Glasgow North-East results in Labour win

Glasgow North-East is being hailed by Jim Murphy, under-employed Secretary of State for Scotland, as a tremendous victory. Murphy is the best, the very best, at arguing a case and convincing the entranced listener that black is white. He believes this to be a victory. On paper it could look that way, but actually two-thirds just put their feet up or went to watch the Christmas lights being switched on. The voters who were switched on voted for Willie Bain. In that, there was a victory.

No mention of MPs expenses, no mention of Gordon Brown's stewardship as Prime Minister. Just a Labour candidate suggesting he was an underdog opposition man fighting the cynically cash strapped SNP government in Holyrood. It worked well. Credit where credit is due!

The result -

Willie Bain (Labour)- 12,231 (59.39%)
David Kerr (Scottish National Party) - 4,120 (20.00%)
Ruth Davidson (Conservatives) - 1,075 (5.22%)
Charlie Baillie (BNP) - 1,013(4.92%)
Tommy Sheridan (Solidarity) - 794 (3.86%)
Eileen Baxendale (Liberal Democrats) - 474 (2.30%)
David Doherty (Scottish Greens) - 332 (1.61%)
John Smeaton (Independent - backed by the Jury Team) - 258 (1.25%)
Kevin McVey (Scottish Socialist Party) - 152 (0.74%)
Mikey Hughes (Independent) - 54 (0.26%)
Louise McDaid (Socialist Labour Party) - 47 (0.23%)
Mev Brown (Independent) - 32 (0.16%)
Dr. Colin Campbell (Individuals Labour & Tory Party - TILT) - 13 (0.06%)

The Labour Majority was 8,111

The BNP just failed to achieve their magic mix of coming third and saving their deposit. Interestingly, the BBC last night flagged up that they came "third" and then tried to engage the pundits in a conversation about racism in Scotland. Today they are flagging up the lost deposit. Not much mention of the LibDems lost deposit and being beaten by Tommy Sheridan. Seeing Tommy in chatty mood with Mikey Hughes and John Smeaton it is clear he is pleased at having trounced the other two socialist parties.

As a footnote, the minor parties got 2,695 votes in total or 13.09%. There is a clear indication from by-elections now that the main parties have lost around 10-20% of the electorate. In marinal seats this could be a deciding factor at the general election.

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Glasgow North-East By-election

This constituency used to be called Springburn and when people know that they head for Springburn. One wonders why the name ever changed. Anyway, a mixed bag or baker's dozen is contesting the seat vacated by the (disgraced, sacked, voted out ..fill in your own words) former Speaker, Michael Martin. Voters go to the polls on 12 November.

If you want to know more about each candidate, click on the candidate name. If you want more about the party campaign, click on the party name.

Charlie Baillie (BNP)
Willie Bain (Labour)
Eileen Baxendale (Liberal Democrats)
Mev Brown (Independent)
Dr. Colin Campbell (Individuals Labour & Tory Party - TILT)
Ruth Davidson (Conservatives)
David Doherty (Scottish Greens)
Mikey Hughes (Independent)
David Kerr (Scottish National Party)
Louise McDaid (Socialist Labour Party)
Kevin McVey (Scottish Socialist Party)
Tommy Sheridan (Solidarity)
John Smeaton (Independent - backed by the Jury Team)

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Conservative candidate faces de-selection over affair

Elizabeth Truss is the Conservative candidate for Norfolk South-West. She is also a woman who has had an affair. This is well in the past now, four years ago to be precise. However, some in the local association are getting all huffy. They are going to vote on her future on 16 November. No doubt it will make them feel a bit better.

Ms Truss has apologised, been open about it, made up with her husband, and just wishes to move on. One wonders what tiny minds are operating in this part of Norfolk. If we are to have fully verified saints as MPs how about having fully verified saints as members of a Conservative association?

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All-women short lists? Surely not!

David Cameron has come out in favour of all-women shortlists for the Conservative Party, or rather the Modern Conservatives. He thinks it's a good wheeze. Will get his benches filled with Dave's Babes just like Blair did in 1997 for his side of the House, so it will. It's probably a sign of the times. It's not really democracy as we know it. More a kind of set menu instead of a la carte.

I wonder what those great Tory women MPs of the past would have made of it. Imagine Margaret Thatcher pitted against five other women. How did she get selected at Finchley? Was she favoured in some way? I rather doubt it.

Edwina Currie, Dame Jill Knight, Nancy Astor, Peggy Fenner, Lady Olga Maitland, Dame Irene Ward (plus large hat!), Ann Widdecombe, Angela Rumbold, Joan Hall and Lady Tweedsmuir are ten notable women who have served the Conservative Party with both distinction and independent minds. Get those ten in a room (if only it were possible!) and get Dave to tell them that they faced an all-women shortlist and he may very well get a load of all-women short shrift!

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Ed Balls biding his time before ear bashing

Ed Balls is now hoist on his own petard. By getting Maggie Atkinson, the new children's commissioner in place and saying she will be no "patsy", he will now have to sit around like Vesuvius, the volcano. Better to remain dormant than active. The first time she has to cross swords with him in public, the public will be reminded that he thinks she's no patsy and cheer her on in her confrontation with him.

As she's only got nine months left with Mr. Balls in charge I'm hoping she will rattle his cage a bit sooner than that.

