NorthernSanctuary
05-16-2009, 11:13 AM
The UK government corruption can't be hidden anymore:
Senior Conservatives have subsidised their country estates at taxpayers’ expense, with the upkeep of swimming pools, clearance of moats and even the salaries of domestic staff, all claimed on parliamentary expenses.
By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor
Last Updated: 7:56AM BST 12 May 2009
The Daily Telegraph discloses how Tory grandees have received tens of thousands of pounds to maintain manor houses and stately homes. One claimed successfully towards the cost of a full-time housekeeper with a salary package of £14,000 a year, along with a claim including £2,000 for clearing the moat surrounding his manor house. Another was allowed to claim for a “helipad” to be maintained.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, was understood to be “appalled” by the latest allegations and was considering taking disciplinary action. Tories who have broken the rules on expenses could be sacked, Mr Cameron has suggested.
The disclosures will further alarm taxpayers and add to concern over the operation of the House of Commons fees office, which is supposed to police the parliamentary expenses system.
The claims are among the most disturbing yet exposed during the Telegraph’s investigation. Claims that are “excessive or luxurious” are not permitted under the rules. HM Revenue and Customs may wish to investigate some of the claims.
After they were approached yesterday, three Conservative MPs announced that they would be repaying money they had claimed to maintain or heat private swimming pools at their second homes.
Over the past four days, the Telegraph has published a series of articles detailing questionable expense claims made by MPs from all political parties, including members of the Cabinet and shadow cabinet.
Last night, the Metropolitan Police announced that it was considering complaints it had received about the expenses of six MPs, including Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, and Alistair Darling, the Chancellor.
Parliament will introduce a new auditing unit for expenses and also plans to bring forward the publication of details of MPs’ claims. Gordon Brown followed David Cameron yesterday in apologising for the abuse of the system. Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, urged MPs to consider “the spirit of what is right” when submitting their expense claims.
Today’s Telegraph Expenses Files disclose that the taxpayer has subsidised lifestyles far beyond those experienced by most Britons. It can be disclosed that:
* Douglas Hogg, the former agriculture secretary, submitted a claim form including more than £2,000 for the moat around his country estate to be cleared. The taxpayer also helped meet the cost of a full-time housekeeper, including her car. The public finances also helped pay for work to Mr Hogg’s stables and for his piano to be tuned.
* Sir Michael Spicer, the Conservatives’ most senior backbench MP, claimed £5,650 in nine months for his garden to be maintained. In December 2006, he submitted a detailed invoice which included “hedge cutting ... helipad”, although he claimed last night that the “helipad” was a “family joke”. The Conservative grandee successfully claimed for the costs of hanging a chandelier in his main manor house.
* James Arbuthnot, the Conservative chairman of the defence select committee, announced last night that he would be repaying money he had claimed from the taxpayer to clean his swimming pool. This was among a series of payments made to maintain a country residence he rented before buying a £2 million home without a mortgage in 2007.
* David Davis, the former shadow home secretary, spent more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on home renovations and furnishings, including a new £5,700 portico at his home in Yorkshire.
* David Heathcoat-Amory claimed for more than £380 of horse manure for his garden.
* Michael Ancram, who is the Marquess of Lothian, claimed more than £14,000 a year in expenses while owning three properties, none of which have a mortgage and are worth an estimated £8 million.
* Sir Alan Haselhurst, the Deputy Speaker, has claimed £142,119 for his country home over the last seven years, despite having no mortgage to pay. He has charged the taxpayer almost £12,000 over five years for gardening bills at his farmhouse in Essex.
* Stewart Jackson, a shadow minister, billed the taxpayer for more than £11,000 in professional fees when buying a new home in Peterborough within a year of being elected to Parliament. He claimed more than £300 for work on a swimming pool and hundreds more for work to a “summer room”. Last night he agreed to repay the money claimed for the swimming pool.
Correspondence seen by The Daily Telegraph suggests that some of the MPs have been claiming for the country homes for many years, stretching back to when receipts were not necessary for parliamentary expenses.
When they were required to produce detailed receipts about five years ago, they began simply producing statements listing all the costs of their homes. In some cases, the fees office agreed to pay the maximum allowance after coming under pressure from the MPs.
In an interview with a local radio station on Monday, Mr Cameron refused to rule out resignations among MPs embroiled in the expenses scandal.
“If there’s a case of someone who clearly did break the rules and that was totally unjustifiable then there may be a case for action,” he said.
The Conservative leader has already apologised after The Daily Telegraph highlighted some of the expenses claimed by his front bench colleagues.
Mr Cameron said they would have to “explain their own positions” and then the public could make up their own minds.
Tory MPs should admit to any “mistakes” they made, he said. “What I want is for Conservative MPs, as with other MPs, to come out and explain why they claimed what they claimed, to admit to any mistakes, if there have been mistakes, and collectively to say: 'Look, this system was wrong, we took part in it, we operated it.’”
A Populus opinion poll for The Times found that both the main political parties have suffered a fall in their popularity in the wake of the expenses scandal. Labour is down four percentage points at 26 per cent, the Conservatives are down by the same amount to 39 per cent. However, the Liberal Democrats, whose expense claims have yet to be disclosed, are up slightly.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5310200/MPs-expenses-Paying-bills-for-Tory-grandees.html
Here's some interesting video from TV question period :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94JgL0jmX0w&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egodlikeproductions%2Ecom%2 Fforum1%2Fmessage792608%2Fpg1&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKMTKXvmvd8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egodlikeproductions%2Ecom%2 Fforum1%2Fmessage792608%2Fpg1&feature=player_embedded
Senior Conservatives have subsidised their country estates at taxpayers’ expense, with the upkeep of swimming pools, clearance of moats and even the salaries of domestic staff, all claimed on parliamentary expenses.
