a welcome diversion from the economic gloom here in england

[dirtydeeds]

you guys in north armerica probably wont know anything about this

the english press have for once got a real story that EVRYBODY is talking about, and the talk is ALL bad

he ONLY news in town is mp's expenses (mp's are members of the lower house of parliament)

we do have a freedom of information act BUT various things are totally blocked (mp's expenses for instance)

how curious is that.....................  :

no wonder the english press went looking for "other sources"

mp's have been claiming expenses for, cleaning the moat, chandaliers (some mp's are independantly rich gits who dont NEED a wage) altough most arnt

replacing a leaky pipe under the tennis court was another, and in more than one case, simply for weekly shopping bills

one guy has just resigned for claiming 16000 pounds english for a mortgage he had already paid off (mortgate companies and the inland revenue dont like this sort of thing

so this guy wont just loose his job, he will be fined by the revenue and end up in court for fraud..........  i love that one ;D 

a pair of wife and husband mp's have claimed for mortgages on the two houses they own.

aparantly mp's call this "flipping". this pair have gone one stage further and got a double bonus

the lords (the upper house) two lords have been/will be suspended for 6 months for "influencing" legislation for a fee

the fee one lord is (was going to get) 120,000 pounds english per year for his "influence"

there is a difference between mp's and lords, mp's get a wage

the lords dont get paid anything ( they were always suppossed to be of "independant means") it isnt the case so much now as only something like 100 are REAL lords (title passed from father son) , the rest are more ordinary "life peers" who cant pass their titles on

we are expecting more revalations and more sackings / resignations in the comming weeks

 

[woodshopdemos]

Tom,
   Interesting reading. I never thought we had a monoply on this stuff. I will have to remember "moat cleaning" for next years taxes. My moat hasn't been cleaned in years.
   When I was out motoring earlier, I was listening to the local news and the subject was a mayor whose brother paid his business tax with a $75000 check that was no good. It bounced and the mayor asked the tax people to sort of sit on it. This is 5 years ago and news reporters just dug it up and brought it to the attention of the mayor. He said the whole deal was taken care of but after be pushed and pushed, he had an external audit done. This postponed the attention but now the reporter has found that the external audit has spend $132,000 and not yet come up with a conclusion. So, Tom, I will see your moat and raise an audit. What is very reassuring  is that the small towns can learn this from the big guns in Washington...like the Speaker of the house refusing the use of the small jet that is assigned to her and uses a 767 or such for her weekend jaunts back home. Little did the Wright brothers know...other than right.

 

[dirtydeeds]

the current speaker of the house here is also in trouble for his expenses

he's handled it so badly that there is talk of a possible vote of no confindence in him

thats a REAL "achievement" in english parliamentary terms

the last no confidence vote against the speaker was 300 years ago

that guy resigned rather than let the vote go ahead

i know you guys must roll your eyes at the way the english "do history"

its not so daft as it seems, the basic tennants of our legal system is "history".............  precedent and common law

 

[CNC Paul]

Hey Tom,

You forgot the Cabinet minister Jacqui Smith admitted to paying her husbands porn movies and a bath plug with taxpayers' money

She is the Home secretary, for our US friend she is n02 to the prime minister.

Paul

 

[bellchippy]

Maybe I should become an MP,I think there are going to be plenty of vacancies soon LOL.

 

[John Stevens]

You forgot the Cabinet minister Jacqui Smith admitted to paying her husbands porn movies and a bath plug with taxpayers' money

Gotta wonder where that bath plug went.  :

We in the states have been following this on drudgereport.com, at least those of us who visit drudge.

Regards,

John

 

[dirtydeeds]

the politicians have identified the root cause of their problem

ALL mp's are "honourable members" (of parliament) some are even "right honourable members"

it isnt possible for them to be wrong

so............. the only possible explanation is, those lying, cheating, dishonourable............................... accountants

 

[Eastbourne Handyman]

Bring on a general election;D
Let's get them all out and then let anarchy reign.
Nobody will notice any difference in the running of the country.

 

[Rob Z]

Hi Tom, My friends on the UK tile forum have been telling me about this nonsense.  I've lived just outside of Washington DC for 30 years and thought I had seen and heard it all, but never have we had a "public servant" (GAG) claim a moat cleaning expense.

Anyone want to hear some "Mayor For Life" Hizzoner Marion Barry stories, straight from the cops I know that were on his security detail? It doesn't get much better than that!  LOL

 

[John Stevens]

Anyone want to hear some "Mayor For Life" Hizzoner Marion Barry stories, straight from the cops I know that were on his security detail? It doesn't get much better than that!  LOL

Fire away!  I'll never forget his immortal words, "B---- set me up."  I remember watching the surveillance tape, and boy, she really did have to coax him long and hard to smoke that crack pipe but...that's an excuse???

Regards,

John

 

[dirtydeeds]

civil servants

somebody said "they are neither civil or servants"

 

[Rob Z]

civil servants

somebody said "they are neither civil or servants"

LOL!!!

 

[Rob Z]

Anyone want to hear some "Mayor For Life" Hizzoner Marion Barry stories, straight from the cops I know that were on his security detail? It doesn't get much better than that!  LOL

Fire away!  I'll never forget his immortal words, "B---- set me up."  I remember watching the surveillance tape, and boy, she really did have to coax him long and hard to smoke that crack pipe but...that's an excuse???

Regards,

John

Hi John

The story  starts with officers in his security detail ferrying confiscated cocaine, recovered stolen property that never was entered into evidence, and prostitutes "working off their arrest to keep it off the books" in MPD police vehicles by MPD officers in uniform and on duty...to Hizzoner's parties and the houses and offices  of his henchmen, cronies, conspirators and other miscellaneous low-lives that ran the DC gubmint "back in the day".  It goes downhill from there (or up, depending on your point of view  ;D ).