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Damian Green's arrest "not proportiate"

Ex-British Transport Police chief Sir Ian Johnston has said that the leaked information that found its way to Damian Green amounted to "embarrassment" for the government but did not threaten national security. He said the arrest of the Tory frontbencher, as part of an inquiry into Home Office leaks, was "not proportionate".

The police probably knew this at the time, but under New Labour they feel that they are in a bind. "Damned if they did, damned if they didn't". That's the view of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Denis O'Connor. Hardly a proper footing for initiating investigations.

The main question now is - "Who authorised the arrest in the first place?" - that's the one that may be is the most interesting to know.

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Glasgow North-East By-election

If I were a voter in the Glasgow North-East by-election, I'd be concerned that my vote counted. Normally I'd suggest that the Conservative candidate would make a good MP and that by voting Conservative the government would get a bloody nose and all the rest of it. And in truth that would be true. It would be seismic in this part of Glasgow.

What have the voters of this constituency got on offer? Possibly the chance to vote SNP, or LibDem as an alternative. Would that do them much good? I doubt it. I'm inclined to think that in this particular election the Glasgow voters have an opportunity to do something for themselves. If they elect John Smeaton, of the Jury Team, they would be doing two things. Sending a man to Westminster who was there with a message to clean up the shambles of the expenses system and who would not be arm-twisted by the whips. His very presence might just get the three main parties to realise that something was up. Up until now, precious little has got through to them. This might just work.

It would also not upset the apple cart by causing a fall of government. That can be left to the General Election. But as an effective protest, well I know of no better.

John Smeaton, Jury Team candidate for Glasgow North-East -

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MPs face further expense queries

It doesn't surprise me that some MPs are being investigated and challenged about their expenses for a further time. It has not left the minds of many voters as an election issue. If it has, it will be reignited just like putting light to a time bomb. Memories will be refreshed, revitalised and ready to deliver a verdict.

Gordon Brown says "Some cases will end up in the courts, where someone's done something very wrong we've got a duty to deal with them most severely". Sounds good, but he was very keen at first to keep all this expenses stuff silent. He colluded with the former speaker to delay or censure detail. If we had not known the addresses of property, he would now have no duty "to deal with them most severely". In fact, when the lists were disclosed in the Daily Telegraph, Gordon Brown was quick to wonder how his Sky TV expenses would look.

The Jury Team is one political party that will use the expenses scandal to advance their cause. I sense others will too. In fact, the "Others" are coming up in the poll rankings. Fifty years ago, they were a blip. Now they are capable of swinging seats in any direction by taking anything up to 5,000 votes from the three main parties.

The next election will not be a done deal for anyone. It could all end up by deals having to be done.

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Yvette Cooper - yesterday's woman?

Seeing Yvette Cooper on television over the last few months one is left wondering if she thinks we were all born yesterday. Last night she was trying to hold the line on the 9.3% cuts and the message the leak gave us. She waffles and she whines. For heaven's sake, Yvette, get a grip and speak the truth. No more spin, no more subterfuge. Just try a bit of honesty for a change.

Here's a good example of her waffle!

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Gordon Brown 'appalled' by bank bonuses

Gordon Brown says he is appalled by that some financial firms are continuing - or even extending - their bonus culture. Perhaps this son of the manse could enter into a dialogue with the Anglican priest who heads up HSBC and determine what sort of moral compass banks would be best following?

A really good moral compass always steers one in the right direction!

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Alan Duncan on half rations!

Alan Duncan has paid the price - half his rations taken away. David Cameron had his summer holidays to contend with before he decided what to do with the shadow leader of the House. The press think he has been demoted, Duncan thinks it is all very fine and large, we don't really know what David Cameron thinks and the public have more to get worked up about.

This expenses fall-out will carry on right up to the general election. Who is sleazier that who and who is more saintly than the next will be the issue that floats in and out to derail all the proper stuff about the economy and the rest of the government's record.

The voters have not given their memories a makeover yet it seems.

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Nadine Dorries puts libel suit on Brown's gang

No nonsense Tory MP Nadine Dorries has decided that she will sue the muckrakers at the heart of the Brown Bunker. Or more properly the former muckrakers, as Gordon Brown dismissed the emailer of all emailers Damien McBride and his fellow smearer Derek Draper, who was given the bargepole treatment. Good name for a smearer, Draper! Draping everything with a gungy substance.

Gordon Brown is getting a writ too as "No 10". These three in the witness box will make colourful sight. I sincerely hope there is not going to be a stitch-up before it all comes to trial. We should be able to hear exactly what a spin doctor thinks is right or wrong.

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Balls-up or what over Libya?

Ed Balls has come out to tell the listening public that "none of us wanted to see the release of al-Megrahi but that wasn't a judgement made by the British government it was a decision made by the Scottish executive." Do I believe him? It is hard to be convinced by a bunch of inveterate weasel wordsmiths such have infested what is laughingly called New Labour. More like Humpty Dumpty that Mother Theresa, I feel.

The Scottish Government came to the British Government's rescue. Ever since Blair cosied up to Gaddafi in that tent, the aim of the New Labour regime has been to do deals with Libya. Oil deals, trade deals - any deal that helps. al-Megrahi was a kind of fly in the ointment. We don't really know if he was the bomber anyway. Gaddafi might as well have serpents for hair for all the truthfulness he has been involved with. I have some sympathy with Dr Jim Swire's take on events. The fact that a Maltese shopkeeper could finger a Libyan in such a way and for it to pass the minds of Scottish judges as reliable evidence is cause for concern. But not enough concern if you've got BP executives desperate to get into that tent as well. Gordon Brown is hardly likely to want to dig up the truth. Far better a rambling set of ever-changing anwers.

