Living off the fat of the land.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by garinda

Ta Dad-a.

Good boy, close your eyes and dream sweet dreams.

It's those fragile 17 year olds that I worry about.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

Doesn't sound too good on the face of it, does it? However, the most cursory glance of Graham's expenses will show where that money is going and as I've said before I would not do that job because it's bloody hard work and your life is not your own.

The county council expenses are being used largely for good causes and organisations within Rishton alone have already benefitted from it. I wonder how much of Peter's old £43k salary was donated back to community groups? Peter got to go home every night, he didn't hold surgeries every single week or spend 6-8 hours travelling to and from London every four days and he wasn't sharing a house with someone he wasn't overly familiar with.

As someone who is well acquainted with politics you should know full well how much more the setup year costs an MP and such muckraking is beneath you.

I'm sure Peter wouldn't have claimed his county allowance if he'd become MP....

He wouldn't because he would have resigned both his council and county council seats Ken which to my mind would have been the proper thing to do. Being a constituency MP is totally time consuming and I would imagine it hasn't got any easier since Ken Hargreaves days, if anything it will have gone the other way and as for your defence of Graham, if he'd done the right thing he would have had to have managed on his pittance 68 grand a year plus exes of course ya its a hard life all this travelling and living a nomadic life until you get settled, but he knew the score and wanted to do it so I'm sorry excuses don't wash with me Kenneth old chap

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by jaysay

He wouldn't because he would have resigned both his council and county council seats

Alas, that is something we will never know now although my impressions of the nature of the man suggest otherwise to me. I admit that trying to hold on to three positions is unviable but the residents of Accrington don't seem to be screaming too loudly about Graham retaining his county seat.

As has been pointed out by several people, a county seat not only keeps your feet on the ground but also gives you a wider knowledge of the local big picture. Graham is doing a splendid job in my opinion and has been of invaluable help since before I joined the council.

The Conservatives may rail against this new mergeance of district, county and parliamentary levels but I fail to see how greater discourse between the three is in any way a bad thing.

It smacks of envy, to be blunt.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

Alas, that is something we will never know now although my impressions of the nature of the man suggest otherwise to me. I admit that trying to hold on to three positions is unviable but the residents of Accrington don't seem to be screaming too loudly about Graham retaining his county seat.

As has been pointed out by several people, a county seat not only keeps your feet on the ground but also gives you a wider knowledge of the local big picture. Graham is doing a splendid job in my opinion and has been of invaluable help since before I joined the council.

The Conservatives may rail against this new mergeance of district, county and parliamentary levels but I fail to see how greater discourse between the three is in any way a bad thing.

It smacks of envy, to be blunt.

ENVEY:rofl 38:Thanks Ken thats the best laugh I've had for years, in fact I might even print that out and frame it

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

It smacks of envy, to be blunt.

More "Sick as a Parrot" i would say.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

It smacks of envy, to be blunt.

That is my feeling too...and I commented as much, though not in those exact words, in my letter to the Observer.

PB can say what he would have done if he had got to Westminster, but it is never going to be tested...so the truth of the matter can never be ascertained....much like the protestations by the opposition(and I'm talking any opposition, not just the current one)......when in a sticky place, they slate the current government and say what they would do if they were in power....fully knowing that their pie in the sky(for that is often what they are) ideals are never going to be tested. By the time they come to power the political landscape has changed and the things they would have done, no longer fit the bill.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

the opposition...when in a sticky place, they slate the current government and say what they would do if they were in power....fully knowing that their pie in the sky ideals are never going to be tested.

That's what the Liberals have done for nearly a century.

Until that ever so nice Nick Clegg came across so well on the television.

Winning them a joint first place in Pol Idol.