First Snouter officially resigns - Ian Gibson

Ian Gibson has officially resigned by being appointed to be the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham.

He is the first snoughter to actually resign, despite the fact that there are much worse troughers than him stil in the Stys of Commons. A by-election in his constituency should be interesting but don't wait in bated breath for it to happen any time soon as Labour will no doubt delay it as long as possible.

The position of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds is now used as a procedural device to effect resignation from the House of Commons, as British MPs are not permitted simply to resign their seat. This legal anomaly dates back to a resolution of the House of Commons of 2 March 1624, passed at a time when MPs were often elected to serve against their will.
As an instrument of resignation, the role is usually alternated with that of Steward and Deputy Steward of the Manor of Northstead in Yorkshire. Under the Act of Settlement, any Member of Parliament accepting an office of profit under the Crown must give up his or her seat. An MP applies for the office to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who usually then signs a warrant appointing the now former MP. The Chancellor can in theory deny an application, although the last time this happened was to Viscount Chelsea in 1842. The appointee holds the office until such time as another MP is appointed, or they apply to be released.

David Marshall is the current holder of th Manor of Northstead, he resigned because of "ill health".

Three Hundreds of Chiltern - HM Treasury

Flipping Trougher Brown

How convenient the Telegraph has this to be buried tomorrow.

Mr Brown, who "flipped" the designation of his second home before moving into Downing Street, submitted an estimated electricity bill for his home in Fife which partly covered a period when his London flat was his designated second home.

He also claimed for council tax and service charge bills for his London flat which included periods when his second home was in Scotland.

In total, Mr Brown appeared to make claims totalling £512 for the "wrong" properties.

As the Telegraph says

It is a humiliating blow for the Prime Minister, who publicly rebuked Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, this week for doing a similar thing.

It would have been even more humiliating if had been released before the elections.


mps expenses: Gordon Brown billed taxpayer for two second homes - Telegraph

Another little Earner for MEP's

MEP's who "retire" or are voted out this Thursday along with those caught with their hands in the very deep pockets of European Expenses and the generalised fraud (anybody signed off their accounts recently?) that characterises the European Parliament can expect to pick up their share of various "pots" of money set aside to make sure that they continue traveling first class on the gravy train that is the EU.

As the Times explains

Den Dover, who was expelled from the Conservative Party for gross misconduct after claiming £500,000 in “unjustified expenses”, has a pension valued at £235,000 and will receive a “transitional allowance” of £59,367.

So after taking us for a cool half-million he still gets a nice pension and a tax free sum, whoever said crime doesn't pay never saw the workings of the European Parliament. Alongside him the Times reports we have

Tom Wise, the former UKIP MEP who faces trial for fraud and money-laundering related to his expenses, has a pension valued at £235,000 and will get a £32,382 transitional payment.

Another jolly into crime paying as long as it's in Europe.

Another (now former) UKIP member Ashley Mote who was jailed for six months has according to the Times

a pension worth £174,968 and will receive a transitional payment of £32,382

Not bad for spending much of his time lazing away inside one of our prisons.

In all British MEP's will share over £20 million in the European payout, true value for money. Unfortunately this may be the tip of the iceberg as in a previous story the Times highlighted that the

generous second pension scheme enjoyed by Members of the European Parliament is likely to be bailed out by the taxpayer after falling stock markets left it with a deficit of €120 million (£105 million).

The best bit is of course the fact that these amounts are for their "second" pensions over and above the standard pension.British MEPs already receive a main pension, which is the same as that for MPs at Westminster. This is worth up to two thirds of their £63,291 salary, depending on length of service.

This "second" pension is, and I loved this bit, paid from a 1/3 deduction from MEP's Ofiice Expenses. This allowance was about £45,000 per annum. The rest was paid for by the EU (Meaning us). MEPs are supposed to reimburse this account but there are no checks and it is accepted widely that many do not repay the money, potentially making the pension an entirely taxpayer-funded perk.

Yet another scandal that is so typical of the wastefulness that characterises the EU.

When you vote on Thursday vote Conservative and let this country have the referendum we were promised by the two other main parties in the UK.


Shamed MEPs take share of £20m payout - Times Online

Ed Balls and the Wreaths - A fat boy did it and ran away

Apparently the excuse for claiming for wreaths by Ed Balls is as follows

The claim for a wreath was submitted in error by a staff member, as part of reimbursement for the up front costs she paid for organising 2 veterans badge presentation ceremonies for constituents, including for room hire at Parkside Methodist Church & Wrenthorpe Village Hall. Ed paid for wreaths every year – in 2005/06/07 & 2008- & this claim should never have been submitted in 2007. As soon as it was brought to Ed’s attention by the Fees Office he immediately reimbursed the staff member personally as he has done every other year. No erroneous payment was made by the Fees Office.

