Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

It just goes on and on the bill for travel stands at £6.2 billion, where do these greedy sods get off spending public money like it is water???

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

Think the best one yet is that six Cabinet ministers employed accountants to advise on their expenses claims and paid for them on, yip you got it, on expenses:rolleyes:

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

This story will just run and run because it stirs up anger in each and every fair minded person in the country. People who have been placed in a position of public trust have been shown to abuse that trust. One of the things that annoys me most is the way public sector workers, especially the police and nurses, were being told that their independently recommended pay increases could not be implemented because the public purse could not afford it,,,,,,, whilethe very people who were telling them that were taking ludicrous amounts for themselves in what were at best extravagant and at worst fraudulent claims for expenses.

I worked for 30 years in the public sector, and misuse of public money for personal gain is deemed "gross misconduct" under the disciplinary system, punishable by instant dismissal and referral to the police.

If the MPs are treated in the same way as other public sector workers are treated, many of them will end up in jail.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Petunias - £500 worth - not like this one:D
BBC NEWS | Politics | Tory MP claimed £500 for petunias
YouTube - I'm a lonely little Petunia in an Onion patch

PS despite what you hear the singer is NOT Jonathan Woss

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Spot on..I can imagine in those 30 yrs you saw massive waste of public money and you will know it's nothing new!... I've seen the lot.. thousands spent just beacuse an MP was visiting for one day..thousands spent just to do a conference room up with champers and outragous buffets..even to the extent of having grapes cut in half..all on the public "purse"...but this sort of thing is not news.. it's been going on from the 80's...Maggie's boys were ******* but they did know how to spend our dosh!

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

And Gordon's ******* aren't doing a bad impression either:rolleyes:

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

.......and the reaction of MPs who have been "found out" is pathetic. They try and blame someone else, and offer to pay it back immediately. The country's prisons are full of people convicted of fraud who no doubt tried to say the same when they were caught.

One MP tried to blame an unfortunate error in his accounting procedures. One acknowledged that on reflection, the claim he had made would not stand up to public scrutiny. One supposedly eminent MP admitted his claim of several thousand for a TV was a bit daft.

All euphemisms for "It's a fair cop, guv!"

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

can anyone see the difference that would be seen - other than saving massive amounts of taxpayer's cash - should the House of Commons be shut down?

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

...and just have the House of Lords, you mean? :eek:

:D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Yeah......except choose 'em by lottery, just as the old Greeks did. Anyway, Lord Whatsit sounds a hell of a lot better than "Dishonourable Member"

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Personally I'd send the bulldozers to the Lords...to begin with.

Primarily to stop this thieving cow from submitting anymore claims.

Labour peer Baroness Uddin claims £100,000 expenses on empty flat - Times Online

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Unless its Lord Taylor of Blackburn that is Tealeaf:D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I am really trying not to be political, but the one today about the Tory M.P using allowances to build servant quarters is an absolute classic.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

You can say that again I've had nothing earache off the Downstairs Maid,Chauffeur,Seneschal.Fender Smith and Scutcher all day.
Just glad I got rid of the Searcher last week.
Nosey git.:hehetable

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

think this has to be the lowest claim so far , an MP claiming for the 'fiver' he put in a Church collection plate at a service for war veterans
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | MP 'claimed for church donation'

he says it was an honest mistake , if you can't be honest in Church it's time to put a shilling in the gas meter and turn off the pilot light :eek: :eek:

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Honest my rear end it was a blatent piece of subtifuge that might send him to hell. What next a claim for the price of an ice cream cone that his wife bought him.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Gordon Brown was just on The Andrew Marr Show. The Prime Minister sounded pragmatic and sincere about what will happen in the future of Britain. I know I'm probably in a minority of people (non-political people at least) who have confidence in the Prime Minister at the moment.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

How many other people received a personally addressed letter from Gordon Brown this week?

I know I'm not the only one, as my mother was sent one too.

He apologised on behalf of all the MPs caught up in the expenses fiddle, and was 'very, very sorry'.

