worded it and it’s still been modded. What’s the problem?
…try some * and — in dodgy words, the mod’s a computer program.
Your name is Kelly. You’re about to make a report that the Labour hierarchy might not want to hear. Do you:
a) Flee the country, whilst its still possible
b) Go for a stroll in the woods
Put Elizabeth Filkin back in charge. She knows who’s got ‘form’ and she could take the investigation up where she left off.
She has been strangely quiet since being hounded out of office by the spiv Martin. I wonder what threats, if any, were made to make her resign? Why is she so silent now?
Prophetic I think.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/archive/politics/filkin.shtml
Mention has been made in other places that the Wilshire Company is not registered at Companies House. Nothing unusual in that and I’m sure lots of people, including MP’s, regularly buy goods or services from sole traders or partnerships.
A real question methinks is just what did the Wilshire business do?
- if it actually physically produced publicity materials etc. at a lower price than the competition against some form of tender then that is one thing and should be able to be proved
- if however it placed orders on third party suppliers and retained profit within the business then that is quite another thing. Misuse of public funds, or if you prefer fraud, springs to mind. I suspect this is the case and if so then the matter should be referred to the Police.
Of course sole traders and members of partnerships have unlimited personal liability for their actions.
so who do we get to regulate MP’s
we obviously can’t trust lawyers like Baroness Scotland or judges like Sir David Maddison (who happily overturned the Bill of Rights for Trafigura/Carter Ruck) or civil servants who cover up that Gordon is unwell and the police who will arrest anyone on national security or terrorism charges because a cabinet minister says so.
That leaves the court of public opinion which has already found these chumps guilty as charged.
Liebore are so evil I don’t even want them in as the official opposition next term. Will the tory landslide be so huge it’s safe to vote libdem to make it so?
The Libdem agenda is the same as Nulabours, just not as hidden.
The Libdems have an agenda?
Yes – hand everything to Brussels
What made me really fucking angry this morning was when I heard that MPs are now getting upset because all this expenses malarkey is starting to get stressful for their families.
WTF???
Yes, when criminals get caught, it is stressful for their families. Perhaps they should have thought of that before putting their hands in the till.
Plus I don’t have a lot of sympathy for the families. Are we supposed to believe that all these MPs’ wives didn’t notice that they’d suddenly acquired a brand new kitchen without it apparently costing them anything?
Trying to use their families as some kind of emotional shield is sickening. I didn’t think that even MPs would stoop quite that low.
Oh, I don’t think they’ve quite reached the bottom of the barrell yet.
Certainly not! Just wait for more on Julie Kirkbride!
Labour MPs have always stooped very low indeed – infact most of them are from the gutter. The tories occasionally stoop so low but they tend to have more backbone and integrity that the socialist cowards. Tories don’t tend to have a problem with mea culpa and can put up their hands when caught. I have yet to see a labour MP admit any fault – they always blame others but never themselves. I think that after 13 years of labour rule, they have created an atmosphere of dishonesty and lack of trust in the country.
But let’s not forget who was approving all these dodgy expense claims – it was the office of that dishonest low life scum Michael Martin, now a Lord. The press seem to have conveniently forgotten all about him but surely he is ultimately to blame for creating this ‘fiddle your expenses’ culture in Parliament.
Michael Martin got handsomely rewarded, though, didn’t he.
A peerage will see him live the rest of his life in relative luxury, compared to the rest of us.
Could be Labour trying to push reform of the HoL on the sly. Fill it to the brim with barefaced shits that a new Great Stink needs dealing with pronto.
Yep. We are witnessing law and order as we know it disintegrate. More to come to a street near you. Soon.
Bloody hell
Just when you think you’ve heard the absolute worst offence that MP’s could commit up they pop again with something even more shocking.
It seems as though the government is just staggering, out of control, from one crisis to the next whilst individual MP’s are concentrating on how to grab as much money from the taxpayer as they can for as long as they can.
Give control over their claims to a panel of retired armed forces officers, appointed directly by the Queen and with the power to prosecute any mp, found to be troughing, through the courts.
I hope this Wilshire chap is going to be retiring at the next GE although I think cameron should sack him now.
I said that in a previous post, which was modded.
I said that if an MP was found to be claiming expenses to which he was not entitled, theere should be an outside body who have the teeth to give that MP a hefty on-the-spot fine, and they should then be asked to pay the money back in full – with interest.
Good idea, and give it a short, snappy name, like HMRC for example.
Nell, why don`t you give some focus to Julie Kirkbride, that lingering sore. If she is dealt with, the whole party can be clean!
I have posted on Julie Kirkbride before – I just hope she has the sense not to stand for re-election, but somehow stories keep emerging that she is still thinking about doing just that.
Somebody posted on here earlier that her brother had formed several companies that were receiving money but that the source of the money couldn’t be determined.
So its quite possible that there is more of the kirkbride mackay scandal to come yet.
There certainly is Nell! The Ian Kirkbride receipts need to be investigated and Dave Cameron needs to act against Julie Kirkbride now, to dispel any doubts about his own position – which is by no means clear.
And cut off his appendages!
Unfortunately the way things are legally, only the electors of an MP’s constituency can fire him/her. That’s why there needs to be a mechanism for people to recall their MP.
That is true in so far as it goes – however, if such a person as Kirkbride or Jacqui Smith loses their party whip, they have no chance of re-election (not that either would in any case, the voters have more sense).
TIP-OFF for interested parties:
Now that the media have moved on to `company` business, they might like to look at IAN KIRKBRIDE, brother of JULIE KIRKBRIDE. He has set up several companies during the past five years which have no meaningful function other than to receive funds. What is the source of these funds? It would be interesting to know how much public money has been paid to these companies, and the amounts paid by Julie Kirkbride and Andrew MacKay for whatever purposes.
Exactly. This must be investigated thoroughly and Julie Kirkbride prosecuted.
Ian Kirkbride must also be guilty too. We need to know the full facts and details -there is a lot known already but obviously much more to come. Get to work, diggers and investigaters, we are with you all the way!
Christ, he told his mother
Christ, he told her not to bother
‘Cause he’s alright in the city
‘Cause he’s high above the ground
He’s just hanging around (hanging around)
He’s just hanging around (hanging around)
He’s just hanging around (hanging around)
He’s just hanging around (hanging around)
At least Kirkbride has had her fingers prised (kicking and screaming) off the Bromsgrove constituency – how come Porky Smith and her husband are still clinging on in neighbouring Redditch?
Trouble is this kind of thing is happening in Quango Land every day and we don’t know about it. Far more money involved.
Spot on. A reason for a bonfire of the quangos. Sadly “Dave” has rejected this. Wonder why ?
Yes, but Julie Kirkbride is a beneficiary of that as well as the rest. Take for example the Interparliamentary Union as but one example. There is no mention of Kirkbride`s `benefits` here. What about the fabulous five week long trip to the South Seas, accompanied by mother Barbara. How much did Barbara pay for this? Its a fiddle! This evil Kirkbride woman has fleeced the system for all it is worth, far more so than any other MP, Labour or Conservative. She should be FULLY investigated and prosecuted.
The nub of the expenses scandal is that MPs felt aggrieved that they were in their eyes not paid a salary commensurate with what they thought they were entitled to(people can of course argue that they were actually overpaid but that misses the point)but that the electorate would not wear an increase to their salary above a certain percentage which was broadly in line with what the general pay settlements in each year were both in the public and private sector.It was therefore decided that a way to grant “honourable members” what they considered their rightful entitlement was to use the expenses system to boost their overall salary package and that the system’s audit requirements would be be fairly loose if not not actually non-existent vid daily food allowances and expenditure up to a certain amount without receipt(that loophole only plugged in the last year).Certain MPs(not all) therefore decided to work the system and then say that their claims were “within the rules” laid down by the Fees Office whose monitoring of the claims was quite frankly laughable and pittiable.They did not stop to think whether their claims were commensurate with actually performing their job as a MP or whether the electorate(who were NEVER expected to know the truth anyway) would accept the claims as such.They simply regarded it as their rightful entitlement. If any employee in the private sector claimed such expenses,assuming they would even be authorised,they would at the very least face disciplinary proceedings by their employer, be expected to repay their over claims and in extreme cases be dismissed from their job and in very serious cases be reported to the police for Fraud.
I have ABSOLUTELY no sympathy with MPs who arenow whingeing and complaining about retrospectiveness or that it is unfair to expect them to be penalised or repay sums they should morally never have claimed – the excuse that they were “within the rules” at the time or that the Fees Office approved them is a totally spurious argument – their claims may have been “within the rules” but to claim certain amounts or to “flip” your residence for tax and allowance gains was clearly a matter of poor judgement and extreme veniality and in some cases downright criminal
If Parliament is to restore its authority the very worst cases need to be booted out of Parliament – not allow them to just retire gracefully and they certainly should not be paid any allowances for losing their seat or standing down at the election.In addition the matter should be investigated by the police and Serious Fraud Office and files prepared for the CPS to instigate proceedings and if found guilty they should be looking at imprisonment and a requirement to repay everything that they claimed with interest.
If MPs still don’t get it then they must be totally stupid.The public have no sympathy with their whinges or threats of instigating legal challenges or with their plight caused by actions of their own making
Yawn, Yawn, Pork buster MP, Parliament to do nothing.
Guido
I hope you might have picked up the interesting angle on this story not just the obvious one.
I think most bloggers and comment writers never read the other comments so I am not sure of the value of pointing out the issues.
So Guido if you have any interest in the answer to the 2 questions below just post a comment against this and I will answer them. For other who have ideas please comment. If any one is interested I will post the answers later today.
1. Mr Wilshire should today be a very worried man. I predict he will be seeing some big bills very soon. LOL.
2.I believe the story raises a prima facie case that the editors/journalists at the Daily Telegraph have committed a very serious criminal act.
Okay, I’ll bite: In your opinion, what very serious criminal act have the hacks at the Barclay Bugle committed?
I will answer that. Looking at the DT story Mr Wilshire, “company” was not a limited company but a partnership. There is no legal requirements to publish partnership accounts in the public domain. The only place they must be files is with HM Revenue & Customs. Where they are very much not public documents.
If the DT is suggesting they know the documents where not presented to HMRC they could only have obtained this information illegally. Read Michael Ashcoft’s autobiography to see this has been done before.
I don’t see anything in the DT story (online version) that suggests that the appropriate paperwork hadn’t been submitted to HMRC.
I agree it does not. The story says that Mr Wilshire did not file his account, but if the “company” was not a limited comany as seems likely there was no requirements for him to file accounts anywhere except with HMRC. So where was he supposed to file account. Either the DT story is rather very stupid i.e. Mr Wilshire did not file accounts, even though there was no where for him to file accounts, or any requirement for him to file accounts.
The account filling element of the story is either the biggest none story of all time or the DT means a filling with HMRC which is the only place the accounts needed to be filed.
Well, you haven’t posted 2 questions – you’ve made 2 statements. How can there be answers? There can only be further details.
Ok I should have said expain these to statements.
2 is answered above.
The answer to 1 is that if Mr Wilshire was in a partnership and the income from his expenses claim was greater than the costs this would be a business and subject to tax under Schedule D.
So the profit would be taxablle, and if he had failed to declare the profits to HMRC there would be penalities of 100% on top, plus interest. The HMRC can also go back 6 years and if there is fraud a further 6 years, and if fraud a further 6 years and so on. Plus costs of advisers to settle the matter are not cheap or tax allowable.
I expect a letter of disclosure may be on the way to Mr Wilshire from HMRC. I do hope so.
If I understand his statements correctly then I think Wilshire has claimed that the company didn’t make any profit. It just acted as a vehicle for buying and then selling £105k worth of stationery (which in itself seems bizarre but not illegal) and would not attract any tax.
I agree if that is the case no tax is payable. However, Mr Wilshire must justify this statement in line with tax law not that written for MP’s expenses. I hope he kept all his receipts.
Remember in tax law the burgon of prove is reversed.
Tax law on the keeping of records, the allowability of expenses is very strict. He maybe innocent of any wrong doing but if HMRC starts an investigation it will still cost a lot just in fees.
MORE ‘tough transparency measures’ trying to prevent MPs from being competely amoral ??
Here’s another Latin maxim:-
Corruptissima res publica, plurimae leges
Meaning, the more and more corrupt the State becomes, the more laws are needed.
“He has referred himself to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner before Guido could.”
So how come it’s splashed across Today’s Telegraph & not your blog?
I see Wilshire is complaining that the Guardian has got it all wrong.
If MPs felt aggrieved about their salary then why did they apply for the job in the first place? If they are unhappy with their remuneration then they should apply for better paid jobs elsewhere rather than using their expenses to feather their nests.
They can claim it was within the rules all they like but everyone knows when they are doing something wrong they don’t need anyone else to tell them.
It is disgusting what these MPs have tried to get away with but what is even more disgusting is when they are caught out doing wrong they just have to say “sorry” and all is well. That’s certainly one way to reduce the numbers in our over flowing prisons – just get them all to say “sorry” and that will be the end of it. If it works for those in Government then it should be the same for everyone else.
Public School fees for forces officers on the state is ok though isn’t it?
If they’re away, which most of them aren’t and their spouses certainly aren’t, shouldn’t they just be send their sprogs to a state school with boarding facilities?
It’s a perk of the job, that’s why some people choose to become officers in the forces. It’s an understood part of their remuneration and per child it’s worth a cool and tax free 20,000 a year or on average 44,000 after tax, Yum Yum.
Nice perk!
Why aren’t the smearers on this site chasing our men and women (who went to public school themselves) on this?
Just askin’ like, yunnoe.
Well,slow witted one, I do not agree that being up set by the scale of corruption from the Political Classes,or their lack of contrition about the troughing is ‘smearing’
Your description is wrong.The fees are not an accepted part of their ‘remuneration’ The MOD provides grants to enable children, whose parents are working abroad or are subject to postings, to attend boarding schools in the UK.
The FCO and other goverment departments also run similar schemes. Why should the goverment treat some of its employees differently?
Officers have to undergo a selection process and a tough training regime,followed by a risk of death or injury. They could also be responsible for the deaths of others if they do not do their job properly.
Seems a fair exchange to me especially when set against the troughing of the political classes who add zero value to our lives.
“They could also be responsible for the deaths of others if they do not do their job properly.”
True, but they can also be responsible for the deaths of others even if they do their jobs perfectly well. If you’re fighting a war with guns and bombs etc, then even if you do things as well as you possibly can, some of your troops may get killed. That can’t be easy to live with.
As public servants, how come they are operating outside the normal tax laws and accountancy practises?
Because they can.
What’s your point MB?
My employers, a publically listed mining company, provide free accomodation, a housing rental allowance or mortgage assistance to all permanent employees. Above a certain grade employees can also get assistance with school fees for their kids under certain circumstances.
We can debate the fairness of the policy (the unions certainly do) but there is no fraud involved – the renumeration policy is known and whatever benefits someone might recieve, the taxman gets his cut.
The same is frequently true in other businesses and, apparently, HM Armed Forces – big effing wow. It bears no relation to the moral cowardice and theft perpetrated by the dishonourable members of the House of Common Thieves.
The French did it well when they cleared out thier rats nest. Sharpen Madame Guillotine and lets have done with the whole shower of sh*te!!!
We will then get fresh blood throughout as what we have has taken years of inbreeding to get to this point.
Indeed- know any good tumbril makers?
Go to Jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect £200.
What we need is an independent M.P.s’ Expenses Tsar, democratically elected by the public. Any other monitor would be subject to coercion.
Shoot them all and don’t replace them, the people don’t need the elected (and unelected) aristocracy.
Town cleks are the most powerfull politicians we need, the police should be local and answer to local people.