So of course it's not his fault, he uses the Fat boy did it excuse and runs away from any responsibility. These are his expenses and he is responsible for them.

A Wreath of Shame for Ed Balls

Ed Balls horror at being told he had to pay for Wreaths

After the post I wrote on James Gray who claimed for wreaths on his expenses I see that that paragon of virtue Ed Balls has done exactly the same thing. Well he is also an a***hole of the largest variety. Let us hope the media go to town on him as well, though it looks like the Daily Telegraph are trying to hide this story for some reason.

I know that attending memorial services is something that many MP's have to do as part of their duties but claiming for wreaths is just not morally correct, it speaks of disrespect for the dead and for their friends and families.

MPs' expenses: Alistair Darling's claim for help with his tax return - Telegraph

Alistair Darling's Flipping Tax Returns

The next batch of details from the Daily Telegraph on how MP's spend our money focuses on the fact that nine members of the Cabinet used our money to have their tax returns filled in.

This is taking the proverbial. They have the cheek to steal our money, cheat on taxes by flipping and then get us to pay for filling in their crooked tax returns. You just couldn't make it up.

The Daily Telegraph tells us that ex-Trot and Public School Boy Alistair Darling the Labour Chancellor is such an incompetent at dealing with the likes of Taxes that he got the public to pay up more than £1,400 for accountancy bills in two years. This included the cost of receiving tax advice for “the treatment of rental expenses against income”. During 2007, Mr Darling rented out his London flat after becoming Chancellor and moving into a grace-and-favour apartment. Mr Darling is also one of the few MP's who has managed to flip four time in four years.

Of course it's all within the "rules" the rules, you'll remember, they themselves have set. Of course the reason they need to get accountants to do this for them is because of all the new Labour government’s taxation policies that have made the process so complicated that it is very hard for ordinary tax-payers to complete their returns without professional advice. Professional advice that ordinary punters cannot claim against expenses

Ministers who claimed to have their tax returns filled in included Hazel Blears, Geoff Hoon and Jacqui Smith, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, and Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary.


MPs' expenses: Alistair Darling's claim for help with his tax return - Telegraph

Nigel Farage 2 Million Expenses - UKIP Troughing

Nigel Farage, who is calling on voters to punish

"greedy Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MPs"

at the European elections on 4 June, boasted of his personal expenses haul at a meeting with foreign journalists in London last week. Asked how much expenses he had conned out of us, the public, in the last 10 years he replied

"It is a vast sum," Farage said. "I don't know what the total amount is but - oh lor - it must be pushing £2 million."

According to the article as Ukip circulated new party literature saying Westminster MPs had "ripped off taxpayers", Farage, who employs his wife to help run his office and pays her from his allowances, faced a backlash as opponents accused him of hypocrisy. Denis MacShane former Europe Minister suggested that Ukip's attempt to pose as more honourable on expenses than other parties had been exposed as shameless and hollow.

"Far from being the party of the little man in Europe, Nigel Farage's astounding £2m raid on the taxpayer shows he is up there with any other politician, happy to line his pockets with gold,"

he said..

Do read the rest of the article. And have a look at the libertas.eu video below on UKIP



Ukip leader boasts of his £2m in expenses Politics The Observer:

Malcolm Bruce and Expenses

Full expose in the Daily Telegraph of Malcolm Bruce's expenses.

As he says on his own web site with an April 2008 update date and justifying his expenses

These allowances have been established because MPs do work long hours, are away from home for four days a week for much of the year and travel extensively around their constituencies and between London and Westminster.To do this they need staff support, a place to stay in London and the means to rent and run an office in their constituency.

So why is he claiming for an office outside his own constituency?

I also assume that he won't be claiming so much this year since his wife is now one of my local councillors having managed to come in second best in an election recently.

As I said at the time

I do hope that Rosemary can juggle her family life, Office Manager job (As hubbies 30k Diary Secretary) and the work of a Councillor, or will being a Councillor be second best to helping her hubbie.

Also nice to see how he can claim for an MP's office in a village more than 30 minutes from the biggest town in his constituency and at least an hour from much of his constituency. The Daily Telegraph has this to say

Between April, 2006, and March, 2008, he was paid a total of nearly £3,100 towards the cost of electricity, heating and cleaning at his main home in the village of Torphins, just outside his constituency of Gordon. Over the same period, he received a total of £61,186 from the additional costs allowance (ACA) for his second home in London.