I wonder who funded these doleful missivies, and if the costs were put on expenses?

I'm afraid the whole 'we're very sorry' doesn't wash with me at all.

They all knew the expenses system was flawed, and blocked every attempt for more transparency.

They're only sorry their grubbiness has been made public.

I'm afraid you wasted the cost of the stamp on my letter Gordon.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Its all right for you I didn't even get one from the snivelling little twerp:rolleyes:

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I don't know why I was targeted.

I've never given my details to any political party.

Perhaps he bought my details off the people responsible for distributing Peter Britcliffe's annual gift, those lovely calendars.

:D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I had a PB canvasser a few days ago.
I spoke to her in a few inches of gap (door chain on)
I said 'he will not get my vote'
She sweetly smiled and went away
I expected at least to be asked 'why not?', perhaps his own supporters think he is a lost cause too :)

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

You should have asked for identification.

Sounds like a hoax caller to me.

:D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I haven't.
Quite lucky around these parts actually - no canvassers ever, hardly any political literature jammed through the door, even the Jehovas have given up. Predictable parades or misanthropic mailboxes? Dunno. The peace is nice though. :D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Where are you registered to vote?

I think, quite wrongly, that the student vote isn't targeted, because the parties are confused as to where their vote will be cast.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

The homeland - Accrington North. Sadly, personal circumstances dictate that I take time out from student life. I'd agree with your point garinda. Though there are more than enough andrewb clones around on campuses (not meant as a dig mate, whether people choose to take it as an insult is beyond my control :D) for unofficial canvassing, encouraging the signing away of souls over 99p pints.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

We got one too....and to find out my sentiments about it, you can find them in my latest blog episode.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

I'm jealous Margaret, they didn't call on me, mind you the fact that I have a VOTE BRITCLIFFE poster in my window may just have given the game away:D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

Could be you were targeted because you sometimes give a sympathetic ear to their cause Rindi:rolleyes::D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Politics is about doing things....not 'sounding pragmatic and sincere'........to me it is too little and far to late.
This scandal has been rumbling on for weeks now.
Have any of these MP's been cuffed and thrown into the cells?
And why should they be allowed to stand down after the next election?
So that they can fill their boots at our expense.
Then when they do finally go, having relieved the tax payers of God only knows how much money, they are in line for re-settlement pay.....re-settlement pay ! Why should they need to be re-settled at our expense?
They already have homes that we have helped to pay for, pay the bills on and improve.
For Gods sake! What do these MP's do with their already very handsome salaries.

No I'm sorry, Gordon Brown can sound as sincere as he likes, but until I see some action, then I consider him to be a neglectful caretaker, unworthy of the office that he holds.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

:confused:

The point that I was making was that Mr Brown was talking about all the things that are being done, ie showing he is being pragmatic. The public are angry and want heads on pikes but due process must be followed. The 'want it right now, give it me right now, must have it right now' British ethic of late cannot be satisfied here.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Well if that is the point you were making, I missed it.
I will await his pragmatic actions.........and as far as 'wanting it right now'......that is not my view.......what I wanted was some visible accountablility, that would have been appropriate when this whole business kicked off.
I Don't think it should be accepted that if an MP pays back what should not have been taken in the first place, then it will all be alright, neither do I feel that Gordon Brown sending us letters to apologise for the fiasco makes it alright too.

As I said in a previous post, Gordon Brown is a neglectful leader, not fit for purpose or office.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

Which group, that have targeted me, with either letters or calendars?

Far from being sympathetic to the local Conservatives, or Gordon Brown, I've been highly critical of both.;)

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I'm with you on this one.

Actions speak louder than words.

Any half decent actor can pull off a show of pragmatism and sincerity.

To actually embody those two attributes is a different matter completely.

An embodiment Gordon Brown does not possess, in my opinion.

A mealy-mouthed apology, after the event of the matter going public, is neither sincere nor pragmatic.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Think there is quite a bit of 'Holier than Thou' and hypocrisy going on here... who can say that if given an expense account of a certain amount per year, would not rise to the full amount, whether you needed it or not ?