So the basic conclusion is I don't believe Ed Balls. In fact, I wouldn't bother proverbially throwing him, because any distance he went would not be a suitable test for establishing the truth!

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Sir Patrick Cormack comes to the point!

Whilst the Daily Mail keeps the kettles and coffee pots at raging boiling point in the serenity of surburbia, with its moral outrage at MPs expenses (they didn't get the scoop!), it is up to MPs to defend us against our democracy becoming a political forum for the wrong sort.

Sir Patrick Cormack rightly says, in defending Alan Duncan's central message, "We don't want a parliament of political anoraks and rich people. Those who have a vocation for public life shouldn't be deterred from going into parliament because they can't afford to contemplate it. Being an MP is an extremely expensive business." David Cameron, probably sensing that the majority of Conservative MPs and others agree with this, is not going to sack Duncan. It was the secret filming by Heydon Prowse that started this re-ignition of interest in Alan Duncan.

Ask yourselves this question. Do I want Heydon Prowse (pictured) as my next MP? A whole chamber made up of his type and we will all be secretly filmed, told what to do and given our marching orders! Baby out with the bath water, eh? Prowse runs an online business called Don't Panic. Nice title, but I think we should all panic at the very thought of him and democracy mixing.

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Alan Duncan says sorry for something!

Alan Duncan has got himself into a spot of bother. He has been caught out on tape saying some things some people think he ought not to have said. He was heard to say MPs were being treated badly after the expenses scandal and "have to live on rations". David Cameron, his leader, was none too happy.

Whilst I deplored Duncan's original approach to the expenses scandal, I do think he has a point much overlooked by his well-to-do wisteria claiming leader. That is, if MPs are to be just a load of salaried hacks, most of them emanating from behind the desks of quangos, research departments and think tanks, we are all going to be a damn sight worse off. No more farmers, no more business people, no more doctors, scientists or the like. Just professional politicians or those with independent means.

Alan Duncan said, "No one who's done anything in the outside world or is capable of doing such a thing will ever come into this place ever again the way we're going. Basically it has been nationalised. You have to live on rations and you are treated like shit." I think his crime was not that he said it but that he thought it. However, now that he's said it (and it is probably true in large part if everyone was truthful to themselves) only those like the recent winner at Norwich North will want to stay chirpy and chippy and reading from the script.

When I first studied politics, after the 1964 general election, there were all sorts of characters as MPs. Maybe after the next election we will have all sorts of characterless people representing us. I really do hope that that is not the case. Alan Duncan is a character and the sort of MP we need.

As a side issue, the news channels suggested Duncan used foul language. The BBC in particular sounds rather hypocritical. Most programmes get the message before they start - "the following programme contains strong language". In all this expenses business there are far more hypocrites that paragons of virtue!

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Do I want to choose a Labour candidate?

David Miliband is very keen to follow the Conservative primary event in Totnes, where a GP got voted in over two Tory stalwarts. Miliband is not elaborating much, other to sight the US Democrats and the Greek Socialists.

I thought about the Totnes vote, but my mind boggles a bit at voting for a socialist in a Labour Primary. I've never voted Labour in my life. First they were seen as fellow travellers of the communists and not a very patriotic bunch. Now they've turned all New Labour and are still not a very patriotic bunch. But this time they are demolishing the institutions from within.

I know there are some good Labour politicians. But I'd have a hard time knowing who to vote for in a primary. Should I vote for people who are hardly Labour at all? Or should I do it just because it is a civic duty? If I was asked to vote for a radical lefty just to balance the ticket, could I do it? Should I do it?

This is going to be a hard challenge for every conservative-minded voter in the country. We may have to be halucinated before casting a vote!

DryBonesBlog.com

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MP to quit over second job rules

Labour MP Howard Stoate has said he will quit at the next election because new second jobs rules mean he will no longer be able to practise as a GP. I think this is a shame. I would have thought the leaders of the parties in the Commons could have been a little more sensitive and serious about this attack on second jobs. It is in part a reaction to Conservative MPs and the negative publicity that went with expenses scandal. Some Labour MPs jumped at the chance to be spiteful, not least Harriet Harman, who has a frenetic mind when it comes to petty jealousies. So in the scrum for perceived political cleanliness, the good go down with the ugly, leaving the rest to turn out as possible bad MPs as far as having had a life is concerned.

I would not bother with second incomes. Personally I couldn't stand being represented by a robotic lobby fodder merchant, who just did as told. Dr.Stoate says, "It is apparent that Labour candidates standing for Parliament at the next election will be expected to give up their outside jobs if they are elected. I respect this view but I think my own contribution to the work of Parliament would be diminished if I was to give up general practice, which is why I have decided not to stand as a candidate at the next general election." Sad reflection on the current lemming-like desire for apparatchik politicians.

Dr.Stoate will have contributed far more that someone coming out of a researcher's office at 22 and "never looking back"!

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Norwich not tonight!

