“We want to have good people doing the job and they need to be paid fairly. Now, that’s not paid in excess but it’s not being paid a miserly amount either.” Marcial Boo, chief executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) trying his best to justify increasing the salary of an MP from £67,000 […]
expenses
Leveson Law Lacks Logic
The Leveson inquiry into press standards was long, laboured and often laborious. Many gave their evidence but the most revealing were those from the world of celebrity. Several had built their careers on publicity granted by the press, but didn’t like the attention shown towards them once they had become famous – or in some […]
When a Good Idea Takes Its Toll
The trouble with having a good idea is that sometimes you don’t discover the consequences of its ‘goodness’ until much later on. A prime example of the above is giving the drivers of lower emission cars the benefit of paying either little, or no, road tax as an incentive for running a more environmentally friendly […]
Online Porn, Politicians And Puzzling Petitions
Even on a normal day, I must admit to finding life very puzzling. The people who make up the human race I find to be even more puzzling than the puzzling life in which we all live. For instance, I am puzzled why over 100,000 puzzling people signed a petition, handed in to Downing Street […]
Parliament, Tired MPs And A Four Day Week
Hands up all those who haven’t yet realised we, as a country, are in the greatest financial mess we have experienced for decades. Hands up all those who haven’t been slightly rankled by politicians preaching we all need to pull together in our ‘Big Society’ and work longer hours for less money. Hands up all […]
The Benefits Of The Chancellor’s New Voice!
Chancellor George Osborne, in his latest headline grabbing attempt to demonise anyone on benefits, has quite rightly declared a war on those who cheat the system. He is reported as saying: “Frankly, a welfare cheat is no different from someone who comes up and robs you in the street. It’s your money.” and: “This money […]
The BBC And Its License For Abuse!
I am almost starting to feel sorry for the MPs who were exposed for making excessive use of their expenses. They have been vilified by the media (quite rightly) and the BBC have been particularly diligent in scrutinising and exposing every claim made. Today, though, it appears to be a case of ‘pots and kettles’. […]
No Expense(s) Spared In The Queen’s Speech
Are we surprised? Yesterday, the Queen’s Speech, setting out the government’s final plans for the country before facing the electorate in next year’s general election, was conspicuous by one very large omission – there was no mention of any legislation relating to MP’s expenses. Following one of the biggest political scandals of the last few […]
Life On Planet Concussion!
It has been a while since I last posted on here, following my spectacular dive down the stairs and my teeth numbing stop, using my head as a brake, against a doorframe. Since my unplanned flight, I have been living on Planet Concussion. It is a strange world I entered after needing the rather confusing […]
Great ‘Expenses’ Quote From Ann Widdecombe MP
One of the best quotes of the day, referring to the MP’s expenses repayment saga, must have been supplied by Ann Widdecombe, Tory MP for Maidstone. She was trying to make the point, that limits for expenses should not have been imposed on MPs retrospectively and was implying that MPs should be trusted to govern […]