A Good Weekend For Burying Bad News

As the furore about the behaviour of one over-privileged citizen continues unabated, the self-promoting John Bercow has asked MPs, Lords and civil servants to explore a refit of the Palace of Westminster.

As Speaker he chairs the House of Commons Commission which oversees the day to day running of the Westminster Parliament.

The refit is estimated to cost £3 billion and those supporting the move say it is needed to avoid paying a further £7 billion over the next 30 years.  I'm with Tris on this.  I believe there are plenty empty buildings in London which could be adapted to meet the needs of our elected representatives.  However there is an important aspect of this which must be recognised.  Why has such a historic building been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair?  It would seem it's more important for MPs to have highly subsidised food and drink than a safe environment in which to work.

Buried in the depths of the Mail is a story which ought to boil the blood of every voter.  When the Coalition took office one of the first promises was for early legislation to give the public the power to force by-elections to oust errant MPs.

Quietly the proposals were consigned to a draft Bill and they were not included in the current programme of measures to become law. Recently ministers altered the proposals to 'giving the power to initiate the by-election petition process to a parliamentary committee at Westminster - not to voters'.

Tory MP Zac Goldsmith is suggesting David Cameron and Nick Clegg are preparing to drop the plans altogether.

Aye, a Bank Holiday weekend is always a good weekend for burying bad news.

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Time To Do The Honorable Thing Eric

Eric Joyce, currently the ex-Labour MO for Falkirk, was ordered to wear an electronic tag after being convicted of assaulting politicians in a House of Commons bar.

On 4 July he fancied taking part in a Commons versus Lords charity boat race on the Thames and decided to cut off his tag to 'avoid negative publicity'.

Removing the tag triggered an electronic buzzer and he was contacted by the security firm Serco, who are responsible for supervising tag wearers.

According to the Scotsman, Joyce's lawyer said the bulky nature of the tag would make it difficult to for him to row so he removed it.

Joyce was fined £600 for the offence.

“It’s quite a stiff penalty, but I’m an MP and it’s perhaps an attempt to persuade others not to do the same.

“The event was very high- profile and for charity. I didn’t want to overshadow the charity’s work,” he added. “If I turned up wearing my tag, that’s what all the papers focus would be on. Me and not the charity.

“I made the decision to cut it off. If I’d knew it was a breach at the time, I wouldn’t have done it. (source)

I've seen a tag and it can easily be covered by a sock if the wearer wishes to distract attention from it.

Eric, I think your years within the Westminster bubble have distorted your thinking.  The papers wouldn't have been interested in your tag-wearing leg because they know the public wouldn't have the slightest interest.

According to the Sun, Mr Joyce said he didn't realise it was an offence to remove the tag.  Really? I do find that very, very hard to believe.

It's long past time legislation was introduced so as MPs who break the law and are convicted are automatically sacked.  It would happen to most other working people.  The good people deserve an MP of integrity and with common sense.  At present their representative has neither.

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Re-Joyce

Found guilty of four counts of common assault at Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday, Eric Joyce said he was now 'deeply apologetic'.

"Clearly it's a matter of considerable personal shame," said the Falkirk MP outside the court after the chief magistrate fined him £3,000 and ordered him to pay £1.400 to his victims after he entered guilty pleas.  He was also given a 12 month community order - banning him from entering pubs and licenced premises for three months - and imposed with a curfew from Friday to Sunday.

The Labour MP has been suspended from the Labour party and the process has started for his expulsion from the party.

Where does this leave his constituents now that Eric Joyce has declared he will stand down in 2015. That's over 3 years he will be able to claim a salary and expenses for a job he's no longer fit to do.

If he had been still in the army his case would have be held before a court-martial; he would have served any sentence then been dishonorably discharged. Civilian courts are much kinder. The magistrate banned him from licenced premises for three months. That will make no difference to his alcohol problems because alcoholics find ways of acquiring drink. Alcoholics, like most addicts, are devious and will use anyone willing to show any sympathy in the hope they will feed their addiction.

According to Sky news last night, few of his constituents think he is or was any good as an MP, yet they voted for him.

Eric Joyce, in his military career, accused the army of being racist, sexist and snobbish.  He was suspended on full pay but the then Labour government was accused of 'protecting' him and allowing him onto a shortlist of approved Labour candidates for the Scottish Parliament in 1999. The army took no further action, although senior officers described Joyce as 'unemployable', having lost the trust of his fellow officers.

Surely such a comment from the army should have warned the Labour party about his character, but no. Any left-winger was welcome regardless of their past it seemed.

