Gluestick Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 Let's not lose sight of what Gardian also wrote: with which I completely agree:Gardian Wrote:[quote]However ........., when any MP joins the Government, I would be staggered if they weren't briefed over the need for complete propriety in their public and private life. This would be particularly true for one of the leading ministers of state. So, what happens? This little lot. Complete insanity.[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Yes Dog we have to put up with what we get and just.... hope ...a new lot will be different . As Ron wrote they are all probably at it ...........Whats the option ...unless sombody wants to get themselves a gang of followers march into the House of Commons chuck the mace away and call himself Lord Protector and run the country we are going to have to live with what we put in there .. Now I will probably have to go to the tower for writing that.....just as well I am off to France tonight before Yeoman call round ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 [quote user="Gluestick"]More interestingly, whilst the Mail shows a copy of what it alleges is the actual media bill, the bill does not specifically state the titles of the films rented, thus the specific information has to have come from elsewhere: probably the online service provider. [/quote]But if the above is correct, it could have been an innocent (and minor) mistake. Certainly next to some of the other inappropriate claims is seems relatively minor. It also seems interesting that no one more senior has to countersign (and therefore check) Ms Smith's claim - which is normal practice.NB I am not a fan of either Ms Smith or Labour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just john Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Who cares about a £10, I've just seen a news item showing that her expenses totalled £145,000, which together with her salary and other allowances of £144,000 make a grand total of £299,500 for last year[:-))] just where does it end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 [quote user="Scooby"] I am with Gardian on this one - sounds like the first ring of the death knoll for NuLab. [/quote]Not the first ring. It's been ringing loud and hard for some time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 [quote user="Cathy"][quote user="Scooby"] I am with Gardian on this one - sounds like the first ring of the death knoll for NuLab. [/quote]Not the first ring. It's been ringing loud and hard for some time...[/quote]Very true Cathy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 [quote user="Quillan"]I think GB should come out and say in the media that she is wrong to claim it, that she has been repremanded and he should say sorry to the public for letting it get through in the first place. [/quote]In the current mood of the nation (and politics is about judging that), I think that Brown would have gained more respect by dispensing with her immediately. The problem he's got is that there are probably dozens of skeletons in the cupboard just on his side (to say nothing of the Tories), so he can't kick her into touch without doing the same to anybody else who turns up in next Sunday's papers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 They are all crooks and we condone it by voting for them. The French had the right idea, chop their heads off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 [quote user="Frederick"] Yes Dog we have to put up with what we get and just.... hope ...a new lot will be different . As Ron wrote they are all probably at it ...........Whats the option ...unless sombody wants to get themselves a gang of followers march into the House of Commons chuck the mace away and call himself Lord Protector and run the country we are going to have to live with what we put in there .. Now I will probably have to go to the tower for writing that.....just as well I am off to France tonight before Yeoman call round ......[/quote]Why leave for France I am all for chucking the mace... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Nasty stuff, that mace, especially when it gets in your eyes.................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkkent Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 [quote user="NickP"]They are all crooks and we condone it by voting for them. The French had the right idea, chop their heads off.[/quote]But Chirac changed all that. He made sure that when he left office he would not be prosecuted for his own considerable corrupt activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Yes in France the Government would have provided old Jackie's PA (and O/H) with a mistress or if she didn't like the idea instead of third rate UK censored soft porn films from Virgin he could have watched good quality hard stuff on Canal + (or so I have been told[:$]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Here's more troughing, this time in the EU. At least Mandy won't have to borrow any money from "other Sources" to cover the mortgage this time.http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/local_news/EU-defends-three_year-golden-parachute-for-commissioners--_51125.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluestick Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 And one notes that the article fails to mention MEPs and Commissar's "Expenses" which can double the amount they receive.......................[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/Michaeleff/pig.gif[/IMG] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-cat Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 [quote user="just john "]Who cares about a £10, I've just seen a news item showing that her expenses totalled £145,000, which together with her salary and other allowances of £144,000 make a grand total of £299,500 for last year[:-))] just where does it end? [/quote]..... & she still can't afford to pay 88p, out of her own money, on a bath plug. Now, that make's me mad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Stricktly speaking, are they not just taking as much as the rules entitle them to take?I know about morals and leading by example and all that, blahblahblah..., but thinking positively, how do you think the rules should be changed?in the 80's, I used to work for a small company where the employment contract stated up to 10 days sickness a year would be paid. As the company grew from 10 to 50 employees, the clause was dropped from the new contracts, but there was one of the original staff who always managed to get a full 10 days 'sickness' a year and more.She had so many occurrences of glandular fever I suggested she should be written about in the British Medical Journal and by sheer happenstance, the poor woman would always fall ill just before or after a Bank Holiday! Talk about unlucky!At the end of the year, a notice would go up listing the number of holidays and sick days taken by each employee, but she never once let embarrasement get in the