Labour MP's Tribute to 'The Few'.
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Labour MP's Tribute to 'The Few'.
Last edited by GasFitter; 30th May 2009 at 23:35.
It is now, thanks.
So a £5 donation claimed for, 3 years ago, in a 25 year career? This is another PPRuNe outrage I suppose.....
It's bad that he claimed that. But it was only a fiver.... I'd be more interested in MP's claims that amount to tens of thousands. This is really, really small fry.
So a £5 donation claimed for, 3 years ago, in a 25 year career? This is another PPRuNe outrage I suppose.....
It's bad that he claimed that. But it was only a fiver.... I'd be more interested in MP's claims that amount to tens of thousands. This is really, really small fry.
Laarbruch, sorry old boy, you are wrong.
Viewed from a taxpayer's perspective, yes, it's small fry. Viewed from a serviceman's perspective or by anyone who is grateful to the few, it's truly massive.
Viewed from a taxpayer's perspective, yes, it's small fry. Viewed from a serviceman's perspective or by anyone who is grateful to the few, it's truly massive.
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It's not the amount. It's an indication of the moral decline of all MPs, courtesy of the "professional" politician. Some of the MPs' antics as revealed in the Telegraph have disgusted me, but few more so than this.
And Scottish MSPs claiming for remembrance wreaths..
BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Scotland politics | MSPs agree to repay wreath claims
I think this only confirms what we already suspected about the attitude of some MPs towards the armed forces.
BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Scotland politics | MSPs agree to repay wreath claims
No Conservatives are thought to have claimed
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Remember he was not the only one. Wasn't it one of the Ed's that tried to claim for two wreaths?
Mind you, Ed could probably argue that as the Public Purse pays for the wreaths laid by military units on Remembrance Day then it was a legitimate claim for his office too.
Mind you, Ed could probably argue that as the Public Purse pays for the wreaths laid by military units on Remembrance Day then it was a legitimate claim for his office too.
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I don't have a problem with the MPs claiming for wreaths - provided they are being laid on behalf of their constituents and not as a personal wreath from the MP.
As for claiming back a donation....wonder if he tried to claim back any offeratory money that he gave during church services or other charity donations
As for claiming back a donation....wonder if he tried to claim back any offeratory money that he gave during church services or other charity donations
Gentleman Aviator
It was offertory money. The Sunday Torygraph has a repro of the actual form, although the word "offertory" was "redacted", that is, was going to be removed before intended publication .....
...... which would make you think it was a donation not into the collection .... Personally, I find this one of the meanest attempts to (mis)use our money, and there's plenty of competition!
...... which would make you think it was a donation not into the collection .... Personally, I find this one of the meanest attempts to (mis)use our money, and there's plenty of competition!
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Some of the MPs' antics as revealed in the Telegraph have disgusted me, but few more so than this.
Well did he....?
I have no time for this government and I'm not overly enthralled by Boy Dave either; however allow the possible scenario. Matey's office staff gather all his stuff together and bung it in to the fees office, same as they do every month. He signs the bottom of the form on his way out to catch the train. No conspiracy, just plain ordinary thoughtless cock-up.
AND the fees office rejected it! He didn't get £5 for his donation.
There's a lot that needs explanation in this whole farrago, but if you choose the words correctly you can vary the impression; viz what if Douglas Hogg had claimed for "ditch clearing"
rather than "moat"? Sounds less "Tory grandee" doesn't it?
I think there is an element of unfairness in some cases amidst all the justifiable complaint and it's been there since the beginning of this whole expose.
The Ancient Mariner
AND the fees office rejected it! He didn't get £5 for his donation.
There's a lot that needs explanation in this whole farrago, but if you choose the words correctly you can vary the impression; viz what if Douglas Hogg had claimed for "ditch clearing"
rather than "moat"? Sounds less "Tory grandee" doesn't it?
I think there is an element of unfairness in some cases amidst all the justifiable complaint and it's been there since the beginning of this whole expose.
The Ancient Mariner
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
I have no time for this government and I'm not overly enthralled by Boy Dave either; however allow the possible scenario. Matey's office staff gather all his stuff together and bung it in to the fees office, same as they do every month.
Slip ups and errors of various receipts I can understand, he might have some receipts mixed up in the unclaimable pile and the claimable pile - but who fills in a chit for the money they put in the church plate?
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It's not the amount, as mentioned above it's the fact he tried to claim for it.