If Eric Joyce insists upon holding his post - although he's not fit to do the job - his decision can only work in the YES camp's favour. As it is, without immediately resigning, he shows the lack of respect he holds for his constituents. Hopefully this time they'll show him - and Labour - how they feel through the ballot box.

The House of Commons ought to update its legislation for MPs and  bring it into line with society but that's another issue.

I've put a wee poll in the right hand column if you'd like vote.

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Value For Money

Remember this post about the Bracknell MP who also works as a GP?  He was more than critical of his political colleagues when he said they lacked leadership and the ability to take risks.

It's thanks to Brian that we now discover Mr Lee's risk-taking is a financial gold mine. He works, as a freelance GP, for an average of 3.75 hours per week and receives payment of around just below £100 per hour.

An MP earns £65,738 a year and not accounting for their excessive holidays and using an approximate 36 hour week, they are paid £37 per hour. Adding the multitude of perks they receive, such as heavily subsidised meals and free travel, would greatly increase that amount.

Over the years I've listened to politicians substantiate their annual pay increases and their arrogant calls to be on a par with GPs and similar professions. Considering a medic requires years of training before they're let loose on the public and a politician - in most cases - requires no qualifications whatsoever other than being loyal to 'the party', there's little doubt who gives the better value for money.

Politicians, like many other professions, work on a flexi-time basis. Most employees however have to record their working time but MPs seem above the law on this.

While I'm sure Dr Lee's expensive medical training is of benefit to his patients, his availability of only 3.75 hours a week doesn't give them much continuity of care. What he has exposed is that the job of MP is certainly not what most would consider full-time and no amount of bleating from politicians will change my mind.

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Proof (If Needed) That An MP's Job Is Only Part-time

Phillip Lee (pictured) is the Conservative MP for Bracknell where his electorate are very content. Why?

As well as being their political representative Mr Lee is also a GP. That may not be an unusual qualification for MPs to hold, but Mr Lee is a practicing GP.  He manages his medical commitments alongside his political ones and also finds time to criticise his Westminster friends.

Truly radical policies and, hence, genuine change are avoided. The goal was to secure votes and attain office, rather than govern boldly with a coherent plan. Instead of fostering a better Britain, a ‘public-opinion’ industry was created, the essential component of the risk-reduction process. 
Detached, professional politicians had cleverly outsourced the gathering of knowledge. The problem was, though, that polls and surveys rarely raised new issues or introduced new information. 


His remarks aren't surprising because most people, with the slightest interest in politics, know that these days MPs have little to do, as so many of our laws are now made in Brussels.

Mr Lee is certainly not naive, yet when he states: 'It is ironic that having had this article published, it feels as if I've taken a risk', he's missed the real irony. Accepting his full MP's salary for a job which is so obviously part time is the real irony.

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Letwin's 'Heavy' Burden

According to a good friend who lives in Dorset Oliver Letwin is an excellent MP. His public persona is one of a blustering eccentric, but rather like Boris Johnson, he has a sharp political mind. That's the reason David Cameron appointed him his chief policy advisor.

That said, I'm astonished at his recent strange behaviour of dumping constituents' correspondence in park dustbins.  Dictating his responses during early morning walks in St James's Park sounds rather irregular, but if that's Mr Letwin's choice of venue for dealing with his constituency work, I see no problem.

What his actions have brought to light is that he doesn't keep his constituency correspondence on file. Surely any MP worth their salary does that. I'm sure, apart from the Data Protection issues involved, some of Mr Letwin's constituents won't be too happy this weekend knowing that he discards their missives so casually. When people take the time and trouble to write to MPs it's usually because they're greatly concerned about a subject.

This begs the question - how many other MPs dispose of constituents' mail once a response has been given? Surely constituents correspondence should be given the same respect as that of classified government papers? Obviously Mr Letwin thinks not.

Liam Fox has resigned and not before time. The results of the poll are above with only 18% thinking he wouldn't be in his post next week.  One fact of the Fox/Werrity issue which stands out for me is how ineffectual so many of our political representatives appear to be.  Once upon a time we had altruistic MPs who had a commitment to serve the people of these islands to the best of their ability.  Nowadays it appears, as in the Fox case, many are far more egotistical and happy to be used as puppets by their billionaire paymasters.

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They Never Learn

The Telegraph has to be credited with exposing the MPs' expenses scandal in June last year and they continue to keep a close watch over MPs' behaviour with regard to their inappropriate use of taxpayers' money.

Labour and Tory MPs have moved into new properties after the Commons authorities announced that they would block future claims for mortgage costs and claw back a proportion of the profits made on subsidised properties. MPs can claim for rental costs on new London homes.

