2084
12 years ago
Sailor Boys
Bullingdon Boys - Our "Betters"
Principal characters: Crooked MPs, politicians... too many to count.
No MP has ever been prosecuted for embezzelment... or ever will...
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London .A city without identity.A lost labyrinth of chaos, crime , corruption and indecision, the compressed population subjected to the most draconian laws since the Middle ages each myriad face surveyed constantly by 21 st century technology…Fear, apprehension and cameras stalk the streets …….the muttering retreats
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No MP has ever been prosecuted for embezzelment... or ever will...
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 |
| From Politics |
London .A city without identity.A lost labyrinth of chaos, crime , corruption and indecision, the compressed population subjected to the most draconian laws since the Middle ages each myriad face surveyed constantly by 21 st century technology…Fear, apprehension and cameras stalk the streets …….the muttering retreats
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Saturday, 9 May 2009
MPs' expenses: Tricks of the trade
A bewildering array of methods used by ministers and MPs to play the system and maximise their taxpayer-funded expenses have been uncovered by a Daily Telegraph investigation.
Some of the ruses push the rules on parliamentary allowances to the absolute limit, while others appear to ride roughshod over both the spirit and the letter of the strict guidelines — bordering on fraud.
Many of the apparent abuses would have remained secret because crucial information is to be deleted from five years’ worth of expenses receipts before they are published by Parliament in July. But uncensored copies of some receipts, that have been leaked to The Daily Telegraph, leave no doubt that many greedy MPs regard expenses as a perk to be exploited to the limit.
The most widespread abuses relate to the Additional Costs Allowance, which exists to reimburse MPs for the cost of running a second home, either in their constituency or in London.
Dozens of MPs switch their “second” home from London to their constituency, and sometimes back again, to enable them to carry out extensive renovations or buy household goods for both properties.
Although parliamentary rules state that a second home should be the one where an MP spends the least time, officials in the department that signs off expenses appear powerless to prevent members arbitrarily nominating different addresses at different times. Because all addresses are to be censored when the expenses claims are published, there would have been no way of knowing that such apparent abuses were going on.
Several ministers who have moved into grace-and-favour apartments in London — and who had previously claimed on private London homes — have suddenly decided that their “second” home is in their constituency, so that virtually all of their housing costs are met by the taxpayer. They include Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling and Geoff Hoon.
Some of the ruses push the rules on parliamentary allowances to the absolute limit, while others appear to ride roughshod over both the spirit and the letter of the strict guidelines — bordering on fraud.
Many of the apparent abuses would have remained secret because crucial information is to be deleted from five years’ worth of expenses receipts before they are published by Parliament in July. But uncensored copies of some receipts, that have been leaked to The Daily Telegraph, leave no doubt that many greedy MPs regard expenses as a perk to be exploited to the limit.
The most widespread abuses relate to the Additional Costs Allowance, which exists to reimburse MPs for the cost of running a second home, either in their constituency or in London.
Dozens of MPs switch their “second” home from London to their constituency, and sometimes back again, to enable them to carry out extensive renovations or buy household goods for both properties.
Although parliamentary rules state that a second home should be the one where an MP spends the least time, officials in the department that signs off expenses appear powerless to prevent members arbitrarily nominating different addresses at different times. Because all addresses are to be censored when the expenses claims are published, there would have been no way of knowing that such apparent abuses were going on.
Several ministers who have moved into grace-and-favour apartments in London — and who had previously claimed on private London homes — have suddenly decided that their “second” home is in their constituency, so that virtually all of their housing costs are met by the taxpayer. They include Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling and Geoff Hoon.
Darling's four 'second homes'
Nicholas Cecil
08.05.09
Chancellor Alistair Darling changed his "second home" four times while claiming tens of thousands of pounds in housing expenses.
MPs can bill the taxpayer for just over £24,000 a year to fund a "second home". Mr Darling originally declared his main residence as a small flat in Lambeth which he shared with Labour MP Lewis Moonie - who was later ennobled and is now one of the peers under investigation over claims of being willing to accept payments to facilitate changes in legislation.
