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Best value for money? (MP content)
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LekuFree Member
Must be the MP who learnt to clean his own pool so no longer needing us to pay for it.
“The pool came with the house and I needed to know how to run it. Once I was shown that one time, there were no more claims. I take care of the pool myself. I believe this represents ‘value for money’ for the taxpayer”.
Wonder if he cleans his own arse or are we paying for someone to do that for him?
samuriFree Membernot my MP (Andy Burnham) for sure. He made a single expenses claim of 16.5k to renovate a flat that he had already recieved a a big hand out from the owners for moving out without question. Then he bought another flat in London and tried to submit the ENTIRE payment (£215,000) as an expenses claim. This was knocked back so he got a mortgage instead and got us all to pay that. The flat is his now, we paid for it but if he sells it he gets the money, and the suggestion is it’s worth around £240,000 now.
His first expenses claim? A 20 quid dressing gown from Ikea.
Slimey bastard.
mogrimFull MemberWonder if he cleans his own arse or are we paying for someone to do that for him?
You probably paid the first time, now he knows how to do it himself.
I like “Two Brains” Willets, who doesn’t know how to change a lightbulb.
Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition
Latest Singletrack VideosFresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...piedidiformaggioFree MemberA quick look at this article on the BBC News website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8044207.stm would indicate that last year we, the taxpayer, paid out a staggering £11,584,454 in 2nd Home Allowances. 😯
horaFree MemberThe whole issue comes back to them wanting to be paid circa 100k ‘inline with comparable council bosses’. Now my thinking is, YOU DONT HAVE TO TAKE THE JOB IF YOU THINK ITS TOO LOW PAID FOR YOU YOU SNIVELLING THIEVING ****.
binnersFull MemberSamuri. Having gone to school with your beloved MP, I can assure you that your description of him doesn’t even begin to do him justice
Every time I see his smug grinning face appears on the telly, the wife turns it off instinctively within a second, to try and delay the inevitable swearing and ranting.
willardFull MemberThe whole issue comes back to them wanting to be paid circa 100k ‘inline with comparable council bosses’
Strange that… I think the council bosses wanted more money so that they were in line with other, comparable civil servants, like MPs.
Last night’s local news had a great bit of local colour from Bedford or somewhere similar. One bloke interviewed told the reporter that “I work away from home and I don’t get paid all these expenses”
Good man.
SmeeFree MemberI have the misfortune to know a few MPs and I wouldn’t give them the steam off my shite never mind anything else.
kimbersFull Memberwow it seems the torry MPs really are a higher class of oinking greedy leeches
at least 4 claims for swimming pools, 1 for a helipad in the garden and one for cleaning the moat!!!!!
wtf is oliver cromwell when you need him
SandwichFull MemberBest news is HMRC are now looking at a tax claw-back! Tuning a piano doesn’t appear to be wholly and necessarily for carrying out ones employment duties. Who’d a thunk it?
jimsterFree MemberEven Tebbitt is putting the boot in.
I like his reference to the “welfare junkies”.
RudeBoyFree MemberMeanwhile, there are people who can’t get vital operations, because of a lack of money. There are schools under-resourced, and not enough police.
I don’t know why anyone is surprised that MPs are often greedy, self-serving scum, but some of the revelations of Tory MPs claims are just unbelievable. They earn how much, and claim for having a **** swimming pool cleaned? I pay less than that, for my gym/pool membership, for a year!
Scum. Utter, utter scum.
People are losing their jobs, their homes, their self-respect, whilst this lot, who have none of the latter anyway, seem to think it’s ok to leech off the state. They make dole-scroungers look like fine upstanding members of the community.
Thing is, this has gone on forever, pretty much; it’s just that Parliament protected it’s own. Hopefully, this will now lead to far greater transparency and openness, regarding just how much these bloodsuckers are screwing the nation for.
El-bentFree MemberTebbits only saying that to further his anti-euro point of view.
I find it amusing when we complain about MP’s. Its our previously total lack of interest in politics that creates the problems we have now.
If you were in their position, would you do what they did? Be honest now.
RudeBoyFree MemberIf you were in their position, would you do what they did? Be honest now.
No. You’re in a position of trust. You do not betray that trust, by scamming the system to this degree.
This is not someone doing a bit of work off-cards, to supplement their low income, or someone pinching a bit of printer paper from the office, to use at home; these are wealthy, educated people with more than enough to live on, lining their own pockets, and feathering their (second) nests in a luxurious manner.
Personally, I woon’t want to screw the system, when I know there are people who desperately need help from the State.
But then, I’m not a politician…
mtFree MemberI blaim Thatcha, just thought I’d get it in now. The scum we have as MP’s are reflection of the society that we now live in. They are normal people like the rest of us, greedy and when they think know one is looking getting a bit extra. I don’t like it but understand it’s human nature. Name and shame the lot of them I say. At least with a Tory you know it’s about getting it for yourself but with a Labour socialist, we’ll you should see better. Sack the lot of them. Does morality exist anymore in our society? “I have not broken the rules of the house” Ar$e.
uplinkFree MemberOne of the excuses when asked to explain a claim was “I didn’t expect them to pay it”
I suspect some [most] of them just claim for everything & see what they can get through.
That goes way beyond acceptable behavior
CaptJonFree MemberOne of the excuses when asked to explain a claim was “I didn’t expect them to pay it”
I suspect some [most] of them just claim for everything & see what they can get through.
That goes way beyond acceptable behavior
Pretty standard for most people who are entitled to expenses.
CoyoteFree Member“If you were in their position, would you do what they did? Be honest now.“
I’d be honest. Claim what I spend. It’s what I do in my current role.
El-bentFree MemberThe scum we have as MP’s are reflection of the society that we now live in.
What? You’d have us take a look at ourselves? Come on, we’ve got to find a scapegoat and quickly.
Labour socialist,
Those two mentioned in the same sentence=DOES NOT COMPUTE.
willardFull MemberAnd I have to point out that this whole thing is not about Tory or Labour or LibDem being worst (Labour is the biggest offender so far anyway), it’s about how pretty much all of the current crop of politicians have their snouts in the trough.
The fact that they are bleating about “within the rules” is carp. They had a hand in writing the rules, so it’s just another form of nest-lining.
terrahawkFree MemberIf I hear “it is within the rules” one more time I swear I’m going to hunt them down.
uplinkFree MemberPretty standard for most people who are entitled to expenses
Not for me it’s not & I suspect if I started making speculative claims my boss would have something to say on the matter
willardFull MemberWho, the MP that said it, any MP, or the person that says it (even if they are not an MP)?
snowslaveFull MemberAll the profiteering and disingenious claims for doing up flats and selling them at our expense, constant flipping around of where the 2nd home is designated etc is cynical exploitation, is clearly exploiting the system rather than genuinely covering costs, and would surely be treated as fraudulent behaviour at most companies and by the tax man – they should be prosecuted/sacked if they’ve been doing this stuff, just like anyone else would.
So no I wouldn’t do that cos I’d worry about losing my job and ending up in court as well as cos it’s wrong. But were I an MP, in a public high profile role, with knowledge that the press look out for this stuff as do my political opponents, I’d think it completely idiotic to try this stunt.
Cromwell & Guy Fawkes please….
JxLFree MemberI agree with somebody who said that this has happened because nobody gave a flying **** about politics before this, the good thing that came out of this mess is the public being more interested in what is going on.
Some MP’s were encouraged to make claims by the fees office to make up for their pay. While I think people who claimed on 3 houses are complete b******, it must have become a “normal” thing to do in their line of work. Kudos for those who did not misuse the system though.
kimbersFull Memberi think the daily mash nicely summed up the difference between the 2 major parties
“Labour MPs claiming for nice things from John Lewis that their parents could never afford, while the Tories are focused on maintaining large volumes of water in their back gardens.”
question is what will the lib dem expenses be for??
organic fair trade vegetable boxes?
JxLFree MemberI think this is just as bad as people claiming Rohloff hubs for CTW scheme, tax evasion or profiting, and most likely costing the country more than small claims made by MP’s (2nd houses and renovating put aside).
SmeeFree MemberThe thing that grates about this is not that they have topped up their earnings by claiming for this that and the next thing on expenses – we would all do that given the opportunity – it is the fact that they have well and truly ripped the arse out of it and taken the piss. If anyone took the piss to such an extent in the private sector they would have their P45 in the next post.
oldgitFree Member‘within the rules’ that they wrote. Just like ‘I was just obeying orders’
I still can’t quite understand the Luton MPs claim for a second home in Southampton. She lives and works in Luton, but her ‘partner’ lives in Southampton?
Surely that’s just tough is it not.
Just find another boyfriend/girlfriend.
Or do it in style and claim for your partners home in Monaco.kimbersFull MemberPortillo speaking on this week a while back said on his first day in the commons he was taken aside and explained that expenses were there to top up their salaries and if he didnt claim the full amount he would be letting the side down
gusamcFree Member“If you were in their position, would you do what they did? Be honest now.” and “Pretty standard for most people who are entitled to expenses.”
We’re not in their position, stick some of their claims on your tax form and see how generous HMRC are with the phrase ‘wholly, exclusively and necessarily’. Try getting a lanmower past your boss.
I’ve worked in US, Canada, France and various UK cities. I got hotels, travel and some meals. Note that HMRC allows me £5 per day unreceipted in UK and £10 per day abroad. I thought it was a bit tight but I certainly didn’t find it to hard to understand.
Best I ever got was US, company paid hotel, hire car and flights, I got 20USD per day (Mon Fri) unreceipted, not allowed to claim anything else, I was there for 3 months – 1 flight – ie out + back.
Quite how they can justify and ‘independent committee’ begars belief, we already have one – HMRC.
jimsterFree MemberHas anyone the power to dissolve Parliament?
What’s really p*ssing me off is the fact they say to us – tighten yer belts, it’s going to be a difficult couple of years – most of us will be lucky to get a pay rise this year, and those b**tards vote through their own pay rise and then claim for this that and the other because “they’re allowed to!!”
As for people not voting in elections – what’s that going to achieve?
kimbersFull Memberan labour peer getting back at an overpaid bbc news presenter
wait a minute we pay her salary too!!TandemJeremyFree MemberIts a problem with a self policing closed shop as parliament is. What was once considered poor form becomes expected and accepted. You start off with a justifiable expenses claim for rent for somewhere to lay your head in London and end up with the “flipping” of second home status to fiddle as far as you can.
Don’t forget by European standards are MPs are paid poorly.
I believe its now time for radical rethink on all this. Raise the salaries but stop all allowances except a rent allowance at market rates and capped for those who have to stay in London but do not own a second home there. No buying of second homes, no expenses for anything at all.
There was a similar scandal in the Scottish parliament over second homes. sorted out
“The parliament suffered its own spate of scandals over travel expenses and second-home claims, but was quick to implement far-reaching change. Not only did the parliament make details of every expenses claim accessible on its website, but the controversial system of paying MSPs’ mortgages was scrapped.
The taxpayer, from May 2011, will only foot the bill for rental or hotel bills when MSPs stay in Edinburgh.”
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2507208.0.westminster_asks_holyrood_for_expenses_advice.phpRudeBoyFree MemberHas anyone the power to dissolve Parliament?
Yes. The Queen.
Fat lot of good she’s doing. When this blows over, I propose we demand the dissolution of the Monarchy. Complete waste of time and money, if our ‘Head of State’ is powerless to actually keep Parliament under control.
kimbersFull Memberi dunno if the queen is in a position to criticise mps for claiming too much off the taxpayer
mtFree MemberI don’t like it at all and now understand and know what I suspected all along. Anyone that wants to be a politician of any party, should be banned from doing so. It’s greed and power for them. It’s time that we had a system similar to Jury service. You get called up for a given period, you and all the others then run the show. No parties no interest groups just interest in running an honest goverment and fair country. Another p;ig has just flown past the window.
LootenantFree MemberWhat would happen if we had a general election and no-one voted?
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