24 Plus News - Politics & Financial » expenses

NICK CLEGG, Holier than thou?

Editor — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:32:09 +0000

In recent days Nick Clegg has suggested he brings something new to politics. But in his own use of expenses, his left-wing policies and his party’s dirty campaigning he is not the change Britain needs. In fact he may not bring change at all. He may keep Gordon Brown in power for five more years.

Only with David Cameron can you be certain that the Labour years will end. David Cameron forced Conservative MPs to step down because of expense misuse. Nick Clegg has not forced any of his colleagues to resign.

> Watch the BBC’s Andrew Neil quiz Nick Clegg about his expenses.

> Harry Phibbs exposes the Liberal Democrats’ hypocrisy on expenses.

Tim Montgomerie

Tweet this!

Share and Enjoy:

Human rights warning over MPs’ expenses regulation

John Jenkins — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:17:51 +0000

Who is going to press the button to scrap all this human rights nonsense which is materially affecting the rights of the suffering tax payers ???

Human rights warning over MPs’ expenses regulation

new bill runs into more trouble

By Daniel Bentley – Press and Journal

Published: 01/07/2009

PLANS for the independent regulation of MPs’ expenses claims are incompatible with human rights laws, an influential parliamentary committee warned last night.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) cast the proposals in doubt even as controversial legislation to bring them into force was being sped through the House of Commons.

The Parliamentary Standards Bill, introduced in the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal, is expected to complete its Commons stages today.

It will create an independent watchdog to regulate the allowances system and create criminal offences which could see errant MPs facing jail.

But, in a report rushed out at short notice last night, the cross-party JCHR claimed it would violate MPs’ rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

It said the new regulatory system outlined in the bill would not comply with the right to a fair hearing under Article 6 of the convention.

Committee chairman Andrew Dismore said: “It is ironic that a bill which is primarily designed to restore public confidence in the House of Commons is being rushed through parliament and will not receive proper scrutiny.

“We are clear that if the bill is passed as it stands, it will only be a matter of time before the European Court of Human Rights finds a violation of a member’s right to a fair hearing.”

The committee’s intervention is only the latest controversy to hit the bill after the Clerk of the House, Malcolm Jack, warned that it would weaken parliament.

Dr Jack, giving evidence to the Commons justice committee, last night restated a separate concern that the bill would have a “chilling effect” on MPs’ freedom of speech.

While the government is determined to get the bill on the statute book before the summer recess, MPs have condemned the speed at which it has been pushed through.

In the Commons last night, senior Tory Sir Patrick Cormack accused ministers of acting with “indecent haste” given the constitutional implications of the legislation.

The bill will set up a new commissioner for parliamentary investigations to probe allegations of expenses abuse. At the same time, an Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority would have powers to sanction MPs in response to the commissioner’s findings.

But the JCHR said the new system would not satisfy the entitlement to an “independent and impartial tribunal” under human rights legislation.

It said “the procedural safeguards in the bill fall well short of the minimum requirements for fairness and are insufficient to prevent breaches of the right to a fair hearing occurring in practice”.

The committee called for last-minute changes to the bill to provide more detail about the “procedural safeguards” for MPs and to introduce a right of appeal to another body.

Tweet this!

Share and Enjoy:

The BBC can learn from politicians’ mistakes – Jeremy Hunt MP

Editor — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:01:04 +0000

By Jeremy Hunt MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Over the last few weeks MPs have learned the hard way that there is no point being half hearted when it comes to transparency over expenses. We’ve made big mistakes and the public have rightly been angry. But with independent scrutiny and more openness things are finally starting to improve.

The BBC needs to take note and avoid the same mistakes. Dragging your feet on transparency does not work. Yesterday’s announcements published the expenses claims of just 10 people in an organisation of 23,000. We are still no closer to unpicking the Beeb’s £14m taxi bill or £15m domestic flight bill.