For the first time since I don't know when, the counters at the Norwich North by-election won't have to start counting until tomorrow morning. I think the last time a daytime result was on offer was the Honiton by-election in which Sir Peter Emery was victorious. 40-odd years ago! That was a good result - Emery stood to address the assembled masses and said, "The first thing you will want me to do is..." and a chap from the crowd conveniently interjected, "Bugger off back to Reading!". Gales of laughter from the Liberal Party and red faces from the Conservatives.

There are various reasons given as to why democratic tradition such as by-election night is knocked on the head. One is that it costs more to pay people, such as the police, to hang around until the early hours. Another is that bank clerks, traditionally employed for their rapid digit dexterity, are too knackered after a day counting other people's money in the financial product selling shops.

Whatever the reason, Norwich North has gone politically due south. No result until noon tomorrow. High Noon? Maybe. This has been a fairly fevered election, with UKIP and others putting up a bold fight for votes. Can the Conservatives cut the mustard? Maybe. But as Sir Jeremiah Colman wryly pointed out, he got rich by the amount of mustard people wasted on their plates. Can David Cameron get rich in votes or will the electorate waste them by staying at home?

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Norwich North By-Election

If you want a comprehensive study of this by-election, look no further than Look East from the BBC. A very good compilation of the events leading up to tomorrow's vote.

I predict a Tory win, not in emphatic style but rather like Roy Jenkins at Glasgow-Hillhead for the SDP. It could be that the Conservatives win on less that 33% of the vote. If that is the case, stand by for more verbal fisticuffs from the "losing" parties.

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Billy Goats Gruff

Gordon Brown said he wanted a "government of all the talents". He got a few willing helpers and put them into the House of Lords. They were instantly dubbed the GOATS. Now in biblical times sheep and goats looked rather similar. Both species had long ears and scruffy coats. Separating the sheep from the goats was not always an easy task. The sheep were considered flockish and docile, the goats independent and self-willed.

In many ways it was a good idea of Brown's. The people chosen were well respected and knew their subject. However, being in government is not the same as advising government. So the latest "defector" is Lord Darzi. He wants to go back to his medical world "to devote more time to his clinical role and academic research". And no doubt be paid a lot more.

That is going to be the problem from now on. We will get a House of Commons stuffed full of paid, full-time career politicians and a neutered House of Lords. One thing the Lords brings is wisdom. Where will the wisdom be in this brave new world after the election?

The next House of Commons will be a pretty sad place if all the mavericks, the independent spirits and the believers in something have been pushed aside by on-message apparatchiks. The power to stop it rests with us the electorate.

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Norwich North By-Election

The Norwich North by-election is getting along nicely, now entering its last two-week phase. 12 candidates up for election to be confirmed later today.

They are -

Peter Baggs - Independent
Thomas Burridge - Libertarian Party
Anne Fryatt - NOTA (None Of The Above)
Bill Holden - Independent
Alan Hope - Monster Raving Loony Party
Graig Murray - Put An Honest Man In Parliament
Chris Ostrowski - Labour
April Pond - Liberal Democrat
Rupert Read - Green Party
Chloe Smith - Conservative
Glenn Tingle - UK Independence Party
Robert West - British National Party

That makes a dozen to choose from. However, the front runners are the Labour, Conservative, Greens, and Craig Murray's coalition. Who comes third will be as interesting as who comes first. I also think voters should give young Thomas Burridge a good hearing and consider him too!

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George Osborne facing flipping inquiry

It has concerned me, as a possible returnee to the Conservative fold, that David Cameron saw fit to keep his shadow cabinet from the wolves yet was glad to let the so-called grandees fall on their swords. He knows that several were extremely naughty boys when it came to dipping their hands in the expense pot.

George Osborne is now facing an inquiry by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner into aspects of his expenses claims. He is accused of claiming for mortgage payments "that were not necessarily incurred". The chap who complained about Osborne is Laurie Burton, the chairman of the local Labour Party in Mr Osborne's Tatton constituency. He says, "I share the outrage and anger of the great majority of people in this country, of all political persuasions, who have seen what has gone on in Parliament, who don't like what they see and like even less the fact that some MPs just refuse to accept what they have done and refuse to pay any money back."

I can't really fault that. It is a great pity that David Cameron allowed things to pass with a degree of favouritism. There is an element of Blairite superiority here, a kind of riding roughshod approach. Perhaps Osborne is in the clear, perhaps not. But it all seems a little unfair on people like Sir Peter Viggers, who was pilloried for his duck house claim, a claim that was actually rejected.

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Brown says he is honest

Gordon Brown has insisted he is being honest with people about his spending plans amid opposition claims he is hiding the truth about future cuts. "I've always told the truth" he says. Why is it that he finds himself with so many believing otherwise?

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Paddy Tipping has heart attack

Paddy Tipping, the Labour MP for Sherwood, has had a heart attack. Thankfully he is doing OK. "I am receiving excellent care from all the staff at QMC hospital and I cannot praise them too highly." He is on the mend!

He is not the first MP to suffer a heart attack and he will not be the last. I have long thought that we ask ridiculous workloads of our MPs. They sit on committees, they do constituency work, they are encouraged to hobnob with all and sundry to enhance their careers, and they spend time travelling around. Now the pat answer is "We didn't make them do it" but that's not the point. The trust has broken down, not just over allowances, but over what MPs do.