So what has Chris Bryant done? (pictured above).  The shadow justice minister has rented out his mansion flat in Bloomsbury (pictured above). There's nothing wrong with letting a home you own and have maintained.  But Chris Bryant hasn't maintained his Bloomsbury flat because the taxpayer paid £4,000 for stamp duty and £881 for legal costs when he bought it for £495,000 in 2005.  Since then he's claimed the mortgage costs plus the service charge of up to £1,400 every six months.  The mortgage payment isn't detailed but it will be considerable by anyone's standards.  To avoid Westminster getting their hands on a proportion of the sale of the property Mr Bryant has rented it and moved into a new property for which, of course, taxpayers will pay the rent and any service charges.

Other MPs are involved in this scam.  Peter Luff, junior defence minister, has also recently rented out a flat in London while Tory MP Philip Hollobone has rented out his house in Blackheath. Labour MPs Clive Betts and Andrew Love are at it as well renting out their Westminster flats along and not to be outdone David Crausby and Meg Munn have kept them company.

The SNP MP Angus Robertson has also rented his Westminster flat and said he was not making a profit from renting it out. "The rental income covers mortgage repayments and costs."

The other MPs declined to comment.

They just don't get it do they?  Mr Robertson's comment makes that very obvious.  What he doesn't seem to understand is that taxpayers' money has been spent subsidising these residences and, with the new rules, the honest action would be to sell their properties.  Letting them, in the full knowledge that they will increase in value and they can keep all profits, is teetering on the edge of dishonesty.

The rules state that MPs who continue claiming mortgage interest costs until 2012 will have to repay a portion of the increased value of their properties to the House of Commons authorities.  If an MP's flat was valued at £500,000 in May 2010 and the MP continued to claim 50% of the mortgage costs until 2012, the House of Commons would be entitled to half the increase in value of the flat over that period.

If MPs rent a new property the can claim £17,600 a year to cover the rental costs (£1,467 a month).

source

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Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

More than 20 MPs broke rules on declaring hospitality in questions or debates after visiting locations such as the Maldives, Cyprus and Gibraltar. Between them the MPs, from all the major parties, breached parliamentary regulations on more than 400 occasions. Many MPs had their overseas jaunts paid for by the relevant governments.

Gibraltar's government has funded 31 trips for MPs to attend an annual street party on the territory. Labour's Lindsay Hoyle has been a guest at these National Day Celebrations three times.

"I have never received or sought any financial benefit"

Never received financial benefit?!!

The same MP failed to declare an interest following registered trips to the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands.

Self-regulation in public offices has to be stopped now.

source

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Don't Weep, Rage!

Only a few weeks ago I wrote my disapproval of civil servants receiving war medals.

Pictured above is Frank Cook, Labour MP for Stockton North. He was awarded a medal by Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the current Chief of the Defence Staff.

What for you ask. As a reward for 10 years or more membership of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme (AFPS), a body which allows politicians to spend around 22 days a year with the military.

The scheme is run by Sir Neil Thorne, a former Tory MO, with part-funding from the defence industry. Sir Neil, a former colonel in the TA, started the scheme in 1988 to give MPs a clearer idea of what life is like for service personnel. He defended the medal award: "What I am trying to get them to do is support the men and women in the Armed Forces," he said.

'Get MPs to support the armed forces'? Shouldn't every MP support the military without question?

The MPs enter this organisation at the rank of Major. They can then earn promotion to Colonel and above, provided they put in enough 'training' days.

It takes a young Sandhurst trained soldier a minimum of 12 years to reach the rank of Major. Many of today's officers possess first class honours degrees and PhDs, but to reach the rank of Colonel, which would give them a similar salary to an MP, it would take around 20 years service.

The MPs' medal ceremony has previously taken place in the Speaker's state dining room at the House of Commons and is attended by senior military officers.

A number of ex-service personnel and their families have criticised the medals scheme, including Rose Gentle, Bob Clay, 78, who served 22 years in the Guards Independent Parachute Company and Robert Hannaford, 76, who served in the Army Intelligence Corps during the 50s.

I thought I was beyond being shocked at the behaviour of our MPs but no, along comes another revelation. For 22 days a year these MPs play at soldiers. They even have a specially designed badge - decorated with a portcullis - on their uniform.

Not only do the taxpayers subsidise their food, drink, accommodation and travel, we now pay for them to learn to do their job.

I have a suggestion. It should be compulsory for all prospective parliamentary candidates that they spend 22 days with the military before each election. No medals, basic uniform and no special treatment.

Disband this bunch of men who wish to play out their boyhood fantasies. We should not be paying for any of this and with the defence industry funding part of their 'training' I have serious doubts about their ability to have an objective view of military matters.

Senior military officers should also distance themselves from this group forthwith.

Source

My thanks to Fitaloon

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