So here are a few things I think the BBC should do:

Learn from the mistakes of parliament and be forthcoming with information the public wants, and has the right, to know. Transparency means showing the expense and salary details of the many not the few.
Instigate proper independent scrutiny of expenses to assess whether they were justified. If some are not, then they should be paid back.
Allow the National Audit Office in at any time to judge whether BBC expenditure, including expense claims, offer value for money. Currently the NAO can only go in on the invitation of the BBC – that is not good enough.
Be more flexible and open when it comes to Freedom of Information. Requests must not compromise journalist sources but the public does have a right to know how much BBC staff spend on taxis and lunches.

Tweet this!

Share and Enjoy:

£11,000 Spent on Margaret Beckett’s Garden

Jill Smart — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 07:31:45 +0000

Mrs Beckett does not deserve the honour of being elected Speaker after claiming £11,000 for her garden!
Many pensioners in this country live on less than that amount a year. It is a disgrace.

These Politicians are meant to be intelligent people with numeracy and literacy skills as being taken for granted, but it would appear they cannot fill in simple claim forms. I would therefore deduce they are not fit to represent us in Parliament.
Time for an Election to clean out all the bad wood.

Speaker hopefuls face more claims

MPs in the Commons
The MPs named are all standing for the role of Speaker

MPs in the running to succeed Michael Martin as House of Commons Speaker on Monday have come under scrutiny in more allegations over expenses claims.

Details of tax-funded expenses have been published in The Sunday Telegraph.

The paper says Labour’s Margaret Beckett claimed more than £11,000 for gardening and Tory MP John Bercow twice claimed for help with a tax return.

Mr Martin became the first Speaker to be forced from office in 300 years when he stood down last month.

The Sunday Telegraph’s allegations suggest that former Cabinet minister Margaret Beckett claimed almost £11,000 in gardening expenses over seven years, including £1,380 for plants.

She told the paper that the earlier set of claims were done when the rules were less strict.

My secretary does not do campaigning work during general elections precisely because she is paid from parliamentary allowances
Sir Alan Beith, Lib Dem MP

“We have always tried to make sure we are within the rules and procedures, and clearly what is regarded as claimable has changed over a period of time,” she said.

“MPs are not free in the evenings or weekends to work in the garden, and gardening has always been considered a legitimate expense in relation to second home allowances.”

‘Nothing to hide’

The Telegraph also says Tory MP John Bercow claimed twice for accountants to complete his tax return, which costs the taxpayer £480 each time.

The paper says that Mr Bercow did not return its calls.

It also identifies Liberal Democrat Sir Alan Beith as using office expenses to pay for a secretary to work in his constituency during the 2005 general election campaign, at a cost of £220 a week.

Sir Alan said: “My secretary does not do campaigning work during general elections precisely because she is paid from parliamentary allowances.”

Another allegation is made about Sir Patrick Cormack, a Tory backbencher, who is said to have claimed expenses on both his homes by designating part of his main residence as an office, thereby claiming £9,820 towards heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and council tax bills

Sir Patrick said his expenses had been published on his website for several weeks and said: “I have absolutely nothing to hide.

“This is an entirely legitimate arrangement agreed in writing by the fees office.

“My wife is one of my secretaries and has been since 1970. For years she worked without being paid a penny,” he said.

“We agreed the figures with the fees office and they are entirely legitimate. It’s absolutely within the rules and fully declared and itemised.”

Speaker candidates

The Telegraph also says Labour MP Parmjit Dhanda over-claimed for mortgage interest on his second home allowance at least twice.

Mr Dhanda said: “I believe the Telegraph has got this wrong because this was an interest-only mortgage and the figure that I have claimed is the figure requested by the bank on my statement.

“If anything I have under-claimed my mortgage over the last four years because I haven’t updated statements as often as I should have done when the interest rates went up.”

All these MPs are among the 10 contenders bidding to become the new Speaker.

The latest expense allegations came after police launched a criminal inquiry into an alleged misuse of expenses by a small number of MPs and peers.

BBC political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said there may be opposition to some of the hopefuls taking the post.