I think there should be a constructive debate about representation in the UK. Do we need so many MPs. Should local government do more not less. The debate about MPs behaviour is one thing. We also need a debate on effective representation.

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Glenys Kinnock is a makeshift minister

Another bumbling aspect of the reshuffle was the appointment of Glenys Kinnock as Europe Minister. A keen gravy train rider, some wheeltapper has momentarily knocked the stuffing out of her appointment. It has emerged that she could not do the job because she is still an MEP. Under EU Parliament rules, Mrs Kinnock is not allowed to serve as a minister in a national Government until she steps down as an MEP on July 14. Did she forget about this when she chatted to Gordon about replacing the expletive-deleted Ms Flint?

Mrs Kinnock, or more properly Lady Kinnock as her husband is a peer of the realm, is keen as mustard when it comes to receiving taxpayers' money. There has been speculation in Westminster that Mrs Kinnock was reluctant to quit her job as an MEP as she would have to forgo some of her gold-plated pension and golden-goodbye.

Lord Kinnock has in his own right been the head of the British Council. He quit last night. Ever a man to use ten words when one will do, he ran off a missive explaining his reasons why he could not continue "without risking the possibility of perceptions, at home or abroad, that the essential operational independence of the Council could be compromised because I am the husband of a minister in the FCO, the sponsoring department of the Council". This is a minute snippet of the letter!

The Kinnocks have never been outside the world of trade union or taxpayer-funded employment. Theirs is a world of political initiatives and expense-funded gatherings. It was little wonder the Sun took against Kinnock as a possible prime minister.

Now Lady Kinnock the wife is to become Baroness Kinnock. One thing the House of Lords does is knock the cockiness out of the political elite. She will have to be very transparent there. So I am pleased the Europe Minister is not in the Commons. Their lordships will not allow her much time to waffle and whine. And she will have two UKIP peers to lob her questions and to dissect her hyperbole. Can't wait!

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Jane Kennedy given heave-ho

Jane Kennedy is one of the more stable Labour Party MPs. By that I mean she does not court controversy or the plotter's crown. She was a campaigner against Militant Tendency. She has been a minister without undue problems occurring. However, she has been unable to give 'Assurance of support' to Gordon Brown. He has let her go. She said today, "I wasn't able to give the prime minister the assurance of support that he wanted. No one I have spoken to over the last week has told me to support him." The grim reality becomes ever more stark.

Labour MP Sally Keeble also says she is withdrawing her support for Mr Brown. In a letter to her constituents the Northampton North MP said, "When Gordon said in the autumn of 2007 he wanted more time to put forward his vision, that seemed fair. However 18 months on, it is painfully clear that time has really run out." Time has run out.

Gordon Brown is a prime minister who cannot blame the recession on the previous chancellor, because that person was himself. So he is damned on two counts. His political vision has not materialised and his profligacy as chancellor has come back to haunt him. It could also be said that his dithering fuels his temper tantrums which in turn feeds his dithering.

He's in a vicious circle. Perhaps tonight's Parliamentary Labour Party meeting can put him out of his dilemma?

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James Purnell jumps ship!

James Purnell has stepped down from the cabinet and told Prime Minister Gordon Brown to "stand aside". Bold talk. It is get less than the 50/50 that Michael Crick talked about in Newnight last night.

In a letter to the Sun and the Times, James purnell, who is the work and pensions secretary, said he was not seeking the leadership but wanted to trigger a debate. He is not "leadership material" (a term I've been told not to use, but it suits the purpose here). Purnell is the third cabinet member to announce they are standing down in the past few days.

It's becoming very much more like Ten Green Bottles than it is Don't Rock The Boat!

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Jacqui Smith to spend more time with her DVDs!

Having claimed expenses on bizarre items, fallen foul of the housing rules by living in her sister's house, the hapless Home Secretary has decided to go before the Presbyterian Conscience is tweaked again.

She has been a disaster as a minister. Mishap following mishap. Harriet Harman, now residing in Fantasyland's finest gated community, says, "I think she is an outstanding home secretary." Umm! Gordon Brown is reshuffling the Cabinet a bit like the deckchairs on the Titanic. Apparently, we've got more of the same for another whole year. Ben Wallace, a Conservative MP, says, "What I think is amazing is the total collapse of management of government, the fact that some people are jumping ship without even informing the prime minister, it seems." Jumping ship indeed! Why should we all be left on board without adequate lifeboats?

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Browned off with Brown!

Gordon Brown has a new mantra. He keeps going on about it, as he did today. He claims that the House of Commons was carrying on like "a gentlemen's club". This is a gross slur and no gentlemen's club would ever devise a scheme for legalised fraud and morally reprehensible expense claims. He should apologise for his slanders immediately.

Far from being that, this whole lot ressemble Billy Bunter at Greyfriars School. Fat, greedy buggers desperate to get to the tuck shop for the new goodies on offer. Billy Bunter was funny. Gordon Brown is not.

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Darling to repay service charges

Alistair Darling is to repay about £700 of expenses following fresh allegations about his allowances. The Daily Telegraph says he claimed for costs on a flat in south London while claiming allowances on his grace-and-favour home in Downing Street.

If he hasn't done anything wrong, why is he paying back the money? Fine way to carry on as Chancellor.

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Bill Cash explains it all!

Conservative MP Bill Cash has said he does not intend to stand down over his expenses claims for rent on a "second home" owned by his daughter.