Mr Darling rented a room from Lord Moonie and was able to claim the second home allowance on his Edinburgh constituency family property. But, in September 2005, he told the Commons authorities that his Edinburgh house was his main home and used the second home allowance to meet the costs of a flat near the Oval cricket ground. These included £2,260 on stamp duty; £1,238 for legal fees; £2,074 for furniture, including a £768 bed from M&S and purchases totalling £765 from Ikea; and £2,339 on carpeting
08.05.09
Chancellor Alistair Darling changed his "second home" four times while claiming tens of thousands of pounds in housing expenses.
MPs can bill the taxpayer for just over £24,000 a year to fund a "second home". Mr Darling originally declared his main residence as a small flat in Lambeth which he shared with Labour MP Lewis Moonie - who was later ennobled and is now one of the peers under investigation over claims of being willing to accept payments to facilitate changes in legislation.
Mr Darling rented a room from Lord Moonie and was able to claim the second home allowance on his Edinburgh constituency family property. But, in September 2005, he told the Commons authorities that his Edinburgh house was his main home and used the second home allowance to meet the costs of a flat near the Oval cricket ground. These included £2,260 on stamp duty; £1,238 for legal fees; £2,074 for furniture, including a £768 bed from M&S and purchases totalling £765 from Ikea; and £2,339 on carpeting
Jack Straw’s council tax dodge ... and Two Loos Prescott
Nicholas Cecil
08.05.09
Jack Straw charged the taxpayer for double the amount of council tax that he was actually paying for four years.
MPs' expenses: Jack Straw's confused claim:'Sorry for that ... accountancy does not appear to be my strongest suit,' wrote Mr Straw.
John Prescott's lavatory seat repairs, mock Tudor beams and £4,800pa for food
Nicholas Cecil
08.05.09
JOHN Prescott claimed thousands of pounds a year for food and had his lavatory seat repaired twice by the taxpayer.
The former deputy prime minister, who has revealed that he suffers from bulimia, put in a food bill for two years at the maximum annual level of £4,800.
He also used public funds to have mock Tudor beams attached to his eight-bedroom, turreted constituency home in Hull.
He declared this property as his second home as he lived in a grace-and-favour residence in Admiralty House - where he conducted his affair with his diary secretary Tracey Temple.
Mr Prescott claimed £4,800 for food in 2004/05 and 2006/07.
He put in a food bill for £3,200 for each of 2005/06 and 2007/08, but the amount paid out in the earlier year was cut back by Parliament being dissolved for the general election.
In December 2004, a plumber charged £210.79 to "refix WC seat" and for repairs to pipework and taps. Another bill was for £22.50 to "replace linkage between siphon and handle to WC".
The MP for Hull East appears to have had another problem with a lavatory at the constituency home, where he lives with his wife Pauline, about two years later. He claimed £112.52 for a repair bill which included "refit WC seat".
Other bills include £6,772.27 for repairs such as replacing sash windows and £312 to "supply and fix mock Tudor boards to apex of front gable", £2,076.83 for redecorating, partly for a downstairs lavatory, £658 for drain repairs, £580 for a saffron-coloured carpet and £2,479 for rewiring an extension/office area.
The taxpayer also paid £1,187 for the exterior of his house to be repainted in 2004/05, and £609.92 for white goods including an LG washing machine.
As deputy prime minister, Mr Prescott also had the use of the Dorneywood country residence. He paid a "peppercorn" rent for a two-bedroom flat in Clapham, owned by the RMT union.
After losing his grace-and-favour residence in 2007/08, Mr Prescott changed his "second home" to a flat on Albert Embankment that he purchased with a mortgage of £667,737.
He subsequently claimed £19,225 in mortgage interest payments, an expense he had not been charging on his Hull property.
Mr Prescott said: "Every expense was entirely consistent within the rules of the House of Commons."
Unfortunately, he did forget to mention the expenses of his alternate sex life i.e. secretaries looking for higher positions, being wined and dined at discreet, lavish hotels and cruises on the
Queen Mary where he was not only drunk and disorderly but chasing women when he was sober or slightly so.
Other times he could be found asleep and snoring in the lounge (first class)
08.05.09
Jack Straw charged the taxpayer for double the amount of council tax that he was actually paying for four years.
