PETER OBORNE: Anyone else would be sent to jail.

Antaletriangle · 02-09-2009, 01:06 PM

My fave person Jacqui smith...

Last updated at 10:46 AM on 09th February 2009
Storm: Jacqui Smith is under fire for claiming £116,000 for home costs while staying with her sister
The revelations concerning Home Secretary Jacqui Smith come as another jolting reminder that far too many British MPs are, quite simply, corrupt.

She is claiming tens of thousands of pounds to which she is not entitled. In doing so, the Home Secretary is surely behaving no better than a common thief.
These are the facts. Her family home is a £300,000 detached house in the West Midlands, where she lives with her husband, and where her children go to school.
Smith also spends, on average, three or four nights a week in London, where she stays in her sister's house and financially contributes, as she puts it, 'to the household budget'.
The Home Secretary has told the Commons authorities the blatant fib that her sister's home, where she happens to camp on certain weekdays, is her 'main residence'.
But the lie is a very profitable one. It means that she can claim the Commons' additional costs allowance - which is only payable on so-called second homes.
It's worth £24,000 tax free - and the Home Secretary claims every last penny. It's all legal - after all it's MPs who make the laws - and approved by the Commons authorities.

More...Minister for dodgy expenses: How CAN Jacqui Smith justify £116,000 claim for home costs while staying with her sister?
MAIL COMMENT: Greed, hubris and shameless hypocrisy

But it is little more than a common scam. There is nothing wrong, of course, with the principle that MPs representing consitutencies far from Westminster should have provision made for them to have a base in the capital.
Any private company that expected its employees to spend a large part of the working week away from home would do the same. The trouble is, hundreds of MPs abuse the system to a quite disgusting degree.
More from Peter Oborne... PETER OBORNE: Rich men, dodgy money and the banana skin that could stop Cameron reaching No. 10 06/02/09 PETER OBORNE: A conspiracy that is as foul as it gets 05/02/09 PETER OBORNE: The boast that shows the ignorance of Mandy 'Antoinette' 01/02/09 PETER OBORNE: Betrayal of our finest and why Britain must not become Obama's poodle 30/01/09 PETER OBORNE: Five years on from Hutton and we STILL haven't been told the truth about the war based on lies 28/01/09 PETER OBORNE: For centuries the Lords has been a beacon of integrity. Now it is a byword for sleaze. This is Blair's REAL legacy 27/01/09 PETER OBORNE: Brown must act now to stop the rot 25/01/09 PETER OBORNE: Obduracy, incompetence and the week I became convinced Britain faces national bankruptcy 23/01/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE That's why they are fighting like ferrets in a sack to halt the publication of their expenses - otherwise the whole nation could see how they are cheating.
Yet if any of the civil servants who work under Jacqui Smith were caught trying the same stunt, they'd be arrested and sent to jail. So would any of the policemen under her charge.
The Home Secretary ought to be a figure of public probity and high honour.

Instead she's part of some shoddy expenses rip-off - and sending out a horrible message to the British people.
At Westminster, though, she's an object of sympathy rather than disgust. There was not a squeak of protest from David Cameron's Tory party yesterday.
The reason is obvious. Cameron knows that his own Shadow Cabinet are every bit as corrupt as Jacqui Smith. So there's a conspiracy between the main political parties to steal from the pockets of the taxpayer.
By failing to protest about Jacqui Smith's sordid financial arrangements, Cameron is sending out the message that when the Tories win the election they will be every bit as sleazy as Labour.
This week, MPs have called in British bankers to berate them about their bonuses.
This is hypocrisy of the highest order.
As Jacqui Smith's wretched conduct demonstrates, our MPs have also got their hands in the till.

02-09-2009, 01:06 PM	#1
Antaletriangle Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: U.K. Posts: 3,380	PETER OBORNE: Anyone else would be sent to jail. My fave person Jacqui smith... Last updated at 10:46 AM on 09th February 2009 Storm: Jacqui Smith is under fire for claiming £116,000 for home costs while staying with her sister The revelations concerning Home Secretary Jacqui Smith come as another jolting reminder that far too many British MPs are, quite simply, corrupt. She is claiming tens of thousands of pounds to which she is not entitled. In doing so, the Home Secretary is surely behaving no better than a common thief. These are the facts. Her family home is a £300,000 detached house in the West Midlands, where she lives with her husband, and where her children go to school. Smith also spends, on average, three or four nights a week in London, where she stays in her sister's house and financially contributes, as she puts it, 'to the household budget'. The Home Secretary has told the Commons authorities the blatant fib that her sister's home, where she happens to camp on certain weekdays, is her 'main residence'. But the lie is a very profitable one. It means that she can claim the Commons' additional costs allowance - which is only payable on so-called second homes. It's worth £24,000 tax free - and the Home Secretary claims every last penny. It's all legal - after all it's MPs who make the laws - and approved by the Commons authorities. More...Minister for dodgy expenses: How CAN Jacqui Smith justify £116,000 claim for home costs while staying with her sister? MAIL COMMENT: Greed, hubris and shameless hypocrisy But it is little more than a common scam. There is nothing wrong, of course, with the principle that MPs representing consitutencies far from Westminster should have provision made for them to have a base in the capital. Any private company that expected its employees to spend a large part of the working week away from home would do the same. The trouble is, hundreds of MPs abuse the system to a quite disgusting degree. More from Peter Oborne... PETER OBORNE: Rich men, dodgy money and the banana skin that could stop Cameron reaching No. 10 06/02/09 PETER OBORNE: A conspiracy that is as foul as it gets 05/02/09 PETER OBORNE: The boast that shows the ignorance of Mandy 'Antoinette' 01/02/09 PETER OBORNE: Betrayal of our finest and why Britain must not become Obama's poodle 30/01/09 PETER OBORNE: Five years on from Hutton and we STILL haven't been told the truth about the war based on lies 28/01/09 PETER OBORNE: For centuries the Lords has been a beacon of integrity. Now it is a byword for sleaze. This is Blair's REAL legacy 27/01/09 PETER OBORNE: Brown must act now to stop the rot 25/01/09 PETER OBORNE: Obduracy, incompetence and the week I became convinced Britain faces national bankruptcy 23/01/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE That's why they are fighting like ferrets in a sack to halt the publication of their expenses - otherwise the whole nation could see how they are cheating. Yet if any of the civil servants who work under Jacqui Smith were caught trying the same stunt, they'd be arrested and sent to jail. So would any of the policemen under her charge. The Home Secretary ought to be a figure of public probity and high honour. Instead she's part of some shoddy expenses rip-off - and sending out a horrible message to the British people. At Westminster, though, she's an object of sympathy rather than disgust. There was not a squeak of protest from David Cameron's Tory party yesterday. The reason is obvious. Cameron knows that his own Shadow Cabinet are every bit as corrupt as Jacqui Smith. So there's a conspiracy between the main political parties to steal from the pockets of the taxpayer. By failing to protest about Jacqui Smith's sordid financial arrangements, Cameron is sending out the message that when the Tories win the election they will be every bit as sleazy as Labour. This week, MPs have called in British bankers to berate them about their bonuses. This is hypocrisy of the highest order. As Jacqui Smith's wretched conduct demonstrates, our MPs have also got their hands in the till.