Charles Clarke still wants a vote on the Kelly Report recommendations.
I am no longer surprised to read that a former Home Secretary and the current MP for Norwich South, Charles Clarke, wants to have a vote in the commons over the Kelly Report despite everything that's happened this year!
Even now, humiliated, shamed, dishonoured and hated by the general public, MPs feel that they should have the right to vote for the implementation of the Kelly Report recommendations. Farcically, Charles Clarke believes that " MPs should approve the Kelly recommendations as the basis for a new system and apologise for this whole episode. "
THE LAST 13 YEARS OF MP CORRUPTION UNDER A LABOUR GOVERNMENT CAN HARDLY BE CALLED AN " EPISODE "!
Mr Clarke, there's a VERY good reason that you're not being given the chance to vote on the recommendations, none of you can be trusted to be honourable and actually vote in the changes! You amazingly seem to believe that an apology for everything that's happened in the last few years will placate the masses and then everything will be tickety-boo again? The fact that MPs ( at the moment ) have gotten away with tax evasion and fraud amongst their many crimes that would otherwise have seem a member of the general public in prison, is both abhorrent and shameful to most honest, hard working people.
MPs have proved repeatedly that self regulation does not work in any way or form and that " trust, honour, morality and integrity " appear to be sadly lacking from the House of Commons.
All MPs have been tared with the same brush of corruption and greed, and even those that may have been genuinely working for the betterment of their constituents, are complicit in their actions by turning a blind eye to all those individuals who had their snouts deep in the trough for so long!
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Loading ...Labour adds another £40 billion burden for the British tax payer
Alistair Darling completely forgot to mention the fact that he would be forced to plough at least another £40 billion into RBS, Lloyds and Northern Rock in order to create 3 new banks, whilst singing his own praises on the politics show on Sunday morning. Nothing like transparency and openness!!!
Mind you, what's another £40 billion of tax payers money when you've already thrown £1.3 trillion at the problem!
He talked about our banks that " got far too exciting and too interesting with catastrophic consequences " ( roughly translated that means ' that the very lax and poor financial regulations that had been put in place by Gordon Brown to monitor and regulate banks were completely useless ') and then having " stabilised the system " ( roughly translated that means ' we'll throw as much public money into the bottomless financial pit ( £1.3 trillion at the moment and counting ) as we see necessary in the hope we might avoid a chronic depression in the UK ' ) he moved on to talking about "a safer more competitive banking system " ( roughly translated that means ' we've let the banks and financial institutions run amok unmonitored and unregulated, and we've now got to implement some proper regulative powers and far stricter business practice guidelines ' ).
He also forgot to mention that it was the EU that told the British government that they had to break up the banks to create a more competitive market under their strict state aid rules.
Alistair Darling is still living in an expenses induced fantasy world where all is bright and happy - he needs to get down to grass roots and speak to the man on the street to see what's really going on in the UK right now.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...There’s Nothing British about Nothing British is there?
I guess from my point of view, there's nothing more desperate ( and pathetically funny ) than a political party creating a splinter organisation to brow beat their competition ( the BNP ), rather than deal with their own serious problems! Welcome aboard the Nothing British about the BNP bus!
A a time when the public ( including me ) what to see action over MPs greed, corruption, fraud, tax evasion and amoral and unjust expense claims - the Tory party would rather focus on having a go at the BNP.
Please David Cameron, get your own house fully in order before you get a few of your " tory boys " on the BNP's case!
You're actually doing nothing to help your cause and moving the focus fully onto the BNP, and giving them far more media attention than they deserve. Wouldn't you rather tackle them head on in a debate with a battle of the minds? OBVIOUSLY NOT...!
I personally believe that the major parties are running scared. They've been in their ivory towers for too long, developing their property portfolios on the back of taxpayers money, squeezing every last penny they can each year from their expense accounts, avoiding Capital Gains Tax by consistently swapping their primary residence designation at every opportunity and relaxing on their ever increasing holidays ( now they have 144 days holiday a hear - nearly 5 months!!!!! WOW ).
They have COMPLETELY forgotten and abandoned the working man in the street, and that is what has driven him into the arms of the BNP, and they know it. They are SOLEY responsible for the rise of the BNP and if they'd done their jobs properly instead of focusing on personal gain, the country would be in a much better state and there would be far less unemployment and discontent.
On their website they say that " We believe in addressing the concerns of those people who feel alienated from their society by government failures on issues like immigration, Europe, religious extremism and job insecurity. This means campaigning for policies that work. "
Yet they mention nothing about honesty, integrity, accountability, professionalism - the key attributes that it seems most MPs are lacking! They don't mention the current government that's drowning in it's own quagmire of sleaze, greed, corruption and scandal.
I'd like to know how they're going to " address the concerns of those people who feel alienated from their society by government failures " by focusing on the BNP? They way they're going about things makes them no better than the BNP I'm afraid!!!
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Labour MPs whinging about their Parliamentary Rights.
MPs are attempting to legally block a police probe into their expenses. Scotland Yard have been warned that a police probe would breach their " right of parliamentary privilege ". ( Is that the privilege that specifies expense fraud, tax evasion and " flipping " to avoid paying Capital Gains Tax? )
Once again, it's Labour MPs attempting to avoid paying back money from amoral and excessive expense claims, by trying to utilise a potentially ancient loophole in parliamentary legislation. WHEN WILL THEY LEARN?
Gordon Brown and David Cameron should make it clear right now - if any MP refuses to pay back money for excessive expense claims after the Thomas Legg investigation, they should be removed as an MP and removed from that political party altogether!
This isn't about what the " rules and regulations " stated; this is about what is morally right and just for the tax payer and the public coffers. An independent inquiry has found that the expense system ( self-administered and self-regulated by the same corrupt MPs of course ) was fundamentally flawed and not " fit for purpose " - so just pay up and shut up!
Trying to use the same system that let you abuse public money and trust, is not going to allow you to wriggle your way out of paying back what you should never have been allowed in the first place.
All this comes on the same day that Sir Paul Stephenson ( head of Scotland Yard ) has warned that MORE MPs will face scrutiny over their expenses and that a number of MPs can expect to end up in court - that number may rise yet as investigations are still ongoing.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...What do they know?
Have you ever wanted to make a freedom of information request ( FOI ) and get answers to questions from your home address, but haven't done so, for fear of reprisals from the organisation you contact?
Well why not hop, skip and jump over to http://www.whatdotheyknow.com
You can create an account and make a FOI through their website for free without fear of reprisals or any negative outcome.
I have made a couple of requests for information to the HMRC ( Revenue and Customs ) and the House of Commons in relation to Mps expenses.
I will be making further requests to other organisations and will post the outcomes and responses to my questions when I get them!
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Peter Hain calls for Nick Griffin to be banned from Question Time.
Peter Hain, in his column in the guardian on Sunday ( 11th October 2009 ), tried to put forward reasons why he thought that Nick Griffin ( the Leader of the BNP ) shouldn't be allowed to appear on the BBC's Question Time.
He says, and I quote in the first paragraph: " It flies in the face of all the BBC's core values as the world's most respected broadcaster: to promote diversity in the UK, tolerance, fairness and our parliamentary democracy " when talking about the BBC letting Nick Griffin's party represent itself.
< shouting very loudly > Peter Hain, promoting " fairness and parliamentary democracy " is EXACTLY why the BBC have invited Nick Griffin onto Question Time! They have every right to be represented as a legitimate political party with elected representatives.
He goes on to say " In June, at the European election that triggered this BBC decision, many voted for the BNP as a protest against the mainstream parties at the height of the MPs' expenses scandal. "
Yes Peter Hain, you would be VERY familiar with the MPs expenses scandal and other serious improprieties, having to resign from the cabinet in the face of campaign donation irregularities in 2008!
I think to be honest, people would rather see a genuine and open racist being challenged in a debate, than a dishonest, untrustworthy and seriously amoral MP dancing his way round the questions of immigration, public finances, expenses and salaries for " fat cats "? I KNOW I WOULD!
If the day comes, when the current government can dictate which other political parties are allowed to appear/be represented in the media, that'll be the day that democracy dies and we lose the right to free speech.
I think that the current " main stream " political parties are scared of the BNP because they appeal to the lost and forgotten working classes that Labour left behind 12 years ago. They're all scared that the BNP MIGHT actually get more votes and gain popularity and eventually become a main stream party themselves!
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...MPs want more pay and increased holidays.
MPs are often demanding more pay for their work and this has been going on regularly through the Blair and Brown years.
It was only three years ago that MPs were demanding a 66% pay increase from their then £60,277 pa - Read more here ...
Then again a year later, MPs were asking for an increase to £100,000 for their annual salary - Read more here ...
Once again in 2008, they wanted to scrap the maximum £22,110pa 2nd home allowance and give themselves a £25,000 pay rise, which would have been a salary increase of 42%.
These attempts to MASSIVELY increase their salaries came in the same 3 year period that the police had to fight MPs and even go to court for a pay rise of 2.5% and ended up only being worth 1.9% after Jacqui Smith ( Porno movie and house flipping fame ) only backdated pay to December instead of September as originally expected.
PLUS . . . . I think that MPs seem to be forgetting their hugely extravagant annual holiday allowance. It breaks down as:
Xmas - December 18 until January 12 - 24 days
Parliament's half-term - 12 February until 23 February - 11 days
17 days at Easter
10 days for Whitsun
82 days over the summer
Frankly, I'm surprised they've got any time left to govern the country with 144 days or just about 5 months of annual holiday!!!
MPs need to remember, that's the reason they only get paid £65,000pa - they only work for half the year!
Do they only work half the year to give themselves time to develop their property portfolios at the tax payers expense?
Do they only work half the year as their excessive pay and perks mean that they don't have to worry about the other 5 months?
Do they only work half the year because they're working so hard for the public that 7 months work wears them out?
Do they only work half the year because most haven't got it in them to carry out a " proper full time job "?
Do they only work half the year so it gives them time to work for other companies and in other jobs?
Do they only work half the year because they set their own holidays and can get away with it?
YES TO ALL OF THE ABOVE
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...House of Lords not to be outdone by the Commons!
Millionaire peer and deputy speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Paul, is currently under investigation into his expense claims for his " designated home " ( The peer apparently named a one-bedroom flat at a three-star hotel in Chesterton, Oxfordshire, as his main address, despite it being occupied by one of his hotel managers ).
Despite insisting that he had followed the rules, he did admit to never actually sleeping there!
When challenged further about his home designation he stated - " I gave the flat as my address, because I have it as a place to stay. The question is, what are the rules? ". I guess to a mere layman such as myself, when having to declare your actual home as your primary residence, it would appear quite clear cut - not the case obviously when you're a multi-millionaire peer with a whole host of properties to pick from!
I guess it's lucky for Lord Paul that he's being investigated by the Clerk of the Parliaments, in his capacity as the House of Lords' accounting officer. Nothing like keeping it in the family - god forbid someone should actually request an independent investigation into expenses in an effort to clear away the stench or corruption and greed from the House of Lords.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Investigate your MPs expenses at the Guardian.
For those of you that would like to look at your local MPs expenses in more detail, visit the Guardian.
They have a detailed list of over 458,000 documents relating to expense claims by MPs.
It's worth a look if you're bored or at a loss for something to do - you never know what you might find!
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Recent Posts
- Ed Balls approach to ” light touch regulation “.
- Gordon Brown and his approach to ” light touch regulation “.
- Charles Clarke still wants a vote on the Kelly Report recommendations.
- Is there anything Gordon Brown hasn’t given away?
- Lloyds sells Halifax estate agency for £1
- Labour adds another £40 billion burden for the British tax payer
- Mervyn King, bank reform and £6bn bonuses
- Nick Griffin on Question Time with Jack Straw, Chris Huhne, Sayeeda Warsi and Bonnie Greer
- There’s Nothing British about Nothing British is there?
- Labour MPs whinging about their Parliamentary Rights.
- What do they know?
- Peter Hain calls for Nick Griffin to be banned from Question Time.
- MPs want more pay and increased holidays.
- House of Lords not to be outdone by the Commons!
- Just watched Harriet Harman on Straight Talk on BBC Parliament.