The Torphins claim was made despite Mr Bruce having a constituency office in Inverurie, about a 30-minute drive away, also funded by the taxpayer. The ACA claim included regular monthly spending of more than £300 on food, close to the maximum of £400. In one month, August, 2005, he successfully claimed £451 for food.

As I detailed before we have also seen the following from the Bruce's

I see our prospective Liberal Democrat Councillor Rosemary Bruce in the Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside by-election advertises herself as an Office Manager.

She is currently an office manager, but has previously worked in both training and hotel management

Strange. I thought she was the Diary Secretary for her Husband, Malcolm Bruce M.P. , at a cost of about £28,500 to us, the general public.

No mention of who she was an Office Manager for and the fact that the office was miles from the people he represents.

MPs' expenses: Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce claimed running costs for two homes - Telegraph

For Ducks Sake - This is Quackers

Not satisfied with Moats and Jacuzzi's we now have a Duck Island in amongst the gaggle. Not sure if it was decorative or like the picture one for shooting ducks from. In any case this is one MP whose Goose is well and truly cooked.

According to Sky news

The Gosport MP's expenses were among the latest to be published in The Daily Telegraph. His claims included £1,645 for a floating "duck island" for the garden pond at his Hampshire home, the paper said.

In a statement, the Conservative Party said: Sir Peter Viggers has confirmed that he will retire as MP for Gosport at the next election.He will do so at the direct request of David Cameron. Sir Peter is the third Tory MP to say he will step down over expenses claims after Douglas Hogg and Anthony Steen did the same.

He is expected to repay more than £10,000, the Telegraph said.

I await with bated breath the next item that MP's deem as absolutely necessary for their job.

Expenses: Conservative MP Sir Peter Viggers To Step Down At Next General Election Over Claims | Politics | Sky News

Really Deep Trough needed for this Snouter

I haven't commented much directly about expenses but this must take the biscuit for the depth of trough needed, in fact it must take a lorry load of Biscuits.

Government Chief Whip and Minister for the North East Nick Brown has managed to trough £18,800 worth of food in four years with no receipts. No wonder he looks like a Porker.

This must be one of the deepest troughs by any MP. I calculate that, as this is his second home, he probably spends about 150 days there a year which by my reckoning makes it over 30 quid a day on food. The troughs must also be expensive down there in Newcastle. I could live by myself for less than 10 quid a day shopping at M&S.

I won't go onto say what else he has claimed , no I will, according to The Daily Telegraph he was also said to be claiming regular £200 monthly bills for repairs and maintenance, plus £250 a month for cleaning, without any receipts. Amazing that, just under the limits for no receipts for MP's.

Never mind Nick says

"I am working flat out for the people that I represent and the politics that I believe in.

A true porky there.

Nick Brown defends expenses claims (From The Northern Echo)

UKIP and Expenses - True Troughing

I see the UKIP party seem to be the main beneficiaries of the expenses scandal when we look at the current polls for the coming European Elections on June 4th 2009.

Well how easily can the public can be deceived as the UKIP party has probably the worst record on expenses of all the parties involved in the European Elections, including one, Ashley Mote who was elected in 2004 for the UKIP party and then spent 6 months in prison after being found guilty of 21 charges of deception. Amazingly uder EU laws he was allowed to retain his MEP status.

They also have another MEP elected under the UKIP banner who has been charged with a number of cases of false accounting and money laundering.

Derek Frame, a reviewing lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime division, said:

“Following the publication of a news article in October 2005 relating to Mr Wise and Ms Jenkins, the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) began an investigation into Mr Wise’s use of allowances. Olaf subsequently passed the investigation to Bedfordshire Police Economic Crime Unit for investigation.

“These charges relate to alleged offences committed between October 2004 and September 2005. At the time Mr Wise was a MEP representing the United Kingdom Independence Party and Ms Jenkins was employed by him as a researcher.”

This is not a bad count for a party that only started out with 12 MEP's. Now two have had to leave because of the depth they had managed to get their snouts ito the EU trough.

MEP Tom Wise charged with fiddling accounts and money laundering - Times Online

Four UK Afghan deaths in one day

Four soldiers including a Gurkha were killed today in Afghanistan. The full horror of the stories is not apparent from the BBC article as in one case more than 30 Afghans were killed along with two soldiers. Let us hope that this is just a blip and their will be no more deaths, but with summer coming to the country it is likely that more Taliban will be active. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those killed serving their country.

