All parties were scrambling yesterday to prove their expenses were legitimate and those who hadn't yet published them were pledging to make them more transparent and open to public scrutiny.
SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon pledged her party will follow Holyrood's example and back every claim with a receipt. The party's manifesto commits its MEPs to publish a quarterly breakdown of all office, accommodation and travel costs and wants the same rules applied across the European Parliament.
SNP president and MEP Ian Hudghton said the new expenses regime would be online "within a day or two." So Ian, you have until Thursday to have them online.
How I wish my post was a little responsible for this welcome and more immediate action from the SNP but it wasn't of course. However, thankfully the SNP have wakened up to the fact that these details must be available before the Euro elections, making this step one which can only work in their favour.
http://www.dundeesnp.org/IanHudghton_Jan-May09.pdf
Source: The Herald
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16 comments:
A little more criticism of the EU would be welcome.
According to a story in this morning's Courier Ian Hudghton's expenses are now online, but I can't get the link provided in the article to work.
However, the article gives the impression that the expenses won't be broken down into much detail, thus they won't really tell us much.
The mortgage expenses being legit...that now takes the cake...While you're at it , I happen to like or have a penchant for Teacher's Scotch...is that a legit excpense too...?
SR,
Strasbourg is in the middle of nowhere and a pain to get to, The airport is all but derelict, no hotel facilities and a good 20km outside the city.
The centre itself is bonnie enough, but you can smell the corruption in the air.
I do hope my SNP buddies are behaving and not playing at 3 little piggies. Mind you the going rate is exactly that - driven by consumer demand.
Europe is rotten to the core look at what the Kinnocks have achieved - f*ck all but I bet they've plenty of expenses to show how "busy" they are.
We need Independence more than ever.
Crazy D
I can't get the Herald link to work Stuart. I did get dundeesnp but when I tried Ian Hudghton there's only his name on the page.
Haven't seen the Courier yet Stuart and I expect that gives the same link.
The Kinnocks are a prime example of all that is wrong with Europe CD.
I read somewhere David Cameron is intending to give us a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty now. That would be interesting.
Oh Teacher's Baron, now that's a whisky I haven't heard of for years. It was my Dad's favourite tipple but then Bells whisky overtook it in the taste war and now neither are in the top list.
Scunnert I would like that too. Too much propaganda about how good the EU is for us and not enough of a balanced debate.
Correct link to the Incredible Hudge's expenses:
http://www.dundeesnp.org/IanHudghton_Jan-May09.pdf
Thanks for that Calum. Obviously the papers got it wrong.
Didn't see the Herald article, but if it was the same dead link as the Courier one then perhaps it was the SNP's fault ;0)
Anyway, the Dundee SNP's website seems to have been updated to accomodate the (previously) dead link as will.
Stuart, Calum gave me the correct link and I put it as an update on the post.
Subrosa, thanks, I noticed that, but the link in the press now works as well - I suspect that when they became aware that the wrong link was in the press it was best to put the document under that link as well, since clearly it was easier to do that than get the Courier's corrected - indeed, that would have been impossible as regards the paper version.
I had a look at Hudghton's expenses. If that is a complete list then it is astonishingly modest, and makes it very difficult to explain his initial reluctance to publish. Of course individual items of expense if known might raise eyebrows, but given the overall low total I doubt that anyone would make a fuss. Even the daily subsistence allowance of about 300 Euros seems low if one presumes it includes hotel accommodation - surely it can't?
Mr Hudghton's expenses seem orders of magnitude away from the millions being raked in annually by the Kinnocks - I can't help feeling that something is wrong with this picture. Is the key in the title of the document: 'Staffing and Allowances Statement'? In other words, is this only one statement relating to staff expenses, not his own - these being on other statements which we are not being allowed to see?
My apologies if my doubts are unfounded - but of late it has become very difficult to trust career politicians.
Morning Vronsky. Calum would be the person to help I think. I was surprised there was no figure given for staffing and like you, the document was short as in one page.
As you say why did it take so long to scan one page? If he's acted quicker then he could have avoided the initial Courier article.
Calum doesn't really take me on, sr, for whatever reason. I don't take it personally - he publishes very few comments, and has a reputation for excluding them. Hey, it's his blog.
Ask around about this expenses 'revelation' - you're better connected than I am. I smell a rat, and (worryingly) I bet the Herald does too.
Would you ever have believed that there was a name with the letters 'dght' in the middle, in that order? That's damn' fishy, in itself.
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