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Cash for Cash

Bill Cash is a decent bloke. He is well-versed in the crazed goings-on in the European Union and how they affect parliamentary sovereignty. It would be a sad day if he has to go. The whole culture of maximising allowances has affected the minds of MPs. Divorced from reality on occasions they have behaved more like boys in a public school being told the tuck shop is under new management and that far more will be on offer. It is certainly not like Gordon Brown's reference to a gentlemen's club, which would never allow such behaviour.

Bill Cash reportedly claimed £15,000 on expenses to rent a London flat from his daughter - despite owning one which was closer to Parliament. David Cameron says he has "very serious questions to answer" about his expenses. That is true. However, it appears all that is happening is some are getting different messages. Transparency and truth is required, but MPs also should have fairness in the way they are dealt with. It shouldn't be on a basis of "if your face fits".

If only they hadn't been so ostrich-like and had realised that such actions would inevitably come to light one day.

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Goodbye to the Wintertons

It was surprising that Sir Nicholas Winterton and his wife Ann, both Conservative MPs, have obliged the leader and decided to spend more time their family. They could not "maintain the ­hectic pace" of political life, so have stepped down. Many will not mourn their passing. However, I think that all political parties that consider they are fit for government need a few mavericks on the backbenches. If the Conservative party is just going to be modernisers and model yes men, then it will be a poorer party for it.

I've never had the opportunity to forget Sir Nicholas, as some years ago I met him on a by-election campaign. I do not remember who he was helping but he came up to the group I was with and proceeded to shake us by the hand. Shake is probably not the right word. It was more like putting your hand in a vice. My knuckles met my finger tips in some kind of early civil partnership. I was left smarting and reeling as he glad-handed my friends, who appeared to be made of sterner stuff.

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Nadine Dorries knocks the nail home!

Nadine Dorries is a straight talking Tory MP. On her blog today she has a go at the journalists who knew all about the expenses business. It's all very true. Only this week, James Landale, BBC politics reporter, was talking as if he'd unearthed an Egyptian tomb. Must be the new haircut giving him ideas.

Of course all and sundry knew. What I find disquieting is the hypocrisy in all this. Last night on BBC Question Time a man from the audience had the timerity to mention David Cameron's wisteria removal. William Hague, momentarily copying the Prime Minister's air gulping exercises, mumbled about Cameron paying the money back. It didn't look or sound like a convincing reply.

Nadine says, " No Prime Minister has ever had the political courage to award MPs an appropriate level of pay commensurate with their experience, qualifications and position; as recommended by the SSRB, year after year. Prior to my intake in 2005, MPs were sat down by the establishment and told that the ACA was an allowance, not an expense, it was the MP's property, in lieu of pay; and the job of the fees office was to help them claim it." That is largely true. The problem is that what was told to them didn't quite correspond with the tenor of the text in the handbook.

Basically in all this nobody comes out smelling of roses. The Executive has a lot to answer for, MPs have abused the spirit of "the system", journalists have known about this and probably do the same with their "allowances". And the electorate expects democracy on the cheap and increasingly doesn't bother to vote.

The Apathy Party can't complain now that this has happened. And it probaby wouldn't have happened if we weren't in a recession with dodgy bankers and failing businesses all around us.

One thought does occur to me. The Daily Telegraph is owned by Sir David Barclay and Sir Frederick Barclay, known as the Barclay Brothers. These twins are mega-rich, live in a castle on Brecqhou in the Channel Islands, have upset the inhabitants of neighbouring Sark, and are generally shy of the public gaze. They don't get emails at 3pm each afternoon. Perhaps they should. It is alleged they don't pay their fair share of tax, are unco-operative with inquiries into their finances and act in a very secretive way. Surely not the best people to be standing in judgement of others?

The words "undisclosed sum" seem to accompany anything these twins get up to. Perhaps it is time to disclose what they are really doing.

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Ducking and diving!

Just to put the facts straight, I suggested that Bill Wiggin had the duck pond expenses. It was actually Sir Peter Viggars. That's the trouble with reading "raw data" hot off the press! Still, both are in deep doodoo and Sir Peter has actually decided to stand down as a result of the Telegraph's exposure.

It is interesting that the MPs standing down are the ones involved mainly in "gardening expenses" and the phantom mortgage merchants are standing firm. This scandal is not over yet, it seems.

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A wiggin' for Wiggin - and no ducking the issue!

Bill Wiggin must have felt he was getting a free run of the Tuck Shop. After all, the House of Commons has been likened to a public school. A kind of mutation formed by mixing the Greyfriars rascals with a bunch of miscreants from St.Trinians.

What was he thinking? Another having claimed mortgage interest on a constituency home even though the house had never had a mortgage on it! And being a whip too. Maybe they should bring back the cane.

But he really was pushing his luck by claiming £2,000 for a duck island. Did these ducks make any real contribution to his work as an MP?

Any another MP, Gosport Conservative Sir Peter Viggers, claimed £20,000 on gardening expenses. Is this horticultural wonder going to be opened to the public? Free of charge, tea and thrown in.

In the Westminster system, the whips are like prefects at a public school. These prefects either knew nothing or they knew everything. Either way, they are guilty of not doing their jobs properly.

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Douglas Hogg to stand down

Douglas Hogg, the Conservative MP who had a dirty moat, has announced his resignation. The Sleaford and North Hykeham MP has announced that he will stand down at the next election and apologised for the "collective and personal" failure over expenses.