MPs' expenses: Jack Straw's confused claim:'Sorry for that ... accountancy does not appear to be my strongest suit,' wrote Mr Straw.
John Prescott's lavatory seat repairs, mock Tudor beams and £4,800pa for food
Nicholas Cecil
08.05.09
JOHN Prescott claimed thousands of pounds a year for food and had his lavatory seat repaired twice by the taxpayer.
The former deputy prime minister, who has revealed that he suffers from bulimia, put in a food bill for two years at the maximum annual level of £4,800.
He also used public funds to have mock Tudor beams attached to his eight-bedroom, turreted constituency home in Hull.
He declared this property as his second home as he lived in a grace-and-favour residence in Admiralty House - where he conducted his affair with his diary secretary Tracey Temple.
Mr Prescott claimed £4,800 for food in 2004/05 and 2006/07.
He put in a food bill for £3,200 for each of 2005/06 and 2007/08, but the amount paid out in the earlier year was cut back by Parliament being dissolved for the general election.
In December 2004, a plumber charged £210.79 to "refix WC seat" and for repairs to pipework and taps. Another bill was for £22.50 to "replace linkage between siphon and handle to WC".
The MP for Hull East appears to have had another problem with a lavatory at the constituency home, where he lives with his wife Pauline, about two years later. He claimed £112.52 for a repair bill which included "refit WC seat".
Other bills include £6,772.27 for repairs such as replacing sash windows and £312 to "supply and fix mock Tudor boards to apex of front gable", £2,076.83 for redecorating, partly for a downstairs lavatory, £658 for drain repairs, £580 for a saffron-coloured carpet and £2,479 for rewiring an extension/office area.
The taxpayer also paid £1,187 for the exterior of his house to be repainted in 2004/05, and £609.92 for white goods including an LG washing machine.
As deputy prime minister, Mr Prescott also had the use of the Dorneywood country residence. He paid a "peppercorn" rent for a two-bedroom flat in Clapham, owned by the RMT union.
After losing his grace-and-favour residence in 2007/08, Mr Prescott changed his "second home" to a flat on Albert Embankment that he purchased with a mortgage of £667,737.
He subsequently claimed £19,225 in mortgage interest payments, an expense he had not been charging on his Hull property.
Mr Prescott said: "Every expense was entirely consistent within the rules of the House of Commons."
Unfortunately, he did forget to mention the expenses of his alternate sex life i.e. secretaries looking for higher positions, being wined and dined at discreet, lavish hotels and cruises on the
Queen Mary where he was not only drunk and disorderly but chasing women when he was sober or slightly so.
Other times he could be found asleep and snoring in the lounge (first class)
Mandelson blasts press for smearing MPs with ‘stolen’ files
Joe Murphy, The Telegraph
08.05.09
Lord Mandelson today led senior Labour figures in blaming the press for “smearing” politicians.
The Business Secretary, whose career has been dogged by rows over his personal finances, claimed that revelations in the Daily Telegraph today “besmirched” parliamentarians by portraying innocent claims for necessary expenses as greed.
He said: “When you see something like this in a paper like the Telegraph you can react with sort of boiling anger at the attempt to smear or traduce half the Cabinet, and you should rail at what motivates a Tory-supporting paper to mount an operation like this.
“Or you take it more philosophically, you accept that this is what passes for modern journalism — you don't allow yourself to be diverted from it as a minister and you get on with your day job, and that's what I intend to do.”
Lord Mandelson claimed there was not a “scintilla of evidence” to show any Cabinet ministers had done anything wrong. He added: “They are besmirching politicians.”
Former home secretary Charles Clarke accused the newspaper of using “stolen information to attack and discredit Parliament”. However, freedom of information campaigners pointed out that many details would never have come to light had the Telegraph not obtained the unedited files.
Among the issues that would have been kept secret were the payments totalling £6,577 from Gordon Brown to his brother Andrew for a cleaner.
The leaked records show that Andrew Brown's name was to have been blacked out in the officially published version, concealing the financial relationship from the public.
