expenses

[jimskem]

On Monday our M.P.s return to the House. The expenses scandal is expected to
be very much in the news again.
The Telegraph say up to 100 members will receive a letter from the Auditors Office
regarding claims they have made during the last 5 years.
I would think up to 100 to be a mere starting point.
Gordon Brown said in an interview with the newspaper he thought the worst offenders should be prosecuted.
I believe he was careful not to say all offenders would be prosecuted, fearing this may result in Parliament coming to a halt.
Not sure if this has been on Turkishliving before, the Daily Telegraph have published
a book called, No Expenses Spared, should be a best seller.

 

[Martyn]

I think there should be a few of them getting a court appearance date as
well :mod:

 

[Tess]

Makes me sick to the stomach, the amount these and the NI politicians have claimed for. As the wife of a man who quite frankly has knocked his pan in for the past 30+ years and recently lost his job realises his entitlement, it is quite frankly an insult all due to the fact that I am out day and daily knocking my pan in also. As parents of a girl in University and one at College they quite frankly expect you to live on fresh air, but yet they collect big wages and all the perks associated!!! I also pay for the entire family for private health care so we never even called upon them for that either. We never starved a winter yet and by hook or by crook we'll see it through, no thanks to them.
Hope they get whats coming to them, not bitter by nature but just recently see them for what they are !!! Rant over !!!!

 

[carolk]

Its a damned shame Sharon, it makes you wonder what the point is, in paying to the so called system when you realise you cant get anything back in times of need!! It seems to me decency doesn't pay any more. Try and become a chav lol, you'll be quids in then!!!

Hope those politicians really get it - but doubt it though!!

 

[Tess]

LOL!!! Carol, Jeez threw out my old shell suit, don't you need one of those ????

 

[carolk]

:roundgrin Buy a few Burberry knock offs when you're next here lol.:roundgrin

 

[jimskem]

Tonight's London Evening Standard tells about Jaqui Smith being ordered to apologise to the Commons for breaching rules on M.P.s expenses.
John Lyon, Parliamentary Commisioner for Standards states she was clearly in breach of rules which allow mem bers to claim second home allowances.
Her police bodyguards had recorded she had not stayed at her sisters house as often as was claimed.
The Standards Committee did not request her to return any of the £64,OOO
in second home allowances she received between 2006 and 2009.
She has to apologise though.
On to the three stooges,
Brown to repay £12,415, and ten pence.
Clegg £910
Dave, not yet known. Has been told to provide further details regarding his mortgage claims.
It has been claimed as many as 500 M.P.s were handed a letter concerning the expenses scandal from the Standards Committee.
Many politicians, when asked for a statement, said they had been advised not
to make any comment.
If only the young man who gave his £10,000 reward to the young lady who had been viciously assaulted were to stand for election. If Only.

 

[ted j]

Apparently, a lot of them are claiming that they "acted within the rules" at the time, and now NEW RULES shouldn't apply, to try and get out of repaying anything. What a load of TOSSERS

 

[Martyn]

They wrote the rules then knew the loopholes.

 

[Sunny Seasider]

Update news tonight our Gordon has paid 12k back.

 

[ted j]

Well, here's an early Christmas Carol for them all [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg9eZxpV3VA&feature=channel]YouTube - Jingle Farts?![/ame]

 

[Kirpi]

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC).

:horse:

 

[Martyn]

Another one.

MPs' expenses: David Wilshire to be investigated over payments to own firm - Telegraph

 

[jimskem]

Certainly a win win situation for this Honourable Member.
His constituency is 20 miles from Westminster, he claims £141,000 in second home allowance in total since 2001.
Then he claims over £43,000 in travel allowance since 2001, his main home being in
Somerset.
He fails to register his company, which he closed in June, how convenient is that.
Have read the link in Martyn's post, and this M.P. has received about a quarter of
a million pounds since 2001, not including salary of course. Not sure if he claimed
his £400 per month food allowance.
Sky news report say John Bercow, Speaker of the House, is to pay back £978.
He said this was the result of an accidental over-claim from November 2008.
It is believed he managed to say this without laughing.

 

[Kirpi]

It astonishing that these MPs seem so surprised that so many people are angry at what they have done, that they say they were technical breaches of the rules, that some poor underpaid clerk in the expenses office passed their claim (how many people are needed to process these thousands of claims),that they tried to prevent the information becoming public, that they are so reluctant to pay back until forced to do so.

They are lawmakers That is their job and if they can't understand and comply with rules and laws what chance is there for the rest of us.

What is even more astonishing is that (rules or no rules) they have no moral sense of what is right and what is wrong. Anybody who works for the public or private sector knows that expenses claimed must be wholy and exclusively incurred to carry out the responsibilities of the post held. Yes, there are creative claims, but we know that we should not claim for a house we have never lived in, for drinks for a girlfriend or:flame: for cleaning a moat even if these were allowed for in the expenses rules of the organisations we worked for (but they never were). Hell, in the publiic sector organisation I worked in you could not even claim for a bus fare if you had lost the ticket.

 

[Akasya]

Some of these practises are indefensible. However Parliament runs scared of the media.

For years Mp's enjoyed very meagre pay rises, mainly because they were frightened of criticism in the papers. Had they had the courage to say " this is what the job is worth to get quality applicants " then things would be different now. Instead they were encouraged to claim " expenses " to make up the difference.

If we want top quality MP's who understand mainstream life, then we need people of the following character:

GP's ... not many of them on £46,000 a year, likewise Solicitors, Architects, Company Owners, Entrepreneurs, Trade Unionists, Brickies etc... IT professionals and a whole host more of high earning achievers.

Why risk a good career for a chancy go as an MP. It might only last 4 - 5 years if you are initially successful. You could then be out of work, and lo and behold,5 years later you could be out of work and find yourself out of date and bypassed. No way back. In London and the South East the likes of Aldi and Lidl pay over £40,000 for university leavers with a good degree to go into management.

We may be envious but MP's money is rubbish for an experienced person.

In the business within which i am employed a retail manager can easily earn £125,000 plus motor, bonus and car etc. By the way i don't, not good enough.

Be an MP for that sort of money, proof is in the pudding, we get what we pay for, we pay peanuts, look what we got.

At the next election the moneyed crowd will further erode the working class involvement it Parliament, ordinary people, raising a family, cannot afford to be an MP around here.



Steve.

 

[Kirpi]

Many people feel they are underpaid or undervalued for the work they do (particularly at the lower levels of public service). It does not entitle them to file false claims, illegal claims or immoral claims for extra money (even if they were able to do so).

:hmm:

 

[jimskem]

David Wilshire, having been spoken to by the Tory Chief Whip, has said he will stand down at the next election.
The Labour Party, according to Adam Boulton on Sky News online, say Wilshire's
details have been released on purpose by the Tories so he will be helped on his way.
This will enable a young Cameroon, as they described the next candidate for Wilshires safe seat, to be elected.

 

[Martyn]

Expenses storm MP David Wilshire to quit | Metro.co.uk

 

[Yalides]

Wouldn,t be so bad if taxpayers got a decent service for their money rather than a crowd of useless PC t*****s doing b****r all for it.