Petition for Transparency on MPs’ Expenses
Expense Scandal is Maggie’s Fault - Kevin Maguire
Alarming Trends Surrounding Quantitative Easing - Fraser Nelson
Cameron Should Embrace Tebbit - Comment Central
Brown and Watson “Cleared” from Smeargate - LabourHome
Motion of No Confidence in the Speaker - Douglas Carswell
MP’s Priorities : A Tale of Two Photos - Paul Waugh
Boris Attacks Smith’s Shock Jock Ban - Guardian
James Gray’s Insensitivity - Iain Dale
France Cuts Tax on Booze to Boost Economy
Guido is looking forward to summering at the Maison Secondaire even more this year. France has just cut booze and restaurant sales tax from 19.6% to to 5.5%. Booze taxes are already reasonable in France, this makes going out even more reasonable. A three course meal in the best restaurant in the town near Chez Fawkes costs about the same as a starter in London or Dublin. We all have to do our bit to boost international trade…
+++ Health Minister Phil Hope to Repay £41,709 +++
He has been troughing for years and employing his children as well. The real pressure on him is coming from his local paper which has really got the measure of him. Expect to see more local papers bringing pressure to bear on troughing incumbent MPs. The next general election may see the biggest turfing out of incumbent MPs for generations.
Harman’s Response to Cameron’s Plan is Pathetic
After Dave wowed even Brown nosers like Sir Michael White and Steve Richards with his crackdown on Tory grandees and shadow cabinet troughers, Harman wrote to the chairman of the Member’s Allowance Committee proposing that he should set out a procedure whereby MPs might perhaps be asked nicely to repay claims that were outside the rules. Possibly. Not exactly a decisive response from the government.
The Member’s Allowance Committee is chaired by the Labour MP Don Touhig. It was he who led the Labour backbench revolt last July that threw out proposals for a full external audit of MPs’ expenses and an end to the “John Lewis list”. Does that fill you full of confidence?
Harman’s proposal is that if an MP has broken the rules they will have to repay the money. Guido’s view is that only the minimum expenses wholly necessary for the job should be allowable, however the cry of every single troughing MP from every single party is that “it was all within the rules”. So no one will have to pay anything back under Harman’s plan.
TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2009
“I’m Sending a Cheque for £13,332″ +++" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 68, 119); ">+++ Blears “I’m Sending a Cheque for £13,332″ +++
She says even though she is not liable, but because people are angry, she is going to pay an amount equivalent to the £13,332 capital gains tax she dodged. Her own decision she says (but she did speak to Gordon).
“I’m the MP for Salford” - though she did stay in the groovy Clerkenwell Zetter hotel for weeks at our expense…
Foulkes Doesn’t Like It Up Him
- House of Lords: claimed £54,441 in allowances for 94 days attendance (£579/day)
- Earns £36,000 as a Parliamentary Consultant to Eversheds LLP for 36 days work (£1000/day)
- Claimed £3061.17 in allowances from the Scottish Parliament between April 2008 and March 2009
- Salary for a Member of the Scottish Parliament £56,671.
A grand total of £150,173.17. Foulkes is an old school multi-trougher…
Dave Orders Shadow Cabinet Pay-Back
Guido has just got back from a hastily* called Tory press conference, where we were told by Dave that he has ordered:
… Michael Gove will pay back the £7,000 claimed for furniture. Oliver Letwin will pay back the £2,000 for the pipe under his tennis court. Andrew Lansley will pay back the £2,600 for home improvements. Alan Duncan will pay back nearly £5,000 for gardening expenses. Francis Maude will no longer claim any money for his second home in London. And neither will Chris Grayling. Theresa Villiers - the only London MP in the shadow cabinet – will follow suit later this year. I’ve also dealt with some of the smaller, but nevertheless significant, claims that have caused concern, whether that is Ken Clarke’s council tax bill in Nottinghamshire or David Willetts’s electrical bill. George Osborne will pay back the cost of a particularly expensive car journey. And I will pay back the only maintenance bill I have claimed in eight years as a Member of Parliament.
Is this enough? Burglars don’t get off by giving back the telly. Guido wants to see the small print, are they really going to be allowed to keep ill gotten gains because they were in the past?
*So hasty that Guido came late, straight from the pub dressed in traditional national dress - an Ireland rugby shirt. Guido naturally sat down right in front of Sir Michael White.
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