I think the excuse of 'within the rules' does hold some weight .... if I had put in a chitty for fags, quite sure the accountant would have had words with me and not paid it.

People who have not cheated on their expenses are very few and far between ('cept me of course ...always seemed to lose out :D ).

What director hasn't submitted their fuel/telephone bills to their company for payment, finding some lame excuse that it is required for business .... therefore cheating the VAT man.

Who hasn't paid a workman in cash, bought cheap fags, fiddled their benefits, etc.

Not many.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Kate I really don't know how you can think that the "within the rules" moan can ever be justified. MP's are on a more than decent wage as it is without screwing this country for every last penny they can get. I wonder if the country would be in such a bad way if they hadn't been allowed to claim all the extra billions which they have. Maybe our NHS could have benefitted a lot more if it weren't for their pure greed:mad:

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Katex, the difference, and there is one, is the scale of the fraud, and also that they are trying to wriggle out of their responsibilities.
When you are being paid from the public purse I think you have to be above suspicion.......and because it was 'within rules' doesn't give politicians carte blanche.......they are living high on the hog while their electorate struggle......and cocking a snook at the rest of us.
The only thing that these MP's are sorry about is that we, their employers, found out.
Don't forget that they tried their best to make sure that we didn't find out.
They are no better than the benefit fiddlers......at least when they are found out something is done about that fraud.

If businesses can have a framework that prevents/minimises expenses being claimed fraudulently, then surely it is not beyond the realms of the powers that be at Westminster.

It needs sorting, and sorting soon, because while all this has been going on the real work that should be being done at Westminster has been on hold.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Margaret, Business Directors/Owners are the worst .... firstly because they don't increase their salaries to pay for telephone/p.c's at home, etc, saving paying to the income tax man, and secondly, because the expense bills that are submitted to their business are VAT returnable. It's only the smaller employees that can't get away with it ... well, some do actually.

They also have good accountants that point them in the right direction.

Anyway, said my piece now ... know I will stand on my own on this. The M.P's have just been stupid in submitting receipts for items that would seem like extreme living to us, and using the expenses to the maximum ... there again, don't believe too much in martyrs who don't claim.

I don't think their salaries are enough anyway ... when you think Susan Boyle is still predicted to make £5 million still.

"He that is without sin amongst you, throw the first stone". Blooming hek, they have been Nori bricks ... :D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Kate, I accept what you are saying, but this is our money they are living on......and I would ask what on earth they do with that hefty salary.....seeing as some of them have been claiming for food and utilities........and the comparison to Susan Boyle is, I feel, irrelevant.......we can choose whether we pay to go and see Susan Boyle or any other performer for that matter.
Once these MP's are elected it seems like they can do what they like......we have no power over them until the next election comes along.
Accepting what they have done is almost saying it is alright.......and OK we may all have the stains of sin, but not in the context that these bunch of thieves has.

I'm sure that any business that doesn't have a robust framework for the claiming of expenses would not be in business for very long....and as far as employing accountants.......well didn't our esteemed Chancellor do just that?

Hand me another nori somebody.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

You're not on your own here Kate, I agree with you. I think most people would claim the maximum expenses in the same situation.

A scenario - you're allowed to claim up to £20k expenses per annum, the accountant says you can claim for more or less anything as long as you have a receipt, you find a reciept for carpeting the hall or for shopping and put it in, the accountant accepts it, you've done nothing wrong.

I think the problem here is that the rules are at fault in the first place. What worries me most now though is that an 'independent' body will be set up at tax payers expense, they will then decide the MPs expenses, but who will decide theirs?

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Yes, Gayle, the rules are wrong...but in the Green Book it is supposed to state that the expense has to be 'solely in the pursuit of the responsibilities as an MP'.
How on earth is a Duck House, Moat cleaning, hanging baskets etc etc relevant in relation to their duties at Westminster?
And what about the 'flipping' where they claim first for one house and then 'flip' to another so that they can claim for things on that house too.
It is indefensible. I have never had much trust in the people who run the country, but this has been the last straw.
Are there any poor ex-MP's?

