Jun
18
2009
Are we playing a game of Blankety Blank with our MPs? Just look at the “redacted” expense forms that they have published:
Making sense of any of the PDFs is virtually impossible with all the blacking out - and we get virtually no information from it.
We are very lucky that the Telegraph managed to get hold of the uncensored data or we would not know about pretty much all of the things that we have found so disgusting and have caused several MPs to say that they will stand down.
This so-called publication of MPs receipts has done nothing to help the politicians look good - rather, they look even worse! As if they’re trying to hide what has already been revealed.
What will be interesting is the compariosn when the Telegrpah publish both sets of details alongside each other, and we can see just how much they were trying to hide from us.
May
31
2009
There is no claim that could be any less disgusting than this one. I’m actually shocked at the gall of this MP:
An MP used his expenses to claim for a £5 donation he made during a church service to commemorate the Battle of Britain.
Frank Cook, a Labour backbencher, sought reimbursement on his office expenses after the memorial service in his constituency town of Stockton-on-Tees. It was rejected by the parliamentary fees office. (The Telegraph)
He, of course, claims that this was “a mistake”, but since he wrote a handwritten note to claim this money, one can but assume it wasn’t really a mistake at all but a serious attempt to claim even a charitable donation back “on expenses”!
This issue here isn’t over the money but the immorality of the claim.
May
30
2009
It really is disgusting that MPs who do not stand at the next election are entitled to thousands of pounds of our money when they stand down - despite having plenty of time to make their own arrangements for a life after Parliament.
How much is due to be paid to the MPs standing down due to the expenses saga? An extortionate amount (estimates by the BBC):
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Ben Chapman: £36,269
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Derek Conway: £64,766
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Douglas Hogg: £59,585
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Julie Kirkbride: £32,383
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Andrew MacKay: £64,766
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Margaret Moran: £54, 403
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Anthony Steen: £32,383
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Peter Viggers: £32,383
For the MacKay-Kirkbride household alone, that’s £97,000!
How can it be justified? MPs who stand down between general elections and spark by-elections don’t get this golden goodbye, so why do those who stand down at general elections get it? They’re in the same situation!
This money should, obviously, exist for MPs who are voted out at a general election. It is, effectively, a redundancy payment - though far more generous than most in the private sector. This is, though, simply because time spent being a backbench MP doesn’t really qualify you for (m)any other jobs and so getting one is likely to be quite hard, espiecally now.
Credit must be given to Nick Clegg for arguing this line. This situation is as bad as that of MPs expenses itself, and needs to be fixed as well, if politicians are going to have any chance of redeeming themselves in the eyes of the public.
May
28
2009
It seems that some people have been affected ore than others by the credit crunch:
Rappers who drape themselves in gold and diamond ‘bling’ have been forced to buy immitation jewellery as the recession hits their spending power.
Hip-hop artists have even started to taunt each other over the trend, as they increasingly turn to cheaper metals or fake reproductions, according to the Wall Street Journal. (The Telegraph)
Just hilarious!
May
27
2009
I am absolutely astonished that half of UK adults do not have a pension. Pretty much the first thing I did after getting a job with an employer that offered a company pension scheme was sign up to it! I know that I am going to end up working until at least 70 as it is - so I want to start saving up for retirement now - despite there being nigh on 50 years before that happens.
Why start a pension? First of all, if it’s company pension scheme it is effectively free money, as employers pay in money as well. Secondly, you can never start saving too early for retirement. I’d rather end up with too much money then than not enough when I retire!
No matter how long there is or may be until you retire, it is never too early to start saving for it. I’m just quite shocked how many people haven’t bothered. How do they expect to live in their retirement? The state pension doesn’t go very far!
May
15
2009
The latest YouGov poll is terrible news for Labour - their lowest ever poll rating.
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Conservatives: 42% (-2)
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Labour: 22% (-5)
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Lib Dems: 19% (+1)
The important points to take from this are that:
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There is a 19 point gap between the Conservatives and Labour, which would give a Commons majority of 152;
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Labour have been most adversely affected by this issue so far;
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Labour are only 3 points ahead of the Lib Dems - the lowest gap for decades.
However, this poll must be taken with a large pinch of salt. To start with, when it was carried out was only just after the Tory expense claims had been published and before any Lib Dem sleaze had been revealed.
As such, it almost certainly shows a biased anti-Labour picture that won’t be reproduced to the same extent in later polls and a pro-Lib Dem picture that should right itself once people see that Lib Dems are certainly no cleaner than the rest of the partioes - despite all their rhetoric, which is now revealed to be hypocrisy of the rankest kind.
Brown has been told by his advisers that if he doesn’t get the Conservative lead down to single figures by Christmas, he might as well give up. If we believe this poll (I don’t - see below), that means he needs to more than halve the gap - but even if we don’t believe this poll, all of the latest voting intentions give the Conservatives a healthy lead that it will be very hard indeed for Labour to get down to single figures.
I don’t think that we can put too much faith in this poll in terms of the percentages for each party because whilst the revelations are still coming thick and fast, everything will remain up in the air. But we can see that the electorate are turning against those who make false, inappropriate or excessive claims with their money. With any luck, this will act as a catalyst to get real reform and a transparent political system in place.