I have a very similar feeling aobut the rest of the expenses 'scandal'. Many of the expenses we hear of are actually legal under the system. It's the fact that politicians, who are employed to make legislation and determine standards etc believe that such claims are morally acceptable, whether it's in the rules or not.
Pay MPs a decent wage, do not give a second home allowance and cut many other expenses. Provide state funded accomodation near Westminster for out of town MPs who need somewhere to stay on the few ocassions they bother to turn up to Parliament.
I have a very similar feeling aobut the rest of the expenses 'scandal'. Many of the expenses we hear of are actually legal under the system. It's the fact that politicians, who are employed to make legislation and determine standards etc believe that such claims are morally acceptable, whether it's in the rules or not.
Pay MPs a decent wage, do not give a second home allowance and cut many other expenses. Provide state funded accomodation near Westminster for out of town MPs who need somewhere to stay on the few ocassions they bother to turn up to Parliament.
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The 'accused' pitches up at Church with no cash. His assistant loans him a fiver and then drops him a note (invoice/receipt) as a reminder that he/she is owed. The note gets to his office, but he doesn't see it because ...
As with others on here, I am not enthralled by the current Government, or by any of the alternatives (and don't even get me started on the MEPs), but I am less concerned by this sort of issue than I am by the large amounts claimed on non-existent mortgages, and the changes of accommodation attracting benefits (flipping). In some cases these attract tens of thousands of pounds - a whole different scale.
As for what this says about his thoughts on the military, I think some on here are reading too much into the newspaper story. At least he was at the BoB service ... or was he?
STH
Matey's office staff gather all his stuff together and bung it in to the fees office, same as they do every month. He signs the bottom of the form on his way out to catch the train.
As for what this says about his thoughts on the military, I think some on here are reading too much into the newspaper story. At least he was at the BoB service ... or was he?
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Expenses
You might find BAe Systems expenses interesting; the only time I got hauled up was because I hadn't spent enough, so made the others look bad - I was commanded to go and spend more !
This would have left a better taste if I'd been able to do something useful with it towards the aircraft or ' customers ' but a test range in Scotland is a pretty bleak place - it did go usefully on a lot of range staff having another mega curry but it still seems a daft way to inflate aircraft prices.
This would have left a better taste if I'd been able to do something useful with it towards the aircraft or ' customers ' but a test range in Scotland is a pretty bleak place - it did go usefully on a lot of range staff having another mega curry but it still seems a daft way to inflate aircraft prices.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
This specimen MP was on the telly this morning, explaining that the fiver was actually donated by one of his assistants, attending the service as his proxy, who then hand-wrote the chit reproduced by the Torygraph when claiming his expenditure back from his boss - the now embarrassed MP.
The MP himself then had the chit included amongst all the others which were forwarded to the Commons pay office amongst that period's expense claims...and it was rejected by them.
The MP expressed deep and apparently sincere regret, though I'm not convinced whether this was for forwarding the offertory chit, or at now being pilloried for it.
Writing as one who would cheerfully connect politicians of all hues to the mains having first removed the overload trips (d'you think that might open their eyes?), I am still burned by the notion that the p***k who donated the fiver in the first place did NOT just let it go as his own personal tribute...and moreso ditto the MP himself.
These people seem to thrive upon an inexhaustible reserve of self-importance to the extent that any idea of making a PERSONAL donation just does not occur to them. As my old Dad always used to point out - ruefully - you can't put in what God left out. Scum.
iwalkedaway
The MP himself then had the chit included amongst all the others which were forwarded to the Commons pay office amongst that period's expense claims...and it was rejected by them.
The MP expressed deep and apparently sincere regret, though I'm not convinced whether this was for forwarding the offertory chit, or at now being pilloried for it.
Writing as one who would cheerfully connect politicians of all hues to the mains having first removed the overload trips (d'you think that might open their eyes?), I am still burned by the notion that the p***k who donated the fiver in the first place did NOT just let it go as his own personal tribute...and moreso ditto the MP himself.
These people seem to thrive upon an inexhaustible reserve of self-importance to the extent that any idea of making a PERSONAL donation just does not occur to them. As my old Dad always used to point out - ruefully - you can't put in what God left out. Scum.
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Speaking personally, I take the utmost care when submitting all my claims via JPA, not to do so could land me in a heap of trouble if audited (often for petty amounts), and possibly leading to court martial, loss of job/ pension etc.
Pity that those responsible for setting the rules for the rest of us don't take equal care.
Pity that those responsible for setting the rules for the rest of us don't take equal care.