Friday, May 29, 2009
Arden Forester
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
