|
|
Post by Mortgagehound on Sept 27, 2022 16:34:29 GMT 1
I think we need the Guardian Correspondent to come on the board and confirm first though......  |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Sept 27, 2022 17:17:32 GMT 1
|
|
kp
Midland League Division One
Posts: 495
|
Post by kp on Sept 28, 2022 10:20:44 GMT 1
No more that the party can do is there. Excellent work I am sure you will agree. |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 4, 2022 10:18:47 GMT 1
www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/anne-marie-trevelyan-expenses-rent-22171032A Northumberland MP is claiming cash from the taxpayer to rent a £1,800-a-month London pad - despite owning a flat of her own in the capital. Since she was elected in 2015, Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan has raked back more than £136,000 in expenses for London accommodation costs. Over the same period, Trevelyan has also owned a rental flat in London which she chooses not to live in. In the year 2020-2021 her monthly rent was £1,813.07 - over £21,700 in rent alone that year. Whilst MPs are allowed to claim expenses for accommodation while profiting by renting out their own properties, the practice has been condemned as politicians' earnings come under the spotlight. When landlord MPs - 14 Conservative and two Labour - were highlighted by papers including The Times and The Independent, Sir Alistair Graham, the former chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, called the rule a "loophole" which should be closed, insisting that those who already own London or constituency flats shouldn't be asking for taxpayer money. He told The Independent: “It may be within the rules, but it’s quite wrong for MPs to use the public purse in this way. MPs have a duty to claim only public funds that are necessary.” www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2021/11/sleaze-mps-rent-out-their-own-homes-and-then-claim-expenses
|
|
|
|
Post by martinshrew on Oct 4, 2022 10:33:12 GMT 1
www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/anne-marie-trevelyan-expenses-rent-22171032A Northumberland MP is claiming cash from the taxpayer to rent a £1,800-a-month London pad - despite owning a flat of her own in the capital. Since she was elected in 2015, Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan has raked back more than £136,000 in expenses for London accommodation costs. Over the same period, Trevelyan has also owned a rental flat in London which she chooses not to live in. In the year 2020-2021 her monthly rent was £1,813.07 - over £21,700 in rent alone that year. Whilst MPs are allowed to claim expenses for accommodation while profiting by renting out their own properties, the practice has been condemned as politicians' earnings come under the spotlight. When landlord MPs - 14 Conservative and two Labour - were highlighted by papers including The Times and The Independent, Sir Alistair Graham, the former chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, called the rule a "loophole" which should be closed, insisting that those who already own London or constituency flats shouldn't be asking for taxpayer money. He told The Independent: “It may be within the rules, but it’s quite wrong for MPs to use the public purse in this way. MPs have a duty to claim only public funds that are necessary.” www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2021/11/sleaze-mps-rent-out-their-own-homes-and-then-claim-expenses Shocking individuals: members.parliament.uk/member/155/registeredinterests |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 4, 2022 10:36:20 GMT 1
Oh, I'm not denying all sides do it. It's just that Team Truss used Trevelyan to rubbish Mordaunt, when she's not exactly beyond reproach.
And n.b. A separate investigation by The Independent online newspaper says some 17 landlord MPs - 15 Tories and two Labour - have put their housing costs on expenses while earning more than £10,000 a year each renting out their own properties in recent years.
The majority of the M.Ps named by the Times are Tories too.
|
|
|
|
Post by martinshrew on Oct 4, 2022 10:53:28 GMT 1
Oh, I'm not denying all sides do it. It's just that Team Truss used Trevelyan to rubbish Mordaunt, when she's not exactly beyond reproach. And n.b. A separate investigation by The Independent online newspaper says some 17 landlord MPs - 15 Tories and two Labour - have put their housing costs on expenses while earning more than £10,000 a year each renting out their own properties in recent years. The majority of the M.Ps named by the Times are Tories too. Anyone who doesn't think the majority of MPs from all sides are at the trough is in a fantasy land. Some are just quicker to it than others. |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 4, 2022 11:30:07 GMT 1
Oh, I'm not denying all sides do it. It's just that Team Truss used Trevelyan to rubbish Mordaunt, when she's not exactly beyond reproach. And n.b. A separate investigation by The Independent online newspaper says some 17 landlord MPs - 15 Tories and two Labour - have put their housing costs on expenses while earning more than £10,000 a year each renting out their own properties in recent years. The majority of the M.Ps named by the Times are Tories too. Anyone who doesn't think the majority of MPs from all sides are at the trough is in a fantasy land. Some are just quicker to it than others. I'd agree. Tom Levitt, the ex Labour M.P. for High Peak is a character I have some personal knowledge of. He even claimed a wreath on expenses. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5375618/Wreath-laid-at-war-memorial-claimed-on-MPs-expenses.htmlSorry about the paywall! But to counterbalance that, we are all aware of the claims made by ex Tory M.P. for Shrewsbury, Derek Conway. www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/jan/31/houseofcommons.conservatives1 |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 7, 2022 16:35:17 GMT 1
Conor Burns has been sacked as trade minister after a complaint was made against him, Downing Street has said. A No 10 spokesperson said:
Following a complaint of serious misconduct, the prime minister has asked Conor Burns MP to leave the government with immediate effect.