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Margaret you forgot the couple both claiming the second home allowance, do they have a second home each? I agree that yes the rules were at fault but there can be no excuses for this people bleeding the country dry whilst a hell of a lot of the population are really struggling. It is disgusting!!!!

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

I think that point in question shows just where these rules are shown up for what they are, a married couple both claiming second home allowances is crass to say the least, the fact at MPs use these rules to claim is immaterial really, if under any rules people will claim what they are entitled whether it be as a business man or an MP, but in the MPs case they are using tax payers money, and quite clearly the rules as set down are way of beam

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

The expense system is flawed, and open to abuse, as we've witnessed, but let's not forget this is the system voted in place by the very politicans who have used it.

Let's also not forget that the majority of MPs have fought tooth and nail from their expenses being made public, under the ludicrous claim that it would be a threat to their security.

Some of what's gone on isn't just morally questionable, it's legally questionable fraud.

On the point that everyone would milk the system, given the flawed nature of the system, and human greed.

Some would, some wouldn't.

You can't put through an claim for 'integrity'.

Happily for me I know, and have known, many people who would never claim for anything they weren't entitled to, because they would consider it stealing.

If the system's flawed change it.

Don't apologise for it, after it's been made public.

There are still a few politicans who deserve the courtesy title 'The Right Honourable Member', and happily the MP for Hyndburn appears to be one of them.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

The only threat to their security, if their expenses were made public, would be that some would be tarred and feathered.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

I don't have a problem with anything you've said Rindi, no right minded person would, but as you say not all MPs should be tarred with the same brush there are still some honourable members, but I'm not sure how many

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

I heard yesterday that the Telegraph are only a third of the way through drip feeding the story.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

There are some poor Councillors though Margaret. I can speak with some authorty on that.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

This scandal has called into question the integrity of all MP's.......casting doubt on everyone.

The more we hear of it the worse it seems to get........all of these MP's who have been shown up as fraudulent claimers should be made by their own party leader to quit now.........this would force a number of By-Elections, giving the people the power to vote in someone who they feel can better represent them.......and if Gordon Brown is serious about changes to the constitution then he had better be quick and get them on the statute books, because I'm sure the majority of us doubt his veracity.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Bernard, that is another subject altogether.

Oh, I see now, you mean financially poor councillors.....I was on completely the wrong track there for a minute.

While I do not believe that politicians should become poorer as a result of the pursuit of their duties, I do not think that they should see the tax payer as a cash cow, and someone who will pay up to feather their nests.
I don't think they realise the level of unrest this situation has created, and that is because a lot of them are far removed from the realities that the rest of us grapple with on a daily basis.

They should be made to live on a basic pension, or invalidity benefit for a few weeks and then they would find it easy to live off their salaries.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

The irony is that journalists are the worst for fiddling expenses.

I don't see what is wrong about claiming for plasma tellies, gardening, cleaners and food (yes, allowed) etc., for their second home .. just that they were stupid in setting it against their 'main' home.

Still say, the majority of the public are not whiter than white, and have all cheated the system at some stage when given the chance, albeit in smaller ways.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I Don't disagree with a lot you say. Although I am sure you would agree it's not all M.Ps who have been abusing the system.

One of the most disturbing aspects is that some M.Ps who have clearly been abusing the system, don't accept that they might just have been doing something wrong.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Kate, the journalists are not paid out of the public purse and if they were caught they would at least be dealt with justly, by being deprived of their job....they would not be able to sit tight and wait for a golden goodbye and a fat pension.

I think I have said all that I can say on this subject, so I feel that I cannot post anything more salient to this thread.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

It never ceases to amaze me that because it was "within the rules" some people think it is alright. Sorry it is morally wrong IMHO!!!

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Well it seems to me that i don't need a set of rules to know what is right or wrong and if these people do then they should not be in the position that they are.:theband:

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Within the rules is why it is not fraud. Those who are outside the rules or who have submitted false expenses should be held accountable. The rules may not be right, that is the main issue I have with all this.