Sir Stuart Bell, who sits on the House of Commons Commission, called the newspaper's revelations chequebook journalism. He said: “It undermines the very basis of our democracy and is against all the rules of fair play, and rewards thieves or leakers.”
He continued: “If this was received by unauthorised means, it is disgraceful that a national newspaper should stoop so low as to buy information which will be in the public domain in July.” The Telegraph refused to discuss its source but The Times recently confirmed that it was offered computer discs containing scanned receipts and full expenses records over five years for £300,000.
Several media organisations appear to have rejected the disc but it is likely to have been the source of the recent revelations about Jacqui Smith claiming for her husband's television viewing, which included adult movies.
Suspicions at Westminster are that an individual at an outside company employed by the Commons to process the receipts took the opportunity to make an illicit copy. Andrew Porter, the Telegraph's political editor, insisted: “There's an element to this that is most definitely in the public interest.”
He was backed by the Taxpayers Alliance pressure group which said the revelations were important and illuminating.
The Times account said the discs were being hawked by a City-based businessman. It added: “When he made clear that he was expecting money, The Times turned down the offer.”
The so-called Lord Mandelson has forgotten his property manipulations and other devious maneuvers. He is now whiter than white (we are aware this is not politically correct) the man is a crook, probably one of the top in the hierarchy and is naive enough to think that the beaten, ostracized remnants of the white English are going to forget by the pressure of existence under people such as him and his cohorts, for him to resort to criticizing The Telegraph for daring to speak the truth tells a lot about the philandering corrupt deviates in control of the country
08.05.09
Lord Mandelson today led senior Labour figures in blaming the press for “smearing” politicians.
The Business Secretary, whose career has been dogged by rows over his personal finances, claimed that revelations in the Daily Telegraph today “besmirched” parliamentarians by portraying innocent claims for necessary expenses as greed.
He said: “When you see something like this in a paper like the Telegraph you can react with sort of boiling anger at the attempt to smear or traduce half the Cabinet, and you should rail at what motivates a Tory-supporting paper to mount an operation like this.
“Or you take it more philosophically, you accept that this is what passes for modern journalism — you don't allow yourself to be diverted from it as a minister and you get on with your day job, and that's what I intend to do.”
Lord Mandelson claimed there was not a “scintilla of evidence” to show any Cabinet ministers had done anything wrong. He added: “They are besmirching politicians.”
Former home secretary Charles Clarke accused the newspaper of using “stolen information to attack and discredit Parliament”. However, freedom of information campaigners pointed out that many details would never have come to light had the Telegraph not obtained the unedited files.
Among the issues that would have been kept secret were the payments totalling £6,577 from Gordon Brown to his brother Andrew for a cleaner.
The leaked records show that Andrew Brown's name was to have been blacked out in the officially published version, concealing the financial relationship from the public.
Sir Stuart Bell, who sits on the House of Commons Commission, called the newspaper's revelations chequebook journalism. He said: “It undermines the very basis of our democracy and is against all the rules of fair play, and rewards thieves or leakers.”
He continued: “If this was received by unauthorised means, it is disgraceful that a national newspaper should stoop so low as to buy information which will be in the public domain in July.” The Telegraph refused to discuss its source but The Times recently confirmed that it was offered computer discs containing scanned receipts and full expenses records over five years for £300,000.
Several media organisations appear to have rejected the disc but it is likely to have been the source of the recent revelations about Jacqui Smith claiming for her husband's television viewing, which included adult movies.
Suspicions at Westminster are that an individual at an outside company employed by the Commons to process the receipts took the opportunity to make an illicit copy. Andrew Porter, the Telegraph's political editor, insisted: “There's an element to this that is most definitely in the public interest.”
He was backed by the Taxpayers Alliance pressure group which said the revelations were important and illuminating.
The Times account said the discs were being hawked by a City-based businessman. It added: “When he made clear that he was expecting money, The Times turned down the offer.”
