TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 5th February 2010
Criminal charges on expenses: a great day for taxpayers
You will probably have heard the momentous news by now: the Crown Prosecution Service are to bring criminal charges against three MPs and one member of the House of Lords. This is fantastic news for taxpayers, and a major victory for the TPA’s “Bring them to Justice” campaign. The filthy four are Jim Devine MP, Elliot Morley MP, David Chaytor MP and Lord Hanningfield. This is a really encouraging development, which takes us a big step closer to seeing politicians brought to book for their disgusting behaviour.
Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“It is excellent news that the CPS have decided to bring charges against these politicians. It is essential that MPs face justice, just like any normal person who had behaved like this. The taxpaying public wants to see justice done, and it is right that MPs aren’t able to simply wave repayment cheques and walk away from this. It has taken a long time to get to this stage, and the priority now must be for trials to be held as soon as possible. Anyone found guilty of breaking the law in their expenses claims should be punished severely for their breach of trust.”
All along we have never asked for much – we have simply argued that MPs and Peers should live by the same rules as ordinary people. If any normal person stole money or defrauded their employer, they would face the police and then a court. Some MPs seemed to think they could just mutter a hollow apology and wave a repayment cheque, then walk away as if nothing had happened. Today’s announcement from the CPS is another nail in the coffin of that arrogant assumption.
Good news also came yesterday in the form of Sir Thomas Legg's completed audit of MPs' expenses that will see the majority of them repay excessive claims from the last few years. It's true that the audit itself was expensive, but it's important to get all the past claims sorted out in order to institute a regular system of proper audits in future.
This isn’t over yet, of course. The trials still need to be held, and we are pressing for them to be held swiftly. If the defendants are found guilty, then they should be firmly punished. And finally, of course, we still need a new system to ensure that this kind of abuse can never happen again. Whilst those battles still lie ahead of us, we all deserve a moment’s reflection to congratulate everyone involved in reaching this monumental day – and particularly all of you around the country who have kept the pressure up in the face of an arrogant and detached political class. Well done!
Needless to say, we’ve been doing a lot of media appearances on the issue this week – and for those of you who are early risers, look out for TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace on BBC One’s Breakfast News at 6.10am tomorrow. As these MPs are learning, we never give up!
Andrew Allison does us proud on Radio 4
Last week we mentioned that the TPA's branch organiser in Hull and East Riding, Andrew Allison, was being interviewed by Radio 4's Westminster Hour. We're pleased to report that he did a great job, in the face of a remarkably pro-tax and spend interviewer, and he really did the TPA proud. If you'd like to hear the 15 minute show, in which Andrew fights his corner against Inheritance Tax and urges greater taxpayer activism, click here.
New branch: West Yorkshire TaxPayers' Alliance
Another bit of good news this week is that the TPA's latest branch has launched in West Yorkshire. Announcing the new branch, the West Yorkshire Chairman, Bernard Stone, said:
"One of our aims with this brand new branch is to help stamp out waste in local government and stop the constant ratcheting up of council taxes and other taxes. Even in these difficult economic times one wonders how the authorities manage to think up new ways to spend money. For example, recently the West Yorkshire Police Authority decided to make a number of additional appointments. Not more police on the beat, but a team of ‘communicators’ to tell us what a good job our police are doing no doubt! Only when the authorities see the public determination to take more determined measures against this waste will we begin to see results and we would like see people in Yorkshire supporting the excellent work being carried out by the central team of the TaxPayers’ Alliance."
If you live in West Yorkshire and would like to be involved with the branch - whether actively, or even if you'd just like to get news about their activities - please contact Bernard Stone at roundwood@onetel.com or at 3 Grange Park, Roundwood Rd, Baildon, Shipley, BD17 7JY, or the Branch Secretary, Nigel Shaw, on his mobile: 07711 768628. Remember, even if you are unable to get about much there is much you can do to help from the comfort of your own home with emails and letters.
Burying bad news
Whenever there is a big news day, such as yesterday's publication of the MPs' expenses audit, we always keep a keen lookout for any attempt by the Government to bury bad news. Lo and behold, they tried to sneak out two major announcements late yesterday afternoon! First came the latest details of Government spending on quangos, revealing yet another increase of £4 billion. We've charted the details of their announcement - and the flaws in their methodology - here. Second was the updated figures on the cost of the Swine Flu fiasco, which has now topped £1 billion. It is sad that they still haven't stopped trying to hide embarassing figures in this way, but we always keep an eye out to make sure they don't get away with it.
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