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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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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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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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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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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