“Some of the candidates have been part of the Commons Commission, that’s the rather obscure-sounding authority that runs the House of Commons that has in recent years been trying to block publication of these expenses,” she said.

Tweet this!

Share and Enjoy:

Paul Goodman MP – I believe that David will be a great Prime Minister. But this future House of Commons isn’t for me

Editor — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:03:32 +0000

Paul Goodman MP: I’m leaving the Commons before it becomes a place of cowed and toiling drudges

This article appears in the Bucks Free Press and has also been submitted to ConservativeHome.com.

Last week, the Daily Telegraph cleared me from its enquiries into the MPs’ expenses scandal – describing my housing bills as “modest”. But I’ve no intention of hiding behind its brief and benign summary. Today, I’m giving the Bucks Free Press the full details, as promised.

My most controversial claims are probably as follows. I paid several bills late – including a 2004 Council Tax bill so tardy that I was required by Wycombe District Council to make the rest of the year’s payments in advance. The Commons authorities also rejected two of my claims – one for a bed, and one for a mattress.

In the first case, they wrote to explain that the claim was against the rules, because my young son would sleep in the bed. In the second, they didn’t bother. Previously, they allowed claims for a cot, a stairgate, a booster seat, and a pair of child’s blinds. Readers will draw their own conclusions about the intelligibility of the rules – let alone their reasonableness.

MPs should obviously pay their taxes on time, and I’m sorry to be so slow with bills. But, in general, I defend my claims. Voters can’t demand the commitment that they expect of MPs and simultaneously refuse them the means to carry it out.

And, yes, I’m afraid that means bills for housing and homes, utility bills, subsistence and travel. No responsible Wycombe-based business would make an employee meet regularly in London until after 10.30 in the evening, and refuse to put him up in a hotel for the night. The MP for Wycombe should be treated no less fairly. My housing costs last year were roughly the same as those hotel costs, paid at a civil service rate.

For the record, I’ve never flipped a property for profit or inflated my claims to the maximum. On the controversial accommodation allowance, I come in lower than most MPs. And during the last Parliament, I not only voted against improved pension terms for MPs, but went on to refuse to take them. I look forward to hearing from constituents who’ve also turned down large amounts of public money.

The voters of Wycombe have always been kind to me. I suspect that, when the dust settles, they’ll consider their local MP, ponder, and conclude that while I have my faults – who doesn’t? – the Daily Telegraph’s summary is fair. At the next general election, I could reasonably look forward, given the expected swing to my party, to gaining more votes than I lose and serving, under a leader I like and admire, to help make Britain a better place.

But this prospect is set against a darkening backdrop. For Parliamentary democracy to work, a robust executive – strong government – must be balanced by a healthy legislature – by a flourishing House of Commons. That the Commons has been sick for many years is incontestable. The tragedy of the expenses scandal is that the patient, in consequence, is likely to receive a bigger dose of the medicine that’s causing the illness – namely, professional politics.

Not so long ago, MPs were elected representatives, paid little by the taxpayer but free to work outside the Commons. MPs drew on their expertise of business or the shop floor. The chamber was a forum in which the clash of different interests was resolved for the public good.

However, the representation of interests came to be seen as outmoded at best and corrupt at worst. Restrictions on MPs outside earnings were imposed. Relatively swiftly, they became largely dependent on the taxpayer – and therefore, increasingly, professional politicians rather than elected representatives: a “political class” different to and therefore separate from those who elected them. Consequently, MPs got smaller. The media got bigger. Powers leaked away to Europe, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the quangos.

A few weeks ago, this journey reached its logical destination. In an act of class revenge, Gordon Brown pushed through Parliament a measure compelling the remaining MPs who work outside the Commons to declare how often they do so.

The result will be a further injection of state power and patronage – the medicine that’s sickening the patient. The spirit of the age is against citizen MPs, and few working business people, lawyers, doctors or (dare I say) journalists will long be able to fend off local rivals who pledge to be in the Commons for every hour of the working day. Parliamentary elections threaten to become dutch auctions of self-abasement.