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Speaker resigns

Speaker Martin resigned at 2.35 pm. In a short, sharp and not so sweet statement, he told the house of Commons he was to be gone by 21st June. Some sort of midsummer madness will descend on them then. His exact words were - "I have always felt that the House is at its best when it is united. In order that unity can be maintained, I have decided that I will relinquish the office of Speaker on Sunday 21 June. This will allow the House to proceed to elect a new Speaker on Monday 22 June." And with that he moved on to the next piece of business.

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Michael Martin to step down!

I was wrong in part. He didn't go yesterday as some believed he would. Or at least they thought he would announce his retirement date. However, pressure is mounting and it would appear that the Westminster kettle is at boiling point.

At 2.30 this afternoon Michael Martin will announce he will be stepping down. It is understood he plans to step down "soon" rather than immediately. What that means is not clear, but perhaps it means he will step down before the summer recess.

However, the effective removal of the Speaker does not in any way change the fact that MPs themselves were taking advantage of "the system". Scapegoat or not, there are plenty of feral creatures running around the Houses of Parliament.

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That's Life! Margaret Moran

Margaret Moran, the Labour MP for Luton South, who went as far south as Southampton to talk tommy rot about dry rot, may be challenged at the next election by Esther Rantzen. "If the voters think it's worthwhile and they want me, here I am". Esther is obviously answering the call from Martin Bell that people rise up and stand as independents.

The next election will act as a clearout rather like a spring cleaning excercise. Esther will probably not be the last to declare. More are waiting in the wings.

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Speaker Martin stands firm - it's the rules!

Just as I thought. A short message to MPs telling them that he is sorry if anything he has done has contributed to the mess. A couple of indications about Sir Christopher Kelly's committee and it was on to points of order. Douglas Carswell, the Conservative MP who is behind the no confidence motion, is hopping mad or hopping incredulous. Either way, he's stoking it up as I blog. It is not a happy House of Commons.

Speaker Martin is saved by the rules. It's now up to the Government it seems, or Harriet Harman as Leader of the House, to decie what parliamentary time is given over to Carswell's motion. Whatever happens, it looks like Michael Martin will still be in the chair come Friday!

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Michael Martin to tough it out

Much speculation is about at present, mainly suggesting that the Speaker of the House of Commons will be forced out. My senses are that he will stay, at least until the general election next year. He will tell the House this, that and the other, which will basically boil down to the fact that he stays and the members can bring it on if they want, but such action will look like they want a scapegoat rather than a solution. Tomorrow will amount to a lot of talking and nothing much else.

Everything Michael Martin has done as Speaker is to confirm to the world that a sheet metalworker from Glasgow can hold his own amongst those perceived as being far more educated than he is. He has put up with snobbery and slurs. It a lot of ways he may not have the sharpest mind, but he has always struck me as having something of the cleverness of a streetfighter. Some may call it ducking and diving, although for me it rather ressembles being streetwise.

Much of this talk about the Speaker tells more about the members themselves than about him. With an electorate baying for political blood, all bets are off as to who gets what votes. Both Labour and Conservative parties have taken a hit in the opinion polls. The Liberal Democrats are voicing the "sack Martin" message, amplified today by leader Nick Clegg. In a sense, Michael Martin is not so much a scapegoat as a heat deflector. He's expected to absorb all the criticism so that MPs can return to "normal" politics.

Tomorrow will confirm what Speaker Martin will do. Unless I'm totally wrong I am certain he will be Speaker at the end of the week as he was at the beginning.

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Andrew MacKay has "everything to fear"!

Andrew MacKay says he has nothing to fear. I think not. He is in deep doo-doo and should go quietly. He has let down the constituents of Bracknell by his cavalier approach to public money. Public money for a private purse. He may well be a very good constituency MP. Some may back him to the hilt. Others, though, are gunning for him and it is not just the usual suspects in the opposition parties. Conservative voters are lining up in the "ditch MacKay" camp.

The local newspaper, known online as GetBracknell, is not out to get MacKay. But they are not pushing his cause as a continuing MP either. Their online poll is "Should Andrew MacKay step down as Bracknell MP after he claimed unacceptable expenses?" and when I checked 78% said yes.

MacKay has decided to hold a public meeting next Friday in Bracknell. Could be a noisy affair given the volatility of the BBC Question Time audience last night. If the public meeting goes ahead, I doubt very much that he will come away with an answer that he likes. In that, he has everything to fear.

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Honour amongst thieves?

The Daily Telegraph has been assiduously sorting the million pieces of information relating to MPs' expenses. The revelations of wrongdoing, as perceived by that newspaper and now by the public in growing numbers, is causing a corrosive action on the fabric of British politics. It is driving a wedge between electors and elected.

The Telegraph is not at fault for publishing the information. Nobody has suggested it is not in the public interest. Only the Speaker got uppity about the actual leak but appears to be quiet about the publication. It is now becoming fashionable to suggest that all MPs are on the take. This is patently absurd, as this abuse is limited to a minority.

In calling them all thieves the public does a disservice to democracy. It is said that there is honour amongst thieves, meaning that a thief does not tell on another thief. Here we have something rather different. We have possibly a handful of thieves in amongst a majority of honourable people. That majority is honourable in its pursuit of parliamentary democracy and working for constituents.