The prime minister took direct action on being informed of this allegation and is clear that all ministers should maintain the high standards of behaviour – as the public rightly expects.
It comes amid reports the Tories have also suspended him from the party after allegations about his behaviour at its conference this week.
On Thursday evening the Whips' Office was contacted by a conference delegate who witnessed the alleged incident take place in the Hyatt hotel bar.
Burns previously had to resign as a trade minister in 2020 after being found to have used his position to try to intimidate a member of the public. He was found by the standards committee to have made a series of veiled threats while attempting to intervene in his father’s dispute over a loan.
Guardian/Telegraph.
Truss had given Burns his old job back after he'd already been forced to resign on 4th May 2020. Not that his resignation stopped Johnson giving him further posts. On 23 August 2021, Johnson appointed Burns as the UK's trade envoy to Canada. On 16 September, Burns was appointed Minister of State for Northern Ireland.
|
|
|
|
Post by mattmw on Oct 7, 2022 17:13:48 GMT 1
Whatever happened to the old days when what happened at conference stayed at conference
|
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Oct 7, 2022 17:16:17 GMT 1
When's Truss going?
|
|
|
|
Post by Pilch on Oct 7, 2022 17:31:20 GMT 1
But hopefully the leader will be someone who we can feel is representing our country rather than himself. Surely not too much to ask. that's not a problem , some already have a draft written disagreeing with the first decision ( insert name here ) makes 😜 I rest my case ;-) |
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Oct 7, 2022 18:17:20 GMT 1
that's not a problem , some already have a draft written disagreeing with the first decision ( insert name here ) makes 😜 I rest my case ;-) That only applies if ( insert name here ) is Truss - always a wrong 'un - many, even in her own party. think the same.  |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 7, 2022 19:15:54 GMT 1
'So far in this parliament 16 MPs have been suspended from the House or have resigned their seat for various misdemeanours. At least five more are under investigation. This is completely unprecedented. No parliament has ever seen this before. And we’ve two years to go'.
Chris Bryant, Chair of the Committee on Standards.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 9, 2022 16:45:09 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/09/ex-vaccine-head-kate-bingham-accuses-matt-hancock-behaviour-in-meetingThe leader of Britain’s successful Covid vaccination programme has accused Matt Hancock of aggressive political grandstanding during the pandemic that left her “stuck to the ceiling with fury”. Dame Kate Bingham, the head of the UK’s vaccine taskforce, said the former health secretary conducted an “extraordinary ambush” in a meeting in June 2020 and questioned her competence in front of cabinet colleagues and civil servants, despite having a “friendly” conversation beforehand. The former vaccines tsar claimed Hancock had swapped “Dr Jekyll for Mr Hyde” because he was aggrieved that responsibility for vaccines had been taken from him and given to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (Beis). “I could barely believe my ears. The health secretary was openly accusing me of a lack of ambition, questioning my competence, and doing so in front of his cabinet colleagues and key officials,” Bingham said, who told him he was wrong. Interesting stuff!
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 9, 2022 19:23:00 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/09/liz-truss-foreign-secretary-overseas-trips-costLiz Truss racked up a bill of almost £2m on overseas visits during her final months as foreign secretary, according to new analysis that the Liberal Democrats said showed she had “quite literally been taking the taxpayer for a ride”. In 20 trips during the first six months of the year, a total of £1.8m was spent, despite the now prime minister’s call for prudence with public money and government departments being told to find “efficiency savings”. The figure far exceeds the £67,000 her predecessor as foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, spent on trips abroad in the six months before the Covid pandemic, which caused global travel disruption and in-person meetings between world leaders to be abandoned. The visits made by Truss between January and June included some related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, these were on the relatively inexpensive side when compared with a £454,000 trip to Australia, another to Washington DC that cost £229,000, as well as a tour to Rwanda and Turkey that cost taxpayers just under £200,000.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 10, 2022 18:36:39 GMT 1
Conor Burns has criticised Liz Truss’s decision to sack him as an international trade minister over a groping allegation that has not yet been investigated. Speaking to Serena Barker-Singh, from Channel 4 News, Burns said this was against natural justice. He said:
I’ve been overwhelmed by the support from my colleagues who have found it beyond strange that the whip was withdrawn, and I was sacked from ministerial office, without being given the opportunity to be told what the allegation was, or how I could engage in the process to respond to it.