In the short term, a few older MPs with knowledge of the outside world will hang on. But some of their younger colleagues will quietly leave, telling friends that the loss of earnings is the last straw that broke the camel’s back – on top of vanished privacy and declining status. And, in the medium term, much future talent will avoid the Commons altogether.

Most of the rest will get in quick, scramble to the top, and get out quicker. The Commons’ institutional memory will weaken. With a number of exceptions, MPs will become cowed and toiling drudges. Fringe eccentrics and exhibitionists will provide the necessary colour, coming and going like celebrity TV contestants – briefly exalted and just as swiftly toppled.

Forceful Ministers and effective Select Committee Chairmen are likely to be scarce in such a shallow pool. And the reputation of the Commons will continue its downward spiral. Such is the Pandora’s Box that the national media elites have helped to open – one which, needless to say, they won’t be able to close. In making this case, I’ve little personal interest, since my earnings outside Parliament are minimal.

Over the long term, I suspect that fashion will change, and that the Commons will renew itself, as it’s often done before. But the long term is perhaps ten years away – which brings me to my conclusion.

I’ve come to love the Wycombe area, and trying to help my constituents as best I can. I’ve been looking forward to helping David Cameron turn Britain round, and to pursuing my passion for better relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. I believe that David will be a great Prime Minister. But this future House of Commons isn’t for me. Sometimes, one has to see a duty through. But I’ve made a contract with the voters for five years, not sworn an oath to serve for life. With regret, I won’t be applying to renew it.

Tweet this!

Share and Enjoy:

MP’s Expense Fiddles Must Be Stopped!

Jill Smart — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:13:42 +0000

I have heard many members of the public make their feelings known on TV and Radio on the subject of MP’s expenses and can we blame them for being so angry?
The arrogance of many of the MP’s who question why the public should feel so angry as they have kept within the rules, is an insult to the electorate.
The only way to resolve this issue is for Expenses to be dealt with by an outside organisation which is fully audited and publicised, with a very clear rulebook on what is claimable and what isn’t.

Snouts in the trough

This must happen immediately and then the Government must go to the public with a General Election, when they will have the choice of either keeping their current MP as a candidate or selecting someone new. No doubt it may be wiser for the parties to select individuals who have no history of involvement with the current situation, particularly those who have clearly claimed expenses which are either fraudulent or certainly not clearly for assisting them to do their jobs in an efficient manner.

This farce has damaged the credibility of politicians, politics and indeed anyone involved even party workers at local level.

Tweet this!

Share and Enjoy:

UK Mp’s expenses fiasco rumbles on

Allan Fox — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:27:56 +0000

More expenses revelations as the saga rumbles on.

“A Labour MP says he will stand down at the next election if his constituents demand it, following allegations over his second home expenses claims. The Daily Telegraph says Dr Ian Gibson, Norwich North MP, claimed for a London flat while his daughter and her partner lived there rent-free.” – BBC

“Why won’t Brown slap down Hoon and Purnell like Blears?” – Daily Mail

“The Liberal Democrat chief executive and election strategist will step down this autumn, days after questions were raised over his House of Lords expense claims.” – Times | Guido yesterday

“Asked on BBC One’s Question Time whether criminal prosecutions should be brought against some MPs, Mr Hague said: “In all probability, yes”.” – BBC

Ben Chapman, MP for Wirral South, will resign at next election – Telegraph

Two more Tory MPs feature in expenses-gate

“The daughter of Conservative MP Anne Main has been living rent-free in a flat that her mother claims second home expenses on. The MP for St Albans has claimed £64,586 over three years on the flat in her constituency, even though daughter Claire Tonks has lived there during that period.” – Daily Mail

“A Tory MP spent £17,000 of taxpayers’ money on decorating his two homes – swapping his second home designation to allow him to keep shopping. Peter Luff, MP for Mid-Worcestershire, spent the money on furniture and other items for his two homes during a four-year period.” – Daily Mail

Anthony Steen MP: Voters are only envious of his big house – Independent | Daily Mail | Yesterday’s Seats & Candidates

Membership of the Conservative Party’s scrutiny committee

David Gold, senior partner at Herbert Smith (not the David Gold PPC)
Patrick McLoughlin MP, Chief Whip
John Randall MP, Assistant Chief Whip
Ed Llewellyn, DC’s Chief of Staff
Ian McIsaac, Head of Compliance at CCHQ
Jeremy Middleton, Chairman of National Conservative Convention

The Times sets out a reform agenda for politics

“Voters want smarter MPs, greater transparency, civilised politics and more control” – Times leader

We should be able to sack MPs mid-term – Matthew Elliott in The Telegraph

The Economist: Where are the brave politicians?

“Westminster loves the language of gore. People talk of “back-stabbings” and “assassins”; of electoral “massacres”; of paths to power “littered with corpses” and of “bloodbaths” if the powerful are crossed. In this sanguinary lexicon MPs are accounted “brave” and “heroic” for drafting a motion that calls for a parliamentary official to resign, or for writing newspaper articles that are codedly critical of their leaders. They aren’t. It is brave to attend a protest rally in Burma. It is brave to be an independent journalist in Russia. It is brave to be a human-rights monitor in Syria. In Britain heads roll or are impaled on spikes only metaphorically. Only ink actually gets spilt: there will not be blood. The costs of sticking out a neck are pifflingly low. Ordinary Britons might well wonder why in these febrile times so few politicians, whether commanders or foot soldiers, are willing to make a stand.” – The Economist’s Bagehot

Honesty isn’t a political manifesto

“Honesty may be called the best policy, but it isn’t actually a policy at all as far as governing a country is concerned; it is just a moral principle for individual conduct. It isn’t one of the principles that determine how political decisions are made. We have political parties in order that people can rally round a set of such governing principles and act collectively to put them into effect.” – Alexander Chancellor in The Guardian

John Bercow: My manifesto for the Speakership

“If the House expects to gain the respect of others, it has to start by showing some respect for itself. This means asserting the duty of Parliament to scrutinise the executive and to hold the government of the day to account. This should include radical reform of the way we operate – from the management of House business to the composition of committees, from the level of scrutiny to the opportunities for backbench members to take part in key debates.” – John Bercow MP in The Independent

Mr Bercow also writes an open letter in The Guardian.

Ann Widdecombe is the people’s choice to be the next Speaker – Andrew Pierce in The Telegraph

Richard Reeves of Demos sets out “progressive austerity”

“Capital gains tax should also be introduced on the sale of primary residences. This would raise at least £5bn a year and damp house price inflation when the upturn comes. This will not be popular. But it is easier to introduce when house prices are flat and voters know the Treasury is broke. Progressive austerity means vigorously defending the spending that helps the poor, ruthlessly cutting elsewhere and taking the opportunity presented by the crisis to build a fairer tax system.” – Richard Reeves in the FT also commends saving Sure Start; the Family Nurse Partnership, targeted child trust funds but cuts in arts funding

Ex-Tory Shaun Woodward tipped for another promotion in Cabinet reshuffle – Times

Tweet this!

Share and Enjoy:

Tax Payers Alliance launch campaign for private prosecutions of MP’s

John Jenkins — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:08:26 +0000

As you may have already seen today, the TPA - backed by the Daily Mail - is launching a campaign for private prosecutions of MPs who may have broken the law in their expenses claims. The expenses scandal that has been exposed in recent days by the Telegraph cannot be dismissed simply by apologies, excuses or the waving of repayment cheques. If any ordinary person had claimed expenses for costs that they had not really incurred or costs not actually needed for their job, they would be sacked and in all probability reported to the police.

Tax Payers Demand Justice

We believe it is essential to democracy and justice, as well as the reputation of Parliament, that MPs who have behaved disgracefully are held to account. For those who have behaved immorally or broken the rules, we will be submitting a dossier of complaints to the Parliamentary authorities. For those who have failed to pay tax where we believe they should have done, we will be reporting their actions to the tax authorities. For those who appear to have broken the law – and there are already several who have been reported in the media – we intend to pursue them through the criminal courts.

It is for that reason that we have decided to start gathering support, legal advice and funds to bring private prosecutions against some Members of Parliament. We are delighted to have joined forces with the Daily Mail, who are adding their resources and the weight of their readers’ support to the campaign. The reaction from the taxpaying public – who are sick to death of immoral MPs ripping taxpayers off and expecting to get away with it – has been overwhelming. We have had hundreds of new supporters, many generous donations to the fighting fund and a flurry of media appearances today alone, on top of the huge groundswell of support that we have received over the last week.

This is undoubtedly a dark time for Parliament. It is sad that this scale of public outrage has been necessary to break through the coccoon of secrecy and arrogant denial that the Speaker, Michael Martin, and his cronies have tried to shelter in. Indeed, I wish that the Parliamentary authorities had come clean with taxpayers about the problem years ago when they were first asked – almost as much as I wish that these MPs had not decided to stick their snouts in the trough in the first place. Both the authorities and these offenders have harmed Parliament, democracy and those other MPs who have remained honest but are now enveloped in this scandal as a result of their colleagues’ wrongdoing.

If we are ever to restore the public’s faith in Parliament, and if those innocent MPs’ names are ever to be cleared, then we need urgent change. First, taxpayers must at last be told the whole truth about MPs’ expenses. Our petition, co-launched with transparency campaigner Heather Brooke, for full and immediate publication of MPs’ expenses details has already attracted over 3,700 signatures. If you haven’t yet signed, or haven’t yet circulated it to your friends, colleagues and family, please do so.

When those details are made public, everyone will be able to see who claimed what and make up their own minds about whether their MP is innocent, greedy or potentially a law-breaker.

Next, those MPs who have broken the law must be brought to book. That is where the Bring Them To Justice campaign comes in. Any donations that you might be able to make to the cause are most welcome – please either send us a cheque or donate through our PayPal account, labelling your donation “Bring Them To Justice”. Details of how to donate are here. Any contribution, large or small, is much appreciated and it will all help to bring them to justice.

Thank you once again for your kind support.

Matthew Elliott,

Chief Executive

Tweet this!

Share and Enjoy:

Tax Payers Petition: Demand full transparency on MPs’ expenses

Editor — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:22:15 +0000

With the shocking abuses of taxpayers’ money revealed by the Daily Telegraph over the last few days, it has never been more important for taxpayers to be able to see exactly how MPs are spending our money. We have teamed up with Heather Brooke, the campaigning journalist who defeated the secretive Commons authorities in the High Court last year on just this issue to launch a petition demanding full and immediate publication of all MPs’ expenses receipts.

Whilst the Telegraph has published selected highlights (or rather lowlights) of the expenses claims, and Parliament is still dragging its feet refusing to reveal such crucial details as the addresses of these taxpayer-funded second homes, it is crucial to apply pressure from the public to get these expenses details published online for every taxpayer to scrutinise. It’s our money, they are our MPs and we have a right to see what has been going on.

You can sign the petition here.

Please send this link http://www.petition.co.uk/publish_mp_expenses_in_full to your family, friends and colleagues to get them to sign too!

The TPA questions MPs direct on Channel 4

As ever, we have led the fight against MPs abusing taxpayers’ money and playing the system, making the argument at every stage that these expenses must be transparent and that MPs must live by the same rules and pay the same taxes as the rest of us. After a year of hard campaigning on the issue we are finally starting to get results. On Monday, TPA Campaign Director Mark Wallace appeared on Channel 4 News alongside Heather Brooke to put our questions direct to a panel of MPs. You can watch the broadcast here.

Tweet this!

Share and Enjoy: