Apart from claiming it “wouldn’t be appropriate” for him to answer most of the questions thrown at him and hinting that other countries are being approached for Rwanda-style deals, Sunak has scored a few hits at the Liaison Committee grilling this afternoon. The event is mostly an opportunity for committee chairmen to throw stones at the PM…
When Labour MP and Business and Trade Committee chairman Liam Byrne ranted at Sunak about the “morally wrong” decision to have capital gains tax lower than income tax, Sunak pointed out it was actually Labour’s own Gordon Brown who lowered the rate. Brown cut CGT to 18% in 2008 in a sound move to get growth back up, something that Byrne seemed happy with as Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Brown. Rishi dug in: “it wasn’t morally wrong then but it’s morally wrong now… fair enough if you’ve changed your mind on it”. 13 years isn’t that long when it comes to basic morality…
Rishi couldn’t resist spelling it out again, saying CGT now is “even more progressive today than it was when you were in the Treasury and partly in charge of the tax system with the then chancellor“. Twisting the dagger…
Harriet Harman has been elected Chair of the Commons Standards Committee, replacing Chris Bryant after his appointment to the Shadow Cabinet. Liam Byrne has also been elected chair of the Business and Trade Committee (despite his two-day bullying suspension last year), with Cat Smith becoming Petitions Committee chair. Here’s the vote breakdown:
- Standards: Harriet Harman (341)
- Business and Trade: Liam Byrne (216)
- Petitions: Cat Smith (227)
Harman filled in for Bryant to lead the Kangaroo Court earlier this year. Look how that turned out…
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) have found “overwhelming evidence” that Labour MP Liam Byrne used parliamentary expenses to support his failed West Midlands mayoral campaign. It turns out one of his staff worked on his 2021 campaign while still contracted and paid by Parliament.
Despite working on the campaign for around 1,000 taxpayer-funded hours, IPSA have ruled Byrne will not have to repay the costs:
“Following the investigation, the Compliance Officer found that Mr Byrne did allow a staff member to work on his Mayoral Campaign during times the staff member was being paid by IPSA to conduct parliamentary work. A repayment direction has not been made and there is no requirement for the MP to reimburse IPSA in part for the staff member’s salary.”
Throughout that campaign, Guido repeatedly questioned Byrne’s use of expenses, raising questions over whether any had been diverted towards his election costs rather than his parliamentary duties. In 2021, Guido brought to light that Bryne’s constituency assistant was describing his primary role on Linkedin as “managing” Liam’s “campaigns”; and his former parliamentary “head of research” professed to having “developed local policy” for his West Midlands mayoral campaign. Guido was right, despite Byrne’s previous denials that he was fiddling his expenses.
Assuming the staffer was paid around £15 per hour, that’s £15,000 of taxpayers’ cash plus the rent that taxpayer paid to fund his campaign HQ. The man who said there was “no money left” owes taxpayers a lot of money…
Labour MP Liam Byrne has been handed a two-day suspension by the Commons’ Independent Expert Panel for bullying a member of his constituency staff:
The sub-panel concluded that Mr Byrne should make a written apology to the complainant and undertake training and other actions to address the causes of his behaviour and the weaknesses in the management of his office. However, this was not sufficient sanction to address the seriousness of this case. They therefore also recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House for two sitting days. Mr Byrne has accepted the sub-panel’s decision.
This is hardly surprising for someone who’s been notoriously difficult to work for ever since he was a minister. Thanfully any further staff can avoid Byrne’s wrath by following the simple instructions below:
Did his member of constituency office staff accidentally bring him a latte?
Labour is making hay while the sun is shining over Boris and Rishi’s fixed penalty notice charges, as you would expect. Generally it is a good rule that lawmakers can’t be law breakers, though it is the case that ministers receiving fixed penalty notices is hardly anything new. Guido thought he’d wander down memory lane to help contextualise Labour’s performative outrage…
Starting off most recently, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford called for the PM to resign as “You can’t be a law-maker and a law-breaker.” This seems to be a new position from Drakeford given his own health minister Eluned Morgan received a speeding fine of £800 just last month as well as a six month driving ban. She remains in situ…
Then we get into the weeds of Blair and Brown’s ministers. Most prominently among whom must be Harriet Harman. While serving as a minister and deputy leader of the Labour Party, Harman was charged with not one, not two, but three speeding offences; in 2003, 2007 and 2010, wracking up a whopping £810-worth of fines and nine penalty points on her licence. Harman has accused Boris of not only breaking laws he made, he broke laws in place to keep people safe. Much like speed limits…
Fixed Penalty Notice queen Harriet Harman then piroutted and defended Baroness Scotland, serving as Gordon Brown’s Attorney General at the time, when she received a £5,000 civil penalty notice for hiring an illegal worker. While this would have been bad enough, Scotland was a Home Office minister who helped introduce the very legislation under which she received the fine. Scotland said the penalty was caused by a technical error and compared it to a parking ticket, saying “it’s not a criminal offence”. Brown said “no further action was necessary”…
Lastly there’s Liam Byrne, who said yesterday “We cant have a rules based order with leaders who break the rules.” In 2007, Byrne was fined £100 after admitting to using his mobile while driving, as well as receiving three points on his licence. The fine was ironic as, at the time, Byrne had been a long-standing road safety campaigner, tabling a petition in 2005 from constituents calling for tougher penalties for dangerous drivers.
He once told a parliamentary committee that the most dangerous drivers were “serial potential killers” and said he was “shocked” at the leniency of sentences handed down to them.
IPSA has opened an investigation into expenses claims by Labour MP Liam Byrne, after Guido revealed Andrew Bridgen had reported him to the body for “gross misuse of parliamentary expenses”. Responding to the news of an investigation, a guarded Bridgen said
“Allegations of the diversion of taxpayer funds for political campaigning are a very serious matter and strikes to the very heart of our democratic system.”
Popcorn…
During the West Midlands mayoral race Guido repeatedly questioned Byrne’s use of expenses, raising questions over whether any had been diverted towards his election costs rather than his parliamentary duties. In April Guido brought to light that Bryne’s constituency assistant was describing his primary role on Linkedin as “managing” Liam’s “campaigns”; and his former parliamentary “head of research” professed to having “developed local policy” for his West Midlands mayoral campaign.
Today IPSA announce their compliance officer has opened an investigation “to determine whether Mr Liam Byrne MP has been paid an amount under the MPs’ Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses that should not have been allowed.” They specify the investigation will focus on “Staffing and Office Costs in 2019/20″. In April a bitter Byrne denied paying any taxpayer cash toward the running of his campaign. Let’s see what IPSA finds out…