Meanwhile back in the UK one MP has claimed expenses of £16.50 for a Memorial Wreath, the little piggies just can't stop feeding from the Trough.


BBC NEWS | UK | Four UK Afghan deaths in one day

MEP's Huge snouts in Huge Trough alert

Please watch this Video investigation about MEP's pay and allowances. It needs no explanation!


H/T The Brussels Journal.

Gordon Brown worse than IDS shocker.

After a bad weekend for the Tories, with Snouts in Trough alerts for 3 MEP's and the nannygate affair of Caroline Spelman, this week has got off to a rather better start for the Tories.

First we have tonights Dispatches programme on Channel 4 entitled "Gordon Brown: Where did it all go Wrong". This was illuminating in that in one hour I have never seen so many Political cock-ups or so many Cabinet Ministers ready to criticise a man who was their Messiah only one short year ago. Catch it again here shortly.

Second we have a Populus poll in the Times in which public support for Labour and Gordon Brown continues to plunge to new lows with the Prime Minister's leadership rating falling to a level even below that suffered by Iain Duncan Smith.

Labour’s rating has dropped by 4 points since early May to 25 per cent, with the Conservatives up 5 points to 45 per cent. This is by far the worst Labour position since 1997 and the best Tory one. The Liberal Democrats are up one point at 20 per cent.

The Tories may have more to think about with the vote on 42 days later this week which appears popular with the public but not so popular with a former Attorney General, The Lord Advocate of Scotland, Police Chiefs and MI5. However another vote on matters to do with changing Coroners and removal of juries from inquests may be just as hard to get past the commons.


Gordon Brown slides to lower poll rating than Iain Duncan Smith - Times Online

Prescott: A real Pig in his Sty

Nice to see that ever lovely character John Prescott has managed to cause such a mess in his grace and favour sty that it has cost us £3320 to clean up his filth.

If You or I the regular tax payer had done this to a rented property we would have been labeled as filthy chav scum, but in his world this would seem to be the norm.

As a regular mover from house to house in my younger days, I know the lengths that my family and that of my wife's would have taken when we moved house in the services to ensure that everything was left behind spick and span.

Eric Pickles, the Shadow Communities Secretary, said:

"John Prescott left behind a shambles in Whitehall. Now, we discover his grace and favour flat could have done with a liberal dose of Shake And Vac' and, as usual, he is expecting the long- suffering taxpayer to clean up after him.

"Serious questions must be asked about the growing cost of these luxury government flats left empty for long periods of time.

"And an answer is needed to one of the greatest political mysteries of all time: why does Gordon Brown's crony, Lord Malloch-Brown, need one?"

Prescott a true example of NuLab snouts in the trough.

3320 To Clean Prescotts Flat (from The Herald )

Large Snouts, Large troughs

Over at the EU I see there is a secret report of how deep some MEP's have managed to get their snouts into the ever-increasing trough of OUR money.

Apparently the MEP Mr Davies was allowed confidential access to the secret internal audit report and immediately reported it to the EU's anti-fraud squad for immediate action.
According to Mr Davies

"This report is dynamite - and makes the Derek Conway affair at Westminster look like small change,"

"When I looked at this report my first reaction was to laugh at the outrageous extent of the abuses.

"Then that feeling turned to anger and the realisation that the police or the anti-fraud people should be looking at this."

Every MEP is eligible for about £130,000 a year to pay for staff. One case has the whole allowance being used but no staff being employed. One MEP who has seen the report said that direct payments had been made to political parties by MEPs. There are apparently many cases of MEPs failing to make social security payments for alleged employees.

Franz Bruner, director general of Olaf, the EU's internal anti-fraud squad, said he was launching an inquiry and had demanded to see the audit report by the end of this week.

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Call for MEPs' cash fraud probe

Campbell warning on independence

I see Menzies Campbell has sort of said that the Lib Dems should not go into coalition with the SNP, if the SNP wish to retain their insistence on Independence.

Now I can't quite see the SNP wishing to drop that particular point as it is their main campaigning point.

However, he also put in a few get out clauses which is fairly typical of the Lib Dems, who appear to be able to move the goalposts at the drop of a thumb.

After the election when Labour has been properly buried the Lib Dems will do anything to try and stay in coalition, they won't worry too much about again being the whipping boys in any coalition, as long as they can get their snouts deeper into the Holyrood trough they will be happy.


BBC NEWS | Scotland | Campbell warning on independence