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About LinkBacksI like the idea of him being a closet gamer, firing up a bit of source before he goes to bed haha.
I like the idea of him being a closet gamer, firing up a bit of source before he goes to bed haha.
Our mp opened his books and his second home to the local rag last week (assuming he knew that was going to get published this week anyway).
MP Andy Reed gives Echo a tour of his London home - Loughborough Echo
Russ
Ive just checked our local mp and he claimed for a beer fridge!!! How cool is that
I've no intention of defending this or any other MP abusing the system but it's simply not true to say that in industry they'd have been sacked for behaviour like this.Originally Posted by mossj
One of the problems is that everyone talks about "MP's Expenses" and if you think of them like that then there is absolutely no justification for what people have done. They're actually called "allowances" and if you tell someone "you're ALLOWED to claim up to £23,000 per year; you just need some plausible receipts" then many people are going to claim that money.
It doesn't mean they're not greedy but it does meant that they're not stealing or committing fraud (in most cases!)
The allowances have been in place for decades (Margaret Thatcher increased the amounts which could be claimed but I think they were in place before that)
One of the most infuriating things is how little the press have commented on the whole thing previously. Yes, we never knew that people were claiming for duck houses and gaming computers but it's always been known that MPs could claim £23k per year (or whatever the amount was). Why was no-one saying "why do they need this money?" After all, lots of people commute huge distances per week or have to live away from home for part of the week - most of them get to cover basic costs for this so why should MPs be different!!
And while I'm on a rant, can I just talk about David Cameron? His constituency is in Abingdon, he lives in London which is less than 70 miles away and yet he couldn't possibly support the idea of hotel type accommodation for MPs because they must have family homes! He claims he "needs" to maintain 2 family homes so that the whole family can move between them. Well, very nice, but I don't see why we should pay for it!!
I think you'll find that Margaret Thatcher introduced the allowances scheme.
I can understand not wanting hotel-ish acommodation for those with families, but a reasonable compromise (at least to me) would be an MP's village of flats, in a block with a communal garden and so on. All the associated costs (gardeners, bins, security, phone lines, shared internet, etc) are amalgamated into one building, everybody gets a fair deal, and the taxpayer knows exactly what the true cost is.
I suggested a community facility for MPs to a friend who is a civil serpent ... and apparently it has been looked into a number of times but the problem was to do with trying to stop politics overflowing into the home ... the civil service do *not* want politicians talking too much between themselves when civil serpents are actually trying to run the country ...
I wasn't too sure if he was serious or not actually!
Toner cartridges, envelopes, rubber bands, secretarial services, the odd taxi, room hire for surgeries... all pretty boring.
My only query is why an MP who lives less than 40 miles from London needs to claim nearly £1400 a month mortgage costs on a second home
My MP has a very expensive PC, a £700 a year Maintance Agreement on it, which doesn't include home visits! What on earth does he get for £700 a year!!! You could buy a new flipping PC each year for less than that if you argue that its a vital tool for him so get a new PC with warranty each year for like £450 its still less than the £700. He also rents his Mobile Phone for about £45 a month, and still have a bill for calls from O2 ranging from £60 to £140 so surely a blackberry that he rents is free as his contract is a £50 a month!! Overall he does have very expensive claims, but too much is blanked outI do feel a letter to the local rag is in order, as an IT pro, I would love to make £700 a year for just being on the end of a phone and potentially doing nothing much and then still giving them a bill if I left my desk and went for an on-site visit!
My MP is a Conservative as well if were keeping tags on which party is the worst!
Yeah. I didn't mention the £140 - £250 a month mobile phone costs for my MP.My MP has a very expensive PC, a £700 a year Maintance Agreement on it, which doesn't include home visits! What on earth does he get for £700 a year!!! You could buy a new flipping PC each year for less than that if you argue that its a vital tool for him so get a new PC with warranty each year for like £450 its still less than the £700. He also rents his Mobile Phone for about £45 a month, and still have a bill for calls from O2 ranging from £60 to £140 so surely a blackberry that he rents is free as his contract is a £50 a month!! Overall he does have very expensive claims, but too much is blanked out
My MP is a Conservative as well if were keeping tags on which party is the worst!
£700 a year is a ridiculous amount for computer support. I can get server support for that!
I believe that the Olympic Village currently being built for the 2012 Olympics has been suggested as a London residence for MPs.
I forgot to add that he still has a quarterly BT Bill of around £120 each time, and then pays Tiscali £15 a month for ADSL and still paid Kingston Communications over £100 for a Dial Up Connection!?! I really don't get it. Is his second home in KCom land or what? Very strange, I do feel a letter will be written to the local rag when I get time.
My local MP is pretty clean. Kelvin hopkins. in the past 4 years, he claimed a total of £5000 (or around that figure)
Wow, Ian L-G came to £166k according to the BBC, for a single year...
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