The military doesn’t need to be as big as it’s supposed to be for defence, not for war mongering politicians (christ, all we did was replace a tyranical monarchy with elected twats of which both groups pander to big business and money lenders, nothing has changed!)
seriously guys, without real change we will remain property of the elite and will continue to fund their every whim.
[...] Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Iain Dale's Diary: The Flaws of the Standards Committee Guido Fawkes: Dishonourable MPs Can No Longer Be Trusted to Self Regulate [...]
The next election will be…interesting….if Gauleiter Mandelschaum will allow it…
Well no I think we all realised this sometime ago ,but there are others in public office who all regulate themselves and not called into question;
Police (although Boris did make a stand,) Judges. solicitors, social workers local councils..the list go’s on! If the Telegraph looked as closely at our judicuary as they did MPs expences they would find corruption that would make MEPs expences look like pocket change!
They are all black .. Was it filmed in Bradford?
no, the fucking bbc
Any views on this unwarranted perk?
The MoD spent more than £85m to privately educate more than 8,000 pupils that are the off spring of its officers. That’s a nice tax free perk at 20,000 a year per child or an average 44,000 tax free.
Yum yum!
Here’s an unbelievable wrinkle from the Wilshire Telegraph story that doesn’t seem to have got much attentions yet:
“In a highly unusual arrangement with the Commons fees office, he claimed thousands in monthly payments that he said went towards the cost of decorating and replacing its curtains and carpets in the future. He has refused to repay the money despite conceding that it has not all been spent. ”
In other words he was claiming for expenses he had not even spent!!!!!!!!!!!
Hang ‘im!
The beginning of the new Parliament has to be a watershed.
One of the first Bills needed is to make the expenses regime totally transparent, with clear rules and a proper mechanism to impose them, by force if necessary.
The rules need to meet pulic approval, not just Parliamentary approval and there has to be a clear understanding that MPs will be subjected to the same laws, the same taxes and the same procedures as the rest of us.
This is the most important task of the new Government.
This makes no sense.
Why set up a firm to do something (e.g. paying suppliers) that the fees office will do for you?
Or more to the point, what INNOCENT reason is there for setting up a firm that does something the fees office will do for you?
Who knows? I look forward to whatever pitiful rationalization follows.
The newspapers are looking a bit moronic over the whole “OMG!! SEKRET COMPANY!!” aspect. The vast majority of small businesses in this country are unincorporated sole proprietors or partnerships.
And they are missing the most amusing consequence: unlimited joint and several liability. If Wilshire can’t afford to repay the money, they can go after the girlfriend instead.
Yeah, well technically the vast majority of people who own a second home are told by their solicitor to avoid the cap. gains by telling the revenue it’s their first. (Yes, I know, subject to the arcane loophole, but if its in student textbooks it can’t be that arcane.)
This is the court of public opinion. Your puny legal arguments have no merit here.
So much for cyclops Brown getting international agreement on controlling Bankers bonus payments,When today two American institutions have earmarked billions of dollars to bonus payouts this year.
They all have only one eye, they can see a clear path ahead but as the optician says”no perspective”
If you are a visionary you must have perspective and the ability to see and think laterally. Next time Brown says he has a vision of the future don’t believe him he has no perspective and even more he’s a liar like his predecessor.
I can confirm he is a cun t so vast that one can hear echoes within!
“He has referred himself to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner before Guido could. ”
I see no ships.
G Moran set out with his moral compass for direction but when looking to the future he raised his telecope to his left eye he couldn’t see anything!
I like the sound of you, you know how a civil servant, in the employ of Parliament and paid for by the tax payer needs to operate.
Now I’m no legal brain, but couldn’t they be prosecuted for something like deception or obtaining money under false pretences?
They could, but I will ensure a far more pleasant outcome!
I’ve heard he’s emailed a complete justification to the committee from his yacht.
I can confirm that it has indeed been received, I can also confirm that he is a thoroughly good egg, he is an MP, which means he is of course an honest chap who has tried very hard to claim what is due to him in the course of a very difficult and stressful job within the very very, complicated rules.
Most importantly of course, is the fact that he employs me and whilst he uses your money to actually pay me ( £108,000 for a four day week, thank you. )
I have to tell you now, the man is innocent of all charges!