The so-called Lord Mandelson has forgotten his property manipulations and other devious maneuvers. He is now whiter than white (we are aware this is not politically correct) the man is a crook, probably one of the top in the hierarchy and is naive enough to think that the beaten, ostracized remnants of the white English are going to forget by the pressure of existence under people such as him and his cohorts, for him to resort to criticizing The Telegraph for daring to speak the truth tells a lot about the philandering corrupt deviates in control of the country
MPs' expenses: Pay for my flat or I'm facing divorce, pleaded Andy Burnham
By Ian Drury and Tom Kelly,Daily Mail
Last updated at 1:50 AM on 09th May 2009
Andy Burnham spent eight months pleading with officials to be granted a disputed expenses claim for £16,500 spent buying and decorating a new London flat.
The Culture Secretary even joked in 2005 that he 'might be in line for a divorce' unless the Commons authorities paid him the money within a few days.
The Fees Office finally agreed to hand over the cash after rejecting the claim three times.
Last updated at 1:50 AM on 09th May 2009
Andy Burnham spent eight months pleading with officials to be granted a disputed expenses claim for £16,500 spent buying and decorating a new London flat.
The Culture Secretary even joked in 2005 that he 'might be in line for a divorce' unless the Commons authorities paid him the money within a few days.
The Fees Office finally agreed to hand over the cash after rejecting the claim three times.
What a lovely couple (of crooks) ! I would be afraid to wake up next to her, as Tony Bair and the other idiot, Darling!
Cameron's ally Greg Barker rakes in £320,000 in two years
Ian Drury, Daily Mail
Last updated at 9:45 AM on 09th May 2009
One of David Cameron's most trusted allies was last night embroiled in the MPs' expenses scandal.
Greg Barker, Conservative climate change minister, made £320,000 in two years by exploiting his generous taxpayer-funded allowances.
The multi-millionaire, who made the money buying and selling a flat in one of London's most prestigious streets, is the first senior Tory to become caught up in the allowances scandal
Last updated at 9:45 AM on 09th May 2009
One of David Cameron's most trusted allies was last night embroiled in the MPs' expenses scandal.
Greg Barker, Conservative climate change minister, made £320,000 in two years by exploiting his generous taxpayer-funded allowances.
The multi-millionaire, who made the money buying and selling a flat in one of London's most prestigious streets, is the first senior Tory to become caught up in the allowances scandal
Police called in over leaks as more MPs accused
The Times
May 8th, 2009
Last month a businessman was offering scans of all MPs’ receipts dating back to 2004 to various newspapers for £300,000. The Times turned down the offer.
A new wave of ministers and the first Tory were facing questions last night after fresh revelations in The Daily Telegraph. Among them were Barbara Follett, the Tourism Minister, who claimed over £25,000 for security patrols around her Soho home. Phil Hope, the Social Care Minister, spent £37,000 refurbishing his flat, including a £120 barbecue. Greg Barker, the Shadow Climate Change Minister, was alleged to have made £320,000 after buying a flat with taxpayers’ help and selling it 27 months later.
The revelations capped another torrid day for the Government and laid bare how some ministers changed the location of their “second home” to secure maximum financial advantage. Gordon Brown again demanded an overhaul of MPs’ expenses. No 10 pointedly refused to say that all Cabinet members had acted with integrity.
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, appeared to criticise some colleagues when he said: “I think it’s reasonable that you make clear what your main home or your secondary home is and you stick to it.”
Police revealed that they had received a complaint from an unnamed MP about the conduct of Tony Mc-Nulty, the Employment Minister, who claimed about £60,000 for the house where his parents lived.
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Labour peer Baroness Uddin claims £100,000 expenses on empty flat
The baroness, who became Britain?s first Muslim woman peer in 1998, has lived with her family in a house in Wapping, east London, since the early 1990s
A LABOUR peer who lives in the East End of London has claimed about £100,000 in parliamentary expenses on a flat in Kent that neighbours say has been unoccupied for years.
Baroness Uddin, who worked closely with Tony and Cherie Blair, has been claiming allowances intended for peers living outside London although she resides only four miles from the Lords.
Inquiries by The Sunday Times have established that the baroness bought a two-bedroom flat in Maidstone in 2005 and has named it as her main home to claim almost £30,000 a year in accommodation expenses from the House of Lords.
Residents from the five other flats in the same block as Uddin’s property all say they have never seen her there. They could see through the windows that the bedrooms were unfurnished.
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