By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor
Last Updated: 7:56AM BST 12 May 2009
The Daily Telegraph discloses how Tory grandees have received tens of thousands of pounds to maintain manor houses and stately homes. One claimed successfully towards the cost of a full-time housekeeper with a salary package of £14,000 a year, along with a claim including £2,000 for clearing the moat surrounding his manor house. Another was allowed to claim for a “helipad” to be maintained.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, was understood to be “appalled” by the latest allegations and was considering taking disciplinary action. Tories who have broken the rules on expenses could be sacked, Mr Cameron has suggested.
The disclosures will further alarm taxpayers and add to concern over the operation of the House of Commons fees office, which is supposed to police the parliamentary expenses system.
The claims are among the most disturbing yet exposed during the Telegraph’s investigation. Claims that are “excessive or luxurious” are not permitted under the rules. HM Revenue and Customs may wish to investigate some of the claims.
After they were approached yesterday, three Conservative MPs announced that they would be repaying money they had claimed to maintain or heat private swimming pools at their second homes.
Over the past four days, the Telegraph has published a series of articles detailing questionable expense claims made by MPs from all political parties, including members of the Cabinet and shadow cabinet.
Last night, the Metropolitan Police announced that it was considering complaints it had received about the expenses of six MPs, including Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, and Alistair Darling, the Chancellor.
Parliament will introduce a new auditing unit for expenses and also plans to bring forward the publication of details of MPs’ claims. Gordon Brown followed David Cameron yesterday in apologising for the abuse of the system. Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, urged MPs to consider “the spirit of what is right” when submitting their expense claims.
Today’s Telegraph Expenses Files disclose that the taxpayer has subsidised lifestyles far beyond those experienced by most Britons. It can be disclosed that:
* Douglas Hogg, the former agriculture secretary, submitted a claim form including more than £2,000 for the moat around his country estate to be cleared. The taxpayer also helped meet the cost of a full-time housekeeper, including her car. The public finances also helped pay for work to Mr Hogg’s stables and for his piano to be tuned.
* Sir Michael Spicer, the Conservatives’ most senior backbench MP, claimed £5,650 in nine months for his garden to be maintained. In December 2006, he submitted a detailed invoice which included “hedge cutting ... helipad”, although he claimed last night that the “helipad” was a “family joke”. The Conservative grandee successfully claimed for the costs of hanging a chandelier in his main manor house.
* James Arbuthnot, the Conservative chairman of the defence select committee, announced last night that he would be repaying money he had claimed from the taxpayer to clean his swimming pool. This was among a series of payments made to maintain a country residence he rented before buying a £2 million home without a mortgage in 2007.
* David Davis, the former shadow home secretary, spent more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on home renovations and furnishings, including a new £5,700 portico at his home in Yorkshire.
* David Heathcoat-Amory claimed for more than £380 of horse manure for his garden.
* Michael Ancram, who is the Marquess of Lothian, claimed more than £14,000 a year in expenses while owning three properties, none of which have a mortgage and are worth an estimated £8 million.
* Sir Alan Haselhurst, the Deputy Speaker, has claimed £142,119 for his country home over the last seven years, despite having no mortgage to pay. He has charged the taxpayer almost £12,000 over five years for gardening bills at his farmhouse in Essex.
* Stewart Jackson, a shadow minister, billed the taxpayer for more than £11,000 in professional fees when buying a new home in Peterborough within a year of being elected to Parliament. He claimed more than £300 for work on a swimming pool and hundreds more for work to a “summer room”. Last night he agreed to repay the money claimed for the swimming pool.
Correspondence seen by The Daily Telegraph suggests that some of the MPs have been claiming for the country homes for many years, stretching back to when receipts were not necessary for parliamentary expenses.
When they were required to produce detailed receipts about five years ago, they began simply producing statements listing all the costs of their homes. In some cases, the fees office agreed to pay the maximum allowance after coming under pressure from the MPs.
In an interview with a local radio station on Monday, Mr Cameron refused to rule out resignations among MPs embroiled in the expenses scandal.
“If there’s a case of someone who clearly did break the rules and that was totally unjustifiable then there may be a case for action,” he said.
The Conservative leader has already apologised after The Daily Telegraph highlighted some of the expenses claimed by his front bench colleagues.
Mr Cameron said they would have to “explain their own positions” and then the public could make up their own minds.
Tory MPs should admit to any “mistakes” they made, he said. “What I want is for Conservative MPs, as with other MPs, to come out and explain why they claimed what they claimed, to admit to any mistakes, if there have been mistakes, and collectively to say: 'Look, this system was wrong, we took part in it, we operated it.’”
A Populus opinion poll for The Times found that both the main political parties have suffered a fall in their popularity in the wake of the expenses scandal. Labour is down four percentage points at 26 per cent, the Conservatives are down by the same amount to 39 per cent. However, the Liberal Democrats, whose expense claims have yet to be disclosed, are up slightly.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5310200/MPs-expenses-Paying-bills-for-Tory-grandees.html
Here's some interesting video from TV question period :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94JgL0jmX0w&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egodlikeproductions%2Ecom%2 Fforum1%2Fmessage792608%2Fpg1&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKMTKXvmvd8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egodlikeproductions%2Ecom%2 Fforum1%2Fmessage792608%2Fpg1&feature=player_embedded