I used to live in a country where the rule of law, natural justice and a process took place, and where people were presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
|
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Oct 10, 2022 20:17:27 GMT 1
In response to Mr Burns denial, Mel B, who attended the Conservative party conference as a domestic violence campaigner, wrote in reply: “Really?? Your shocked about this complaint??? Let me remind you what you said me in lift …” She did not clarify any further. Responding to the tweet, Burns said: “I believe I have never met Mel.”
I believe he has met her, why would she make it up? I believe he had probably had a few sherbets before all the sordid antics.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 12, 2022 19:37:02 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/12/boris-johnson-colorado-speech-questions-rulesBoris Johnson is facing questions over whether he followed rules on paid employment after leaving No 10 after receiving $150,000 (£135,000) for a speech to a group of US insurance brokers. The former prime minister gave a speech to the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers in Colorado Springs this week, only just over a month after leaving Downing Street. His appearance involved a 30-minute speech and a 45-minute “fireside chat” but no questions from the audience.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 15, 2022 11:54:20 GMT 1
|
|
|
|
Post by cabanas2017 on Oct 15, 2022 12:41:43 GMT 1
Question to NWM ….Out of interest how were Labour going to fund their economic policy at the last election, if I remember correctly it meant borrowing 55bn a year to fund it?
|
|
|
|
Post by cabanas2017 on Oct 15, 2022 12:54:06 GMT 1
From a BBC article in 2019
Will it be possible to raise all this money?
"Labour has said that it will fund this extra spending by borrowing money. It will issue long-dated government bonds - IOUs which attract an interest rate, but won't have to be paid back for many years.
The government can currently borrow for 30 years for an effective interest rate of 1.25%, and many economists argue that it makes sense to borrow at such low rates for projects that will give a bigger return than it costs to fund them.
It is likely that bond markets would be willing to lend the government this money, though the effective interest rate that investors demand might well rise as borrowing increases.
The influential bond investor Pimco told the Financial Times that the UK was one of its "least favourite" markets to invest in, because of the combination of low rates and big public spending increases in prospect. But even they did not expect a big increase in government borrowing costs."
hmmmmm
|
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Oct 15, 2022 13:01:18 GMT 1
Question to NWM ….Out of interest how were Labour going to fund their economic policy at the last election, if I remember correctly it meant borrowing 55bn a year to fund it? Just like Liz Truss changing from what was voted on in the last election, so can the Labur party - but, unlike the Tories, voters will have the chance to look at what Labour now offers in an election before it's implemented. |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 15, 2022 13:18:00 GMT 1
Question to NWM ….Out of interest how were Labour going to fund their economic policy at the last election, if I remember correctly it meant borrowing 55bn a year to fund it? Yes, I believe that to be the case. Although I am highly critical of the Tories on here, I'm well aware that the Labour Party has many faults as well. That's why I am a supporter of PR - it shouldn't be a choice of 1 from 2 for the majority of the population. And I certainly won't be voting Labour in the next GE, as Helen Morgan (Lib Dem) has the only realistic chance of once again beating the Tory candidate in North Shropshire. In the absence of PR, tactical voting is going to be very important. |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 18, 2022 15:41:52 GMT 1
It is a bitter illustration of just how low the standards in public life have fallen, that first we have a political party conspiring to keep a serial liar and of course lockdown multiple lawbreaker in Number 10 until even that became untenable, and then allowing Johnson to avoid resigning and hang on as 'caretaker' Prime Minister; and now we have the very same party unable to put the nation they claim to serve first and tell Truss that she either falls on her sword or she will be removed by other means. All they are worried about is that by doing so they might precipitate a General Election where a high % of them would lose their seats.
Of course, the MP's expenses scandal should have woken us up to the fact that people generally don't go into politics out of a sense of public duty, but out of naked ambition and lured by the multitude of 'nice little earners' they can pile up.
In what other walk of life would you be able to be paid £84k and claim expenses that basically allowed you to 'employ' members of your family with absolutely no audit as to whether they actually do any 'work' (Derek Conway), be able to spend months in the Caribbean making millions as a top tax lawyer (Cox) or be paid well over £100,000 a year to lobby Ministers (Paterson)?
|
|
|
|
Post by martinshrew on Oct 18, 2022 21:31:47 GMT 1
It is a bitter illustration of just how low the standards in public life have fallen, that first we have a political party conspiring to keep a serial liar and of course lockdown multiple lawbreaker in Number 10 until even that became untenable, and then allowing Johnson to avoid resigning and hang on as 'caretaker' Prime Minister; and now we have the very same party unable to put the nation they claim to serve first and tell Truss that she either falls on her sword or she will be removed by other means. All they are worried about is that by doing so they might precipitate a General Election where a high % of them would lose their seats. Of course, the MP's expenses scandal should have woken us up to the fact that people generally don't go into politics out of a sense of public duty, but out of naked ambition and lured by the multitude of 'nice little earners' they can pile up. In what other walk of life would you be able to be paid £84k and claim expenses that basically allowed you to 'employ' members of your family with absolutely no audit as to whether they actually do any 'work' (Derek Conway), be able to spend months in the Caribbean making millions as a top tax lawyer (Cox) or be paid well over £100,000 a year to lobby Ministers (Paterson)? There's barely a genuine politician amongst the lot of them, bunch of greedy good for nothing barstewards. I'm totally disengaged with all of it. |
|
|
|
Post by stuttgartershrew on Oct 19, 2022 7:50:57 GMT 1
Again, whilst I appreciate that there maybe a record number of MP's who have been or are being investigated and suspended we still ought to remember that the vast majority have not and are never likely to be either.
It was one year to the day last Saturday when David Amess was murdered. Someone who was well liked and respected. Not someone who made the news too often, someone no one seemed to have a bad word against. I still like to think that such people make up the majority of those acting as MP's. Who I am sure are just as frustrated and angry about those who do abuse their position.
Just think that's always worth a mention anyhow...👍
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Oct 19, 2022 9:35:43 GMT 1
Again, whilst I appreciate that there maybe a record number of MP's who have been or are being investigated and suspended we still ought to remember that the vast majority have not and are never likely to be either. It was one year to the day last Saturday when David Amess was murdered. Someone who was well liked and respected. Not someone who made the news too often, someone no one seemed to have a bad word against. I still like to think that such people make up the majority of those acting as MP's. Who I am sure are just as frustrated and angry about those who do abuse their position. Just think that's always worth a mention anyhow...👍 The trouble is that such individuals have rarely been on the Front Bench for some time. |
|
|
|
Post by zenfootball2 on Oct 19, 2022 9:58:05 GMT 1
Again, whilst I appreciate that there maybe a record number of MP's who have been or are being investigated and suspended we still ought to remember that the vast majority have not and are never likely to be either. It was one year to the day last Saturday when David Amess was murdered. Someone who was well liked and respected. Not someone who made the news too often, someone no one seemed to have a bad word against. I still like to think that such people make up the majority of those acting as MP's. Who I am sure are just as frustrated and angry about those who do abuse their position. Just think that's always worth a mention anyhow...👍  very true |
|
|
|
Post by stuttgartershrew on Oct 19, 2022 10:07:25 GMT 1
Again, whilst I appreciate that there maybe a record number of MP's who have been or are being investigated and suspended we still ought to remember that the vast majority have not and are never likely to be either. It was one year to the day last Saturday when David Amess was murdered. Someone who was well liked and respected. Not someone who made the news too often, someone no one seemed to have a bad word against. I still like to think that such people make up the majority of those acting as MP's. Who I am sure are just as frustrated and angry about those who do abuse their position. Just think that's always worth a mention anyhow...👍 The trouble is that such individuals have rarely been on the Front Bench for some time. I dunno. I mean it could well be that we are so focused on the behavior of one or two that our opinion is skewed somewhat as a result. As I mentioned on this or the Truss thread it wasn't so much Truss's personality that was a concern but her ability, I mean in contrast to her predecessor. And I don't see Truss or Starmer in the same way as I see Johnson or Corbyn, for example. And unless we hear otherwise I'm more than willing to give others the benefit of the doubt and consider that to be the case for the majority. Granted as with every walk of life, there is always going to be the few bad apples. For those who have been investigated and/or suspended I would have thought most were backbenchers. I mean I don't think front benchers are over represented. Could be wrong but I haven't had that impression anyhow. You can always check who is under investigation here... Allegations currently under investigation by the CommissionerGranted I'm not up on who makes up the front bench but none of those names rings a bell. |
|
very true