MP’s and their Expenses
 

Re: MP’s and their Expenses
 

They are doing it to avoid having to produce receipts to prove what their added expenses were. When you hear that they have had new kitchens fitted and such like they are obviously going to want to go down another route so folk don't know where all the money is going. It is a national disgrace!!!

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Don't forget this little wheeze to avoid the tiresome chore of justifying their expense claims to us poor sods who actually pay for them is tax-free so it's worth nearer £40,000 in real terms. And they want a pay rise too! All this, while ordinary people are struggling with the rising cost of living. I've no doubt there are a few decent Members of Parliament, but the majority of them seem to have their snouts firmly in the trough!

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You've got to remember that this only came about because they failed in their attempt to stop use finding out just exactly what exes they were on, and that Gorbals Mick spent £200,000 trying trying to keep this a secret, the mind boggles:eek:

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I must correct you on a small matter of semantics there. HE didn't spend a penny - he used OUR hard-earned tax money to try and stop us from finding out about the things that MPs have spent OUR money on. Then they wonder why there's so much cynicism about politics. :rolleyes:

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Re: MP’s and their Expenses
 

Hate to be even more pedantic, but here goes...
it was actually 'more' than £200,000 of public money that Michael Martin spent trying to block this disclosure. Security issues my arse.

Also recently revealed is that health minister Ann Keen spends £867.00 per month from the public purse, in order to insure her 70 year old husband's life for £430,000.

Is that Nero I can hear in the background, playing his fiddle?

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Ye but Ye but..........Dont forget the premiums are taxed :rolleyes:

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Re: MP’s and their Expenses
 

I quite agree, and Martin's defence that M.P.'s homes will now become a security target, doesn't wash at all, and it's a great pity so much public money had to be wasted in the hope of keeping it all hush-hush, when we all know the real reason that they are running scared is that now their expenses will be in the public arena.

If you've nothing to hide, there's no need for secrecy.

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Why would anybody need so much insurance protection???:mad: They are extracting the urine with these outrageous expense claims:mad:

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Because her husband is also a M.P., the couple are already entitled to generous payouts if either one of them dies, under the Commons pension scheme.

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Sorry if I appear a bit thick here but why?? £430,000 is a hell of a lot of money:confused:What makes them worth so much?:confused:

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Why do so many highly paid, high ranking Doctors and Barristers choose politics.
Do they want fame of fortune?
How many times have we all sat at home with two bob in your pockets after paying your tax as a full time worker, paying your mortgage and the rest of your dues and demands?
Did you as a taxpayer get your rent paid....what about the second house?
Could you claim for that because you were working away from home?
Jack Straw stands on his podium speaking to his international audience in Blackburn............I would do that every week.......for his expenses.
The economy is our exalted leaders pet subject....My view is...If he is so clever, why has he allowed this rip off to continue?
The Buck stops at the top.

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i honestly never knew anyone who didn't fiddle expenses, yet when its on a bigger scale, those same people get the hump.:rolleyes:

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We've all had a packet of fags out of the job............Here we are talking thousands.

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My grandad honestly never fiddled anything in business. In the sixties, pre-sliced bread days, he was paying super tax at 95%, and would never even think of putting through a receipt that wasn't legit, no matter how much my dad pleaded with him that everyone did it.

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its either fiddling or it aint,simple as.

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Thats what I used to preach...........I know you can't be happy with the current state of affairs with them thieving rats?

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i aint happy with it roy, at the same time its human nature to many,thats fact.

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It winds me up that they claim so much money when they are on great salaries!
People who earn far less are honest in their declarations they are just greedy and out for what they can get.

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if ya believe that Loz, the cow jumped over the moon...........Honest.:D

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I'd be happy to show what the public paid for given their position. Hiding it only leads to public distrust. Although there has to come a line that we don't cross, I don't think its important that we compare how much toilet roll MP's use or we'd get silly headlines comparing them.

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Hardly what is being compared here, we are talking about a hell of a lot of money!!!!

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Paper?

They probably just use a toothbrush, as their mouths are where a lot of them spew out their waste.;)

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Certainly huge amounts should be explained, but I just don't think it should go as far and tedious as toilet roll as I mentioned.

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Yet small businesses have to provide receipts for absolutely everything, and are still not allowed to claim for many of the things which mp's claim for!

