The man who, in effect brought one of the world’s oldest parliamentary systems to its knees by arranging for leaked MPs' expenses details to be given to the Daily Telegraph has been named.
John Wick, a former SAS man, acted as a broker, passing the details from an anonymous source to the newspaper, a working demonstration of the pen being mightier than the sword.
On paper, most of these MPs have done nothing wrong, it’s the system that is wrong.
My local MP in Essex, for example, is as far as I know, squeaky clean compared to most of the others, his claims are within the spirit of what the expenses were intended for, but what he is allowed still appears to be wrong.
He lives in Surrey, around a 45 minute train journey from London or a 45 minute drive by car to his constituency.
He claims for a flat in his constituency, which is a 25 minute train journey from London and he also claims for a flat near Westminster.
It would appear to me that the average working man would find these travelling times to and from work every day a bit of a doddle, so why can’t MPs who live within striking distance of London commute like everyone else has to?
Hopefully, when the dust has cleared and the expenses have been overhauled, we will get right honourable ladies and gentlemen sitting in Parliament who are there because they want to represent us and not what they can get out of it.
Mr Wick, we salute you!
Showing posts with label expenses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label expenses. Show all posts
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Monday, 11 May 2009
Expenses At Your Expense
MP’s expenses! I won’t go into the background because more column inches devoted to this story are being added to the newspapers by the minute.
I just want to point out life at the other end of the spectrum.
I’m chairman of a Local Access Forum (LAF). LAFs were set up early in the decade by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, under the umbrella of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to oversee the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, making sure that highway authorities, National Parks etc apply it correctly.
The only expenses that I am allowed are for travelling to and fro meetings or on-site inspections. No second home in Mayfair, not even a Kit Kat or a buckshee bag of compost.
When I put my claim in I always put the distance I have travelled down correct to the nearest inch, never adding a mile here or a few hundred yards there, and then multiply it by the 40p, yes four zero pence, per mile I’m allowed for the use of my car. I then have to fight tooth and nail to get it! A little while ago I submitted a form for reimbursement of two years worth of expenses, around £80. It took over four months to get it paid.
I’m not against MPs receiving expenses, but to abuse a system that is already generous to them certainly doesn’t make them look like the trustworthy candidates that canvassed your vote at the last election.
The question that should never have been asked is, do MPs seek election to represent their constituents, or are they only in it for the money?
I don’t think that the jury will be out long on this one!
I just want to point out life at the other end of the spectrum.
I’m chairman of a Local Access Forum (LAF). LAFs were set up early in the decade by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, under the umbrella of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to oversee the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, making sure that highway authorities, National Parks etc apply it correctly.
The only expenses that I am allowed are for travelling to and fro meetings or on-site inspections. No second home in Mayfair, not even a Kit Kat or a buckshee bag of compost.
When I put my claim in I always put the distance I have travelled down correct to the nearest inch, never adding a mile here or a few hundred yards there, and then multiply it by the 40p, yes four zero pence, per mile I’m allowed for the use of my car. I then have to fight tooth and nail to get it! A little while ago I submitted a form for reimbursement of two years worth of expenses, around £80. It took over four months to get it paid.
I’m not against MPs receiving expenses, but to abuse a system that is already generous to them certainly doesn’t make them look like the trustworthy candidates that canvassed your vote at the last election.
The question that should never have been asked is, do MPs seek election to represent their constituents, or are they only in it for the money?
I don’t think that the jury will be out long on this one!
Monday, 30 March 2009
Too Expensive
It looks like Home Secretary, Jaqui Smith, amongst others has been caught out fiddling her parliamentary expenses sheet.
I’ve singled Ms Smith out because she holds one of the highest offices in the land. She’s the lady entrusted with sorting out the wrongdoers in our society.
I’m the chairman of a Local Access Forum, and the government say that the local authority has to pay me any travelling expenses that I incur doing the job.
This works out to a few measly quid a year for which I have to supply an almost yard by yard, (or for younger readers, metre by metre), account of my journeys before I get begrudgingly paid months later.
This is not a gripe, just a statement of fact. Most of the members of the forum don’t even bother to claim, we all do the job for free because we feel privileged to represent the public.
It seems to me that a lot of MPs seek election, not to represent the people but to see how much cash they can extract from the job. Why are these people not singled out and expelled?
As JFK once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
A very apt motto for our times!
I’ve singled Ms Smith out because she holds one of the highest offices in the land. She’s the lady entrusted with sorting out the wrongdoers in our society.
I’m the chairman of a Local Access Forum, and the government say that the local authority has to pay me any travelling expenses that I incur doing the job.
This works out to a few measly quid a year for which I have to supply an almost yard by yard, (or for younger readers, metre by metre), account of my journeys before I get begrudgingly paid months later.
This is not a gripe, just a statement of fact. Most of the members of the forum don’t even bother to claim, we all do the job for free because we feel privileged to represent the public.
It seems to me that a lot of MPs seek election, not to represent the people but to see how much cash they can extract from the job. Why are these people not singled out and expelled?
As JFK once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
A very apt motto for our times!
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