Military penny pinching vs MPs expenses

[Melchett01]

The Great Commons Gravy Train - MPs pick up £200,000 for 34 weeks a year

http://http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=489791&in_page_id=1770

Given all the hassles we have in claiming the simplest of expenses and the general difficulties we have in getting the politicians to spend anything on the military, is it really fair that MPs get handed an obscene amount of cash for doing the square root of sod all for most part of the year before taking 90 days leave and on occassions submitting an expenses bill for £35,000 for postage and stamps?

Surely MPs expenses are a totally obscene waste on money given the seeming dire straits that the country is in? Is it just me, or is anybody elses' blood boiling?

646 MPs, each claiming more in expenses than your average senior officer gets paid over several years - just what could we do with the money?

Come on Dave, do something about it - 6 / 10 of the worst offenders are from Gordon's mob. No wonder they are preaching prudence and public sector restraint - they need us to cut back to pay for their allowances!

[PingDit]

I'll bet they're not required to keep all of their receipts either. Obviously they are fine upstanding gentlemen and we are not to be trusted!

[Melchett01]

From the Times, May 07:

MPs can claim £250 “petty cash” a month without stipulating what the money is for. A further £400 a month can be claimed for food without producing receipts. In total, MPs can legitimately pick up £7,800 tax-free per annum on trust because they are presumed to be “honour-able” members.


Either our £5/day unreceipted expenses is an insult to the integrity of all those representing Her Majety in uniform, or the rules for MPs takes the piss. Maybe we should all resign and stand for Parliament. I could pay Mrs M £20k/year to lick my £35k/yrs worth of stamps - I really don't like the taste so I assume that would in doing so she would fulfill the criteria of being "employed to meet a genuine need in supporting you, the member, in performing your parliamentary duties; [be] able and (if necessary) qualified to do the job; [and] actually doing the job.”

Just how many MPs can spell honourable or more importantly actually understand its meaning. Or is this just another case of do as I say not as I do??? :sad:

[Cheeks]

The link doesn't work.


On the subject, does anyone remember the name of the MP who was sending dozens of questions to MoD along the lines of "how much does CDS spend on gardeners?"?

[In Tor Wot]

Cheeks - the guy you're thinking of is Greg Pope (Noo Laboor, Hyndburn - Lancashire)

His question was:

'To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent by the Royal Navy on purchasing, maintaining and transporting horses and ponies for polo in the last 12 months for which figures are available.' Link (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/cgi-bin/newhtml_hl?DB=semukparl&STEMMER=en&WORDS=polo&ALL=Polo&ANY=&PHRASE=&CATEGORIES=&SIMPLE=&SPEAKER=&COLOUR=red&STYLE=s&ANCHOR=70910w0002.htm_wqn2&URL=/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070910/text/70910w0002.htm#70910w0002.htm_wqn2)

His figures for transporting himself are quite interesting:
Members' Travel £14,819 (73rd)*

Car £5,021 (145th). Rail £6,359 (116th). Air £3,439 (83rd).
Full listing (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/greg_pope/hyndburn#expenses)

And his claims for the year total £148,800 (105th) a hefty rise from last year which was £133,585 - and there was me thinking that inflation was only 2.2% (well it was for AFPRB!)

Boil doesn't begin to describe the blood state at the moment

[Cheeks]

If thats the guy, there were a whole serial of inane questions, it was in Private Eye a few months back.

[XV277]

I've never understood why they need to get travelling expenses from London to home - they applied for the bloddy jobs in the first place- any where in the real world and the taxman claims his proportion of that

[wokawoka]

What about the woman who claimed £13000 for 50000 miles travelled in a year????

Bare in mind MPs work 39 weeks, let's say 12 hrs a day (i know i m optimistic), they should work 195 days of the year.

Total hours= 195 days * 12 hrs = 2340 hrs / year
50000 miles at Average speed of car 60 MPH = 833 hrs
30 MPH = 1666 hrs
You see where i m going. There is not much time left to do any work is there??

In fact at 60 MPH: 125 days of work left
at 30 MPH (more realistic, my car always tell me i average at 30 and i live outside town!!!)= 56

These people really treat us like idiots. Knowing that I get engaged regularly in my a/c, twice a year for these little thieving g*ts disgusts me. They are no more than common thieves. But what I can't swallow is that no one bats an eye lid!!
Politicians will always be politicians, but at some point they will go too far. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette did and they did not see it coming....

[vecvechookattack]

That is of course assumig that the person in question was doing the driving. As far as I am concerned MP's earn every penny they get and they are more than welcome to claim as much as they are entitled to.

[Jobza Guddun]

VVHA, I think you missed the :E from your last...

[8-15fromOdium]

What the MP's need is an electronic administrative and allowances system. To save reinventing the wheel they could have (the award nominated) JPA.

Surely whats good enough for us is good enough for them.