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When I used to claim a mileage allowance for using my car visiting Soc Sec claimants - that mileage was sometimes checked by using a piece of string on a map!!!! - at 8p a mile there was a lot at stake :rolleyes:

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M.Ps aren't 'thieving rats'....they are parasites. They live high on the hog off our hard earned money. They lie, they cheat and yet they call one another 'The Honourable Member for.....'!
The country and its finances are in a real state and yet these folk think they can allow themselves another £40K per year from the pockets of the people.
They want shooting...except it would be a waste of lead.

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Nail hit right on the head! Karma sent.

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I don't think anyone would begrudge MPs any reasonable allowances for expenses, but what s going on at the momeant is just taking the p***. When you hear about our erstwhile Prime Minister, re-mortgaging his house for double or treble its value, then claiming the interest back of the tax payer is, to say the least a bit dodgy. If we did it the police would be very interested, but yet it appears that under the rules it was legit, in whic case we should all play by the same rules:rolleyes:

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They aren't going to be too worried about the price of staple foods jumping up in price..........and the amazing thing is no politician ever retires from politics as a poor man.
Now it is clear why......we are paying their everyday expenses.

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agree jaysay, but since when have the same rules applyed to any of em? why they are even allowed to smoke in the commons bar i believe.:rolleyes:

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No they can't, after it became public knowledge about that little loop hole, they had to change their minds on that one.

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Much in the same way they had a rethink onthe 10p tax booboo and are now thinking about the road fund licence:D:rolleyes:

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I worked alongside a Tameside M.P. (and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committe then) for 16 years, and must admit never saw any misuse of his expenses.

He would have to pay his Secretary (very well I imagine), use of the office within the business (albeit he had an interest). Stationery, computers and the travel to and from London ... at least once a week.

He also had to invest in a flat in London and look smart at all times.

Sure some do take advantage, but am fairly confident that this gentleman did not. Never took holidays abroad, and always worked extremely hard for his constituents.

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One rotten apple misuses the system, then they all wan't a bit of it.
Corruption needs to be nipped in the bud early, or it becomes part of the system.

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So that was ONE honourable MP.........I wonder if this is where the phrase 'exception tests the rule' comes in?

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Personally, I think their pay should be performance related....and on current performance we would all be due a hefty rebate!

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£175 per day adds up to £63,875 per year. Even if you take out weekends and holidays it still adds up to more than £23,000.

Guess which proposal they will vote for.

It is unlikely to be proposal 4 though.

The problem is that we want the people who make the rules to change them to their disadvantage. It’s just not going to happen.

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£175 per day what planet are these people living on? It is unbelievable. Agree with you BB an independent body should be brought in to sort it but then again it would probably be another fat cat so it would be pointless!!

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An independent body would cost another fortune, with the taxpayer footing the bill again, we have a FREE option to stop this, it is called 'get yer backsides to the polling station'. :eek::D

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Would it make any difference who is in power? I think not:(

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We should all read Animal Farm again just to remind us.

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I have to say that when Ken Hargreaves was Hyndburn MP I was very much involved with his work, I can say hand on heart Ken was as striaght as they come, if he'd have done anything untoward we would have known right away, he'd have been saything 4 hail mary's and 4 our father's:D
but seriously If I ever ran Ken anywhere on constituancy business I had to book down the exact mileage and date come what may

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That's how it should be:)

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I see two solutions , either bring in term limits , limit the time a person can spend as an MP ( two elections, 10 years, should be enough for anyone) , then get them back to the real world and reality .
Or limit the length of time Parliament sits every year , make it a part time job , it will get rid of the oppertunity of introducing useless leglislation, seems to me all Govts. do is keep passing laws saying NO to this and No to that , when was the last time a law was passed saying Yes to something,
Seem to remember the last time a law was abolished was the archaic requirement for young single male to practice archery for two hours every Sunday

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I don’t think that putting limits on term time would do anything to improve the government and reduce the self interest. What we need in government are specialists in the various fields. By that I mean that a Financial Director in a successful large business or an experienced accountant should be appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer. A senior Doctor/Matron as the Health Secretary and so on. Far too many MP’s are lawyers.
The MP’s are in effect the board of directors of UK Plc and as such they should work full time with no secondary jobs at all – not even for charities. No man/woman can serve two masters. We the electorate are, in theory, the masters.

MP’s should get the same holiday entitlement as say the medical profession or the ordinary factory or office worker.
What about yes to tax increases.
At last I don’t need to practice my archery skills any more.