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Will anything wipe the smug smile of this woman's face? If Gordon Brown can do one thing that will make the country applaud it is sack this rhino-skinned, greedy swindler immediately. If he doesn't have the guts to do so, she should do us all a favour, jump on her motorbike (no doubt paid for by the tax payer) and take a long, one way trip, preferably to HM prison for fraud.

- Eric Malvern, barnsley, 21/05/2009 00:07
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Demoting them is not good enough...they should be sacked..Jacqui Smith seems to be a very dodgy person..I would not like to work with her and her underhand schemes would appall me.

- Lin, ILFORD ENGLAND, 20/05/2009 23:07
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And why not Harman as well??? What good is she to this country??? In fact why don't they all resign, the (unelected) PM and all of his cronies?

- Lin, ILFORD ENGLAND, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Piggy Smiff and Alien Blears, these two shameless MPs days are clearly numbered. However, if Crash wants to cling to power for a little longer, the cull should not stop there the cleanout should go much deeper.

- Goggs, London, 20/05/2009 23:07
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I am not for Labour, new or otherwise, but I always thought Hazel Blears a decent person amongst a gang of self-serving charlatans. I confess to being really disappointed in her behaviour. She clearly is not different.

- John, Arezzo, Italy, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Smith and Blears should be fired along with their comrade Harman who attempted to get adopted an opaque system of expense categories which would have hidden the sordid details of MPs' corruption.

- Doug Watt, london e14, 20/05/2009 23:07
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The items claimed for are not relevant. There is a limit to expense. If an individual decides to claim £1000s on home improvements or Cadbury's Cream Eggs, it's up to them. It's part of their job package. What gets me, is the sheer arrogance and lack of sensitivity. What was Blears thinking this weekend? If there are reporters outside your home and you have had a week of bad press, keep a low profile or do something worthwhile. Don't parade around in your leathers and straddle your expensive motorbike, grinning like you just don't care.

- Ben Farrell, London, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Smith and Blears cannot stay in the Cabinet in any position. They have each been caught scamming the taxpayer AND the taxman, lying to one or the other about which is their main home to avoid paying tax. They have behaved immorally and unethically, if not actually illegally. It is completely unacceptable to have such people who lack all public trust and confidence running government departments, spending billions of tax payers' money, acting as lawmakers and sitting in judgement on the rest of us. The MUST go. They are totally discredited. So is most of the rest of the Cabinet but there's a limit to how much bile I can spout online.

- Tom Moncrieff, london W6, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Did anyone see the Iron Chipmunk on the news saying she understood why the public was angry and that they system was so very wrong?

This is after she has worked said system to her maximum advantage and filled her pouch with taxpayer's nuts, the sheer brass neck of this creature takes your breath away.

She is the epitome of what is known as 'the political class' in politics for what she can get and that's it, no public duty, no honour nothing.

- Undercover Elephant, London Dust Bath, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Can someone set up an online poll for HRH the Queen to dissolve parliament? it would be interesting to see how many votes that gets.

- Mrs, London UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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They should all go, all the self serving politicians, Tory, Labour, Lib-Dem they are all tarred with the same brush.
If you or I pulled these strokes we would be prosecuted for fraud or tax evasion.
The Queen must disolve this shower of theives.

- John Nasmith, Farnborough, Hants. England, 20/05/2009 23:07
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What's the payout when they get sacked from a cabinet post-is it 40k? The scum just keep on winning-we need a revolution, corruption is endemic in the system as companies (oh yes-and the banks, remember them?) hold the ears of our lovely 'elected' government, and normal people are trodden down and forced to pay the debts of the upper echelons of society. Come on England, the fact that we don't like to make a fuss and just muddle through is being, and has been, used against us for years. The time to change things is now-don't vote for the Conservatives/Labour/Liberals New faces, a breath of fresh air, it's our only chance, otherwise we'll continue to be milked dry bu the old aristocracy and the new aristocracy (the political and upper management class) who set their own rules, get rewarded for failure, and are bailed out/compensated at every turn.

- Ted, London UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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So 'Aunt Sally Look-A-Like'..Hazel Blears held a cheque in her hand and waved it around.It was a combination of Neville Chamberlain meets a Lottery Winner.Lets hope that scary grin is wiped off her face and she faces life as a backbencher.Odds on she will step down at the next election...Well..Panto season starts and she wants top billing...ok then....plus expenses.

- Jonnie Of Brixton, brixton,london,england, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Anyone else avoids tax like that gets taken to court and this annoying Blears woman keeps her job?

Should be sacked, her constituents have a right to vote her out NOW.

- As, Birmingham, 20/05/2009 23:07
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SACK THE LOT OF THESE SELF-SERVING HYPOCRITES.

THE QUEEN NEEDS TO DISSOLVE PARLIAMENT IMMEDIATELY AND A GENERAL ELECTION SHOULD BE HELD NOW.

- Reuben Camara, Morecambe UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Why only demotion? Sack both now

- Mike, London England, 20/05/2009 23:07
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As a struggling pensioner, I took a look at the shoppers in my local supermarket on Saturday afternoon and suddenly had a vision of the people loading their trolleys and queuing at the tills being MPs instead of the workers, pensioners, and unemployed that we collectively were. I visualised all the thousands of pounds