Its the sort of thing you would expect of a Tory Government as they come to the end of their innings, many Labour MPs are remote from those who put then into power in 1997, as confirmed over the last few days, with a stream of brazen cabinet ministers and other Labour senior figures, blustering over the obscene expenses, telling us how they’ve apparently been filling their boots with our money, “in good faith” when really they mean in the “blind hope”, that they’d have been able to pervert the freedom of information act, and hide their corrupt practices.
Anyhow given the same opportunity who wouldn’t have had a punt on the property market, when financed by the Tax Payer or obtain luxury goods for free. Judging by some of the items claimed, it could be that some, were so greedy, that they’d go around, hovering up, any old receipt that came to hand, how else can you explain an MP claiming for a blimin Kit-Kat.
Still what’s a Kit-Kat worth, these days, well probably around 50-55p or roughly the same as the government is intending to increase a days pay for those unfortunate to earn the minimum wage, news much welcomed by the CBI although some of the more repulsive in the business community think £5.80 is too much.
Its a fact that many businesses are quite happy to have there staff costs, subsidised by taxpayers, without whom I doubt many employees could afford the basics of a home, food and fuel. Incredible as it seems, you wouldn’t have too go far, to find a recent prestige high tech, multi-million pound project, based on poverty pay and an exploitable foreign labour force, a key part of the business and for some reason not mentioned by the companies PR machine.
So where’s this leading, just to the conclusion, that Labour MPs’ and Ministers will be looking for jobs in the next year, and its clear that their only going to help those, who might help them, in the future with company directorships and the like.
You me and all the other worker ants will continue to subsidise bent bankers, industrialists, etc …. Oh and the extra pay those on minimum pay will be getting, around about 56p might just be taxed to pay for MPs Kit-Kats.
Its my opinion that many MPs haven’t been mistaken or acting in “good faith” but fraudulently filling their pockets at the expense of those who can least afford it. As far as I’m concerned this is biggest scandal I’ve heard in my fifty-two years.
Tony, I tend to agree with you. I remember Profumo/Keeler but that was an isolated case of poor judgement/lust; this present scandal is on the grand scale, has continued for years and very few MPs have kept out of it. John Profumo dedicated the rest of his life to the disadvantaged; I wonder how the present lot will pay off their debt to society?
ReplyDeleteEr not blimin many that's for sure
ReplyDeleteIn this present climate some of us have lost jobs and for the first time in years have had to sign on. If I or any of these people are over paid any benefit it is paid back by the benefit claimant.Why because it has come from the tax payer (including the 30 years I have paid)so what goes for one should also apply to the rest.
ReplyDeleteOne of the recurring conversations you overhear in the supermarkets, the street, is men particularly, talking about looking for work, asking for work those in the construction industry mentioning how little works about.
ReplyDeleteI just feel it a complete scandal that those who've worked all their lives paid taxes now have to compete with newly arrived people who have nothing invested in the country and worst still are the politicans who only look in the mirror to adjust their make up.
Anyway good luck to anyone searching or just getting by.
Trust in politics has been eroded so much over the last week that I knew we needed to act fast to start setting things right. I began by meeting individual members of the Shadow Cabinet. We went through those claims that have caused concern, and they agreed to pay them back. There is a genuine desire to recognise and respond to the public anger.
ReplyDeleteNext I met the Shadow Cabinet as a whole and told them the immediate action I'm going to ask all my MPs to take. All expenses must be published online; you can't 'flip' your second home to make more money; if you sell a home on which the taxpayer has been making mortgage interest payments, you have to pay Capital Gains Tax; and any claims on furniture, household goods, food - all those things we've read about - are banned.
After that I met the Executive of the 1922 Committee and then the whole of the Parliamentary Party. I went through the new rules in detail and told them about the key proposal for a Scrutiny Panel - including someone completely independent from the Party - to go over all excessive claims and see whether they need to be paid back. I had to be very clear about this: if they don't co-operate with the Scrutiny Panel, they can't continue to be Conservative MPs.
And it's not just those in Parliament who need to understand this mission. It's also those who aspire to be. Every single Conservative candidate has got to sign up to this new way of doing politics. They need to know that working in Parliament is a great privilege - one that must never be abused again.
All this is about being the change we seek. If we want responsibility in our society and thrift in our government, we've got to live by those values ourselves.
David Cameron MP
Oi! Cameron get your own blog site!
ReplyDelete