I see the Deputy Prime Hypocrite, equality champion and testosterone hater, one Harriett Harperson, has stuck her oar on on the side of the dispossessed (otherwise laughably known as “Right Honorable So-and-Sos):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8308825.stm
“Harriet Harman has warned that Sir Thomas Legg’s review of MPs’ expenses must be based on the “rules and standards that obtained at the time”.
“To do anything else would be arbitrary,” the Commons leader said. “
How can Harperson say that when Broon has already clearly said exactly the opposite?
So Tommy Legge’s an arbiter (not a German immigrant worker) Lets’ hope he’s a biter off of a bit here and there until he gets to the rotten core of these theiving ba^^^rds. Then spits them out into Joseph Baselget’s sewer next door
Harman is right.
The rules at the time said, ‘Reasonable expenses incurred in the furtherance of your duties as an MP.’
So, by that definition alone, they’re guilty as hell.
Good old Harman!
Reasonable expenses for most people living in the real world are occasional lunches and dinners,a bed for the night and mileage. With receipts provided as proof.
Perhaps she should ask that the case be judged in the “Court of Public Opinion”.
Calm down dear, nothing is going to happen to ‘my’ boys and girls whilst I have anything to do with it!
Blog and shout all you like, we live in the real world of Westminster, ‘total power’
They said that Sir Thomas Legg tried to re-write the rules. I was, for at least 2 seconds, almost taken in by that argument. And then I thought – who wrote the rules in the first place? And who made a total balls of doing so? And who set up the means by which their allowances and expenses were paid? And who sat on the committee that oversees their expenses? Err…
And this lot try to legislate every tiny aspect of our lives!
Keep up the good work Sir Thomas – in some respects you were a bit soft on them (flipping for instance) but it’s a promising start. And don’t worry about the inevitable smear campaign, that’s just our political class doing what comes naturally when we see their vast shortcoming exposed.
I wish we could inject the whole rotten lot of them with an overdose of swine flu vaccine. Westminster (University for Legalised Criminals) has become the house of pigs stuffed full of Right Dishonourable MPs.
Don’t you mean inject them with swine flu? Injecting them with the vaccine will just keep them healthy, which seems a bit of a shame really.
no the vaccine is te aim of swine flu propoganda, why do you think theyre going on about the whole time. Big pharma gets more money and fuck knows what shit is in it – you wont get no vaccine in me pal.
Ah, the old conspiracy theories. Jolly good.
Did you know that Lee Harvey Oswald’s accomplice also helped to kill Princess Diana?
I thought that was Grazia Noel.
Where have the other threads on Guido gone??
David Wilshire has played a blinder by referring himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner and has effectively kicked his case into some very long grass.
All the bleating about Natural Justice with regard to Legg is a bit of joke when John Lyon provides an escape route to avoid anything much more than a slap on the wrist.
What we need is the Fraud Squad investigating several of the more blatant cases. Are they investigating? If not why not? Elliot Morley would be a good (and easy?) place to start.
Dave now telling him to stand down. Should be taken down after dancing at the end of a Bridport dagger.
Beat him with a stick and then shoot the bastard… Makes me want to vomit.
Never mind, everyone, warm the cockles of your heart with this:
Election Night montage from the good old days!!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/8308772.stm
“Good evening, and welcome to election night. It’s all over at last!”
YES!
Strange really, the more I look at their photos the more they really do look like porkers. The ribbon in the hair could well be a rosette for first prize at the local farming show – for the best Westminster Sow.
I think its ironic how people are criticising MPs for regulating themselves but don’t realise the true picture that MP are running the country and that that is what we should be concerned about rather than their expenses
“…MP are running the country…”
Err, shouldn’t that be ruining the country?
The self-regulation logic is total bollocks; why can’t they simply be audited like everyone else?
ah, yes, because then the auditor (if doing their job properly) would say “hey; you guys have been breaking every tax law going for over 100 years. how come you’re not all in prison? I’m going to tell the rozzers and the papers.”