Just how much money are MP's on anyway?

Please don't bring the NHS into this. That monster will waste more money than all the MP's expenses put together.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I think you will find that some peoples wages are boosted by there expenses. That is the whole idea of it in some companies, mainly because they can claim VAT back and don't have to pay national insurance and pension contributions on the expenses.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Put me down as a not cheated my expenses please.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

That is the flip side of the scale as me comparing Susan Boyle's forecasted income to an M.P's (agree it was irrelevant)

Yes, they are living off the public purse ... gaining income that they are not paying Income Tax on e.g. blank taxi fare receipts is a common fiddle... double fraud, cheating the company, cheating the tax man ...... I've been offered these on many occasions.

Sure you are as pure as the driven snow Neil. :D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

No I am not ;) but I would not risk loosing my job for a few quid.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

Ya Rindi, but I don't know about you but its now getting boring now, in fact I just don't bother listened to the stories on the news anymore:(

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

I've always said that councillors earn every penny they get Bernard, irrespective of party, its the hardest job in the world working for the general public, because your damned if you do and damned if you don't

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

It is fraud if an MP deliberately falsified claims for money that had not been spent. One of the MPs submitted a bank statement saying that one of the transactions was a mortgage payment to a building society, when in fact it was a payment into a savings account.

If the rules allowed for extravagant expenditure to be paid for from the public purse, it is not fraud as such, but it raises a question of whether the spending was essential for the carrying out of the MPs work, or whether it was a benefit in kind that the MP should have declared for income tax. They may have opened themselves up to a charge of tax evasion.

It is the arrogant way that each MP who has been found out squirms with his answers to the TV interviewer. Bill Cash was excruciating.












I

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

just watched Paxman questioning William Hague about his friend..a tory MP that has been fiddling expenses and don't even live in this country...first time i've seen sweat drippin from his bald head..and he's only fourteen! great stuff :D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

here come the girls!


http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...ies140x130.jpg

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

A bit better than the big girls blouses that frequent Downing Street at the moment :D:p

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

Why the 3 Stooges can you not do better than that? :p

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

Looks like they're of on a shopping trip Spugs, bet they're looking for a new Plasma TV. and a couple of nice pictures for their London homes:rolleyes::rolleyes: :D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Greg Pope has published an apology in the Observer for buying items for his second home on his expenses account. He says he knew as soon as he made the purchases he shouldn't have put them through his expenses account and started the process to repay the money he had claimed. However he claims that he hasn't "broken any rules" but if he truly believes that is the case why apologise and arrange to pay the money ? I find this whole charade an insult to my intelligence!!! Am I alone in feeling this way?

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

No you're not.

I'd honestly have more respect for someone who had the balls to admit they had been sheep, who'd participated in a system they knew was flawed, but didn't technically break any of the self imposed rules, and weren't going to repay the damned money.

Why pay back any money now, only because the issue is in the public domain?

It's rather like Germans protesting after 1945, that they'd only been obeying orders.

Let's hope tomorrow's election results are the kick in the arse that many mainstream politicans need.

If after being elected by us, they then make laws and moralise to the general public, they'd better make sure they themselves are both moral, and live within the law.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Hyndburn Constituency.

Our M P has regrets over expenses. But it leaves questions unanswered; he moved his second home; second homes? He bought things for this move but did he walk out of the first second home with just his clothes and what happened to furnishing ‘left behind?’ Or where they left behind? Ebay? And how often are they ‘allowed’ to claim for such moves?

And with all the fuss about expenses why did he wait to explain about his expenses till; possible hoping against hope that as a back bencher his expenses would not be highlighted; and made his explanation needed?



And what about the Olympics? Will some M Ps rent out at vastly inflated rents these vitally necessary second homes and if so who will get the rents?

To be honest and to stay within the rules of decency that should go into the national purse and not into the coffers of the greedy.


If some ‘independent’ body sets the Pay and conditions for M Ps at an industry level then industry standards should also apply; the ability of the elector to remove; not after 2 - 3 – 4- years but at the time of any transgression or shift of allegiances from one party to another one.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I'm extremely disappointed in Greg. I thought him to be a man of integrity but it turns out he's just like all the others.

I don't particularly think that the claims that he put in were outrageous and they were certainly within the rules. What gets me is that he's probably known this would come out and instead of saying right at the beginning that he'd made these claims for expenses he's been saying that he would publish them some time before the official date in October. He should have just said right at the beginning - this is it, this is what I've done and sorry. Instead I think he hoped that it would all blow over his head because he's not a big fish and not affect him - tactical error there Greg.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

The whole thing would be laughable, if it wasn't so sleazy.

MPs are calling for the BBC to make public the salaries of all those in it's employ.

Strange they should be championing transparency now really, when the vast majority of the 'honourable' members in Westminster fought tooth and nail to prevent their own outgoings being made public.

Saying sorry, after you've been caught isn't very honourable, nor is the sudden interest in everything being laid open to public scrutiny, when they tried to prevent it for so long, when it came to their own expenses....and now we know why.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I doubt that there are any MP's that have not clamed one thing or another because the rules say they could do so... there is a difference and it's called taking the ****... claiming to have your lawn mowed or planting trees at your mansion is taking the pee... if you see the bloke next to you getting thousands in extra income by claiming within the rules then there ain't many people that would shun it.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

So claiming for a plasma screen tv and artwork for your second home is ok? I for one don't think so and just wonder why they thought it was even though there were "no rules broken". Maybe if all the money claimed for extras had been put into vital services the country might not be in as big a mess as it is!!!

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

this thread started with £10,000 offered to leak expenses... now whoever did supply the disc to the telegraph is "reported" to have sold it for up to 300,000...is he/she a hero?
no doubt it's a good thing this shambles was brought out into the open but has this person done for the good of the public?...or more for the dosh?

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Nah, doesn't wash.

I'll carry on milking the system (that we created, and tried to prevent everyone knowing the details about), because they're doing it too.

If I'm to elect someone to represent me, and for them to then vote on moral and legal issues on my behalf, I expect some degree of integrity, honesty, and at least an understanding of fair play.

Most of my political heros will be spinning in their graves at this shower of career charlatans.

...and by the way, claiming for expenses on mortgages that have been paid off, isn't 'playing within the rules'. It's fraud, and the police should be called to investigate, just as they would be if it had been one of us lesser mortals that had 'forgotten' we shouldn't be claiming money from the public purse for it.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

none of it's OK...but it's human..farmers get massive allowances to keep acres of fields unproductive rather than grow foodstuff..if your a farmer trying to produce and see your income lower than the farmer who can gain a nice income by doing nowt..you are either stupid or, in very few cases, a saint!

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

No, they too have no integrity.

If they had they'd have leaked the details for free.

At least we're not funding them though.

Still at least John Wick, ex SAS, and Conservative supporter, has shown typical Tory entrepreneurial skill by selling the secrets.

That's a free market economy.

He had a product, and someone wanted his product.

The fact that what he was selling didn't belong to him, as been going on for centuries.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Would imagine these farmers are being paid by some goverment agency and would not be allowed the privelege of "playing within the rules". Not making myself out to be a saint but what these MP's have done is beyond contempt whilst a lot of the population have really struggled over this winter with fuel price rises and suchlike. I wonder if I or you made a claim by mistake for benefits would we end up with no criminal record? We both know we wouldn't like we both know none of this would have come to light if not for the "Freedom Of Information Act" coming into being. There is no excuse for it, it is theft and from the very people who elected them:mad:

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

ah yes..but I don't suppose the greatest MP and leader of this country in wartime Winston Churchill paid for his own whiskey!..I wouldn't expect him too. seems to me that civil servants control expenses and if you get a job you are told what you can claim for and that is the bottom line..it does make MP's look stupid.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Winnie isn't one of my political heroes. So I don't care if he's spinning or not.;)

You're wrong.

It's MPs who control and set their expenses, and it was MPs who blocked every attempt for those expenses being made public.

Why?

Because they knew there'd be an angry public outcry.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Exactly.

Totally different scenario, as the farmers don't set and give out the subsidies.

That's done by those free loading politicans in Brussels.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

one of the few times I have to say get real.. even Blair tried to curtail the massive subsides given to farmers but was overuled by the EP Tory majority..Britian ,France And Germany spend much more on the upkeep of farmers than any expenses... the next Tory government will uphold this and make the cuts from one parent benefits, abolish tax credits, and cut NHS spending.(in my opinion)

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Blah, blah, blah.

As Bernadette pointed out, two totally different issues.

This whole shambles isn't really about actual amounts of money, it's about principles, or lack of them, and the gross hypocrisy of humbly apologising only after the facts have been made public.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

different issues but the same principle..honesty..dosh is paid out to unworthy causes in this country but is blamed on the poor in our communinty..and history shows the poor will pay and the rich will feel little hardship.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

You've got that spot on Rindi, the amount of money isn't the issue, its the principle that counts, doesn't matter if its a plasma TV or or cleaning your moat out or claiming £100,000 or £5 for a charity donation its wrong plain and simple

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

To me there is a difference when a millionaire expects the public to pay for the upkeep of his Castle!

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

So what your saying is its okay for a Labour MP to a buy plasma tv and artwork then Mancie, wrong is wong is wrong whichever slanted view you want to look at it

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I heard on the news today, confirmation that the MEP's expenses far outweigh, and are far less controlled than our local MP's, apparently, it costs around £364,000 to pay for one of our Mp's, including expenses, but costs around £1.8 million to keep an MEP! They get around £80k wages, £250 per day expenses whether they stay on the day or not, and can claim £350k expenses without showing a single receipt. The mind boggles!

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

It does make the mind boggle Derek...I can't get my head around why people support UKIP when their MP's are selected and given very well paid jobs...jobs they have no intention of doing..it's like paying a bloke £80k to sit at home moaning about the EU!..(and people do that for nowt on here):)

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

I can see the irony in the UKIP wanting MEP's but how else can they be heard about getting us out of Europe?

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

How it makes of your face a stonethat aches to weep, of your heart a fist,
clenched or thumping, sweating blood, of your tongue
an iron latch with no door. How it makes of your right hand
a gauntlet, a glove-puppet of the left, of your laugh
a dry leaf blowing in the wind, of your desert island discs
hiss hiss hiss, makes of the words on your lips dice
that can throw no six. How it takes the breath
away, the pi ss, makes of your kiss a dropped pound coin,
makes of your promises latin, gibberish, feedback, static,
of your hair a wig, of your gait a plankwalk. How it says this –
politics – to your education education education; shouts this –
Politics! – to your health and wealth; how it roars, to your
conscience moral compass truth, POLITICS POLITICS POLITICS.


Carol Ann Duffy (2009)

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

hope she aint a mate of yours shaker, that would send a glass eye to sleep.:D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

Do you mind cashy if I'm not mistaken she is the new poet laureate, not as I'm into poetry myself :D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

Hopefully her work might improve when she's received the first of her annual barrels of sherry from the Queen, in lieu of a wage for being Poet Laureate.

Judging that effort, she's only earned a very small glass of cooking sherry so far.

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MPs expenses
 

Or on the other hand could have drunk the lot all in one go Rindi:D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

And the snout dipping continues!

The TaxPayers' Alliance - Media Coverage: Perspicacious: MPs relax after expenses scandal … with South Pacific trip funded by taxpayer

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Did you ever think it wouldn't Wynonie:rolleyes:

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

Capitalism is dying because of greed.
The alternatives are communism and fascism.
Not much choice there - anyone for anarchy? :D

Re: £10,000 offered to leak MP's expenses
 

What with Margaret setting up an Anarchist Party, and Gayle getting a new dog. Exciting times in Ossy at the moment.