way of her illnesses... [:$] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 The problem with government employees in the UK is that they become 'institutionalised'.I can only go by my own experience which encompasses a London borough council and a major London museum. The first thing you notice is going home time. People are usually packed and ready to go five minutes before 'end time'. Once the minute hand gets to the allotted time if you happened to be in the corridor you would get trampled under foot as they stampeded for the door. Even worse are lifts, you get pushed to the back by the hordes and can only get out on the ground floor.One of my contracts was with a well known museum in Central London, no names but lets just say the nearest tube was South Ken. I took over the computer centre which also supplied and serviced several other well known museums in the locality as well as sub museums and off site storage areas.I had one guy under me who never worked on a Friday. He had been there for many years and had built up his holiday and sick day entitlement to such a large number that by combining them he not only managed to get 2 weeks holiday in the summer and the days between Christmas and New Year but he also had every Friday off. He considered his sick days as a right and therefore part of his annual holiday.Strict timekeeping is also adhered too. They arrive at work dead on time then go to hang up their coats, make a cup of tea etc before sitting down at their desks. Mid morning and afternoon tea breaks where also religiously kept too as was the dinner hour, almost to the second. If they were smokers they could basically get another 30 minutes out of each day as well.When we consolidated all the systems and sorted everything out which took two years what with all the bureaucracy we found it impossible to get ride of any access staff, jobs had to be found elsewhere for them under the same pay and conditions or better regardless of qualifications to do the job offered.Another of my contracts was a well know international charity. The money wasted there was horrendous and quite frankly after seeing what went on I have never given money to them again. My point in mentioning them is that at least I can decide not to give them money but with MP's, government ministers and civil servants you don't get a choice to pay or not to pay.Those that mentioned France forgot to add about the infamous brown envelopes every cabinet minister gets handed every month 'to keep them loyal'. When I first read about that I thought it was a joke and asked a few of my French mates who confirmed that its true. I do think however that the French attitude of not caring (who gets what money or who is shagging whom) providing they do their job properly is pretty good but woe betide them if they get it wrong. The problem in the UK is that to many in the UK government are not performing so its fair game to hunt them out as it were and probably quite right too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluestick Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 A number of years ago, I was a guest of a friend, a local town councillor, at Colchester's Oyster Fest, held in the Guild Hall; now all else apart, this was a splendid occasion in a splendid historic building: the festival dated back to Roman times and the meal lasted four hours!The guest speaker was Dame Emma Nicholson, then a Lib Dem MP, having "Crossed the house", from the Tories.A powerful and most entertaining speaker, Emma Nicholson was totally deaf: and had overcome this awful handicap to public life brilliantly.Unlike most other venal MPs, she absolutely refused to take any outside work for reward, as she believed her commitment to her electors and parliament was enough.That said, each year she duly completed her list of outside interests: and it was perhaps one of the longest of all MPs! Since it was chock full of work for charities.A lady to truly admire.My problem with the "I have simply taken full advantage of the rules" argument (Which has also been used by the Essex Labour MP who used spare allowances to purchase a caravan!), is to do so demonstrates both greed and contempt for those citizens less well placed: in particularly so tight now.Sadly, our whole society has degenerated into a dynamic where people and companies stick to the letter of the law: and never the spirit: and true social integrity and social conscience is based upon exceeding the spirit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 [quote user="Clair"]Stricktly speaking, are they not just taking as much as the rules entitle them to take?I know about morals and leading by example and all that, blahblahblah..., but thinking positively, how do you think the rules should be changed?[/quote]The Government should provide accommodation for the use of MP's while they are in London. All expenses are then paid directly by HMG, property is owned by HMG, so no claims and no opportunity to manipulate claims. Other countries do this - why not the UK. Any costs for constituency offices should be supported by receipts and staff employed and paid by HMG. Removes 99% of the need for claims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluestick Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 Of course, if one asked John Cleese to design a nice block of flats for MPs, many of the UK's problems might be solved overnight.............."Now as the tenants are caried along this corridoor.........................the revolving knives...............none of your bits of flying flesh to inconvenience passers by with this little beauty!"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2PyeXRwhCE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 [quote user="Scooby"][quote user="Clair"]Stricktly speaking, are they not just taking as much as the rules entitle them to take?I know about morals and leading by example and all that, blahblahblah..., but thinking positively, how do you think the rules should be changed?[/quote]The Government should provide accommodation for the use of MP's while they are in London. All expenses are then paid directly by HMG, property is owned by HMG, so no claims and no opportunity to manipulate claims. Other countries do this - why not the UK. Any costs for constituency offices should be supported by receipts and staff employed and paid by HMG. Removes 99% of the need for claims.[/quote]I believe we have already covered this - the MOD has blocks of empty flats in London the MPs could use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 http://www.juryteam.org/blog/(site created by Conservative donor Sir Paul Judge) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Good to see ordinary people have finally been shaken into action.It was never a democracy with a two party system plus the liberals.Politics needs a shake up and hopefully this lot will do it - it's got to be a better alternative than the BNP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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