That said, I do wonder if MPs have fallen into a trap that human vices find acceptable. Not one MP finds it easy to say sorry if confronted by the glaring evidence of manipulative greed. They blame the system. But there appears nothing wrong with the system. It is only to allow MPs to fund the proper functioning of their duties as MPs. It is not a supplementary income, or a bonus, or a dividend. It is an allowance to be utilised in an honourable way.

It is said that the chief whips inducted new members into the subtle art of exploiting the allowance. We are told that the clerks in the Fees Office were sometimes "told" to pay up. Whatever did go on, there has been a culture of connivance between that office and the badly taught amateur accountants that some MPs are admitting to being.

Nick Brown is the Labour Chief Whip. Yesterday he came out of the House of Commons blinking in the daylight to mumble about the fact that he sort of knew that Elliot Morley was in trouble over his non-existent mortgage. In fact, Nick Brown must know heaps of dodgy dealings and allowance bending, but he chose to sound all confused and unknowing. A chief whip that knows nothing is not a very good one. And he is a good one!

All this has been like the Army's approach to homosexuality used to be. "We know it's going on but we turn a blind eye. Our policy is roughly 'don't ask, don't tell' and it works just fine!"

The House of Commons needs transparency in its accounting system, fair and proper salaries for MPs and a real solution to this second home allowance. It needs to be done soon.

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A Malvern voter gets to see £24,000 in cash!

Sky News goes to Malvern with a caseload of cash. One voter gets to see it and is momentarily tempted. Watch it. Not so easy to be tempted away.

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Can Cameron clean up cleanly?

I referred to motes and beams and it is very difficult to see how the leaders of the three main parties can lead their naughty boys into the good corner. David Cameron says it is an abuse of public money and he will deal with it, but in what manner? In November 2006 he submitted a bill for £680 and this included costs for clearing wisteria and vines from a chimney, replacing outside lights and resealing his conservatory’s roof. The bill was passed without query by the fees office. But did the wisteria stop him functioning as an MP? No more than Douglas Hogg's weed-ridden moat! We don't want MPs to fall into a blame game, but any move to rectify the shoddy situation must be done with proportionality and fairness. Either all moral miscreants pay back money or they don't. This drip drip cheque waving routine only helps to keep the mess a mess.

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Anymore Mr Morley?

Elliot Morley is in a bind. Not only is he among those whose receipts are all over the media, but he has actually done something wrong outside "the system". He was claiming for mortgage payments on an non-existent mortgage. Now I call that fraud. It has nothing to do with amnesia, or being bad a maths, or just being a busy man. It's just plain fraud. Mr.Morley claimed up to £16,000 and says it was all a terrible mistake. What I don't understand is whether Mr.Morley sat up nights doing his own expenses and is basically incompetent or if a member of his staff just carried on unwittingly not being told that the mortgage had been paid off! How many people who pay off a mortgage carry on paying for it? Answers on a postcard to Mr.Morley!

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Political moats and beams

It seems unbelievable that those politicians caught up in this expenses scandal did not realise that they were giving themselves a political hornet's nest just waiting to go buzz the minute it was disturbed. It shows a singular lack of judgement, particularly as other individual cases had been blowing up on a regularly basis before this sorry saga happened. MPs were being "investigated" from many years back. In fact, part of the New Labour mantra in 1997 was that politics had become corrupted and sleazy. Sounds very hollow and hypocritical now.

It seems that, as the country becomes more secular, more attached to personal enrichment at the expense of community benefit, the old ways melt away. Politicians should reflect on the New Testament teaching of motes and beams. They are now in no fit state to complain about each other. They are all guilty in some way. Maybe not financially, but in allowing it to drift on. With few exceptions, like Norman Baker, it was an accepted practice. We hear of the whips actually inducting new members into the nefarious ways of parliamentary book-keeping. A tap on the shoulder, a few words, and the new boy/girl was "in". Only the strong-willed and morally determined stood up against this racket.

Motes and beams! What do we get in modern parlance? Literally moats and beams. Douglas Hogg gets his moat scrubbed up by a willing handyman and John Prescott gets mock tudor beams added to his Hull home. It's bad enough that they thought it all fitted in with "doing the job" but they don't think they did anything wrong. Again, the system is at fault. Well, if any system is to be blamed it surely must be the devisers of it who are culpable. Human greed is a failing that can be understood and forgiven, but sheer bloody-minded obstinacy is verging on the unforgivable.

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Hazel Blears waves goodbye to cheque

Hazel Blears sat calmy on the Government front bench at PMQ's looking like a very frightened chipmunk. She listened intently to Gordon Brown's replies to David Cameron. No condemnation of the cheque wavers, not much to worry the parliamentary party. The PM was putting his faith in yet more committees. Hazel lives to fight another day. Any verbal fisticuffs will be done behind closed doors.

The Liberal Democrats are paying back en masse. The Tories are in similar vein. Hazel Blears is leading the way for the Labour repayment programme.

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Lord Foulkes gets edgy with Carrie Gracie

It could be said he picked on the wrong TV news reporter. Carrie Gracie knows a bit about the world, speaks Mandarin Chinese, and is quite a determined woman. The sort the BBC needs to hire if the truth will out. Lord Foulkes is still in there defending "the system". One wonders for how much longer it will take for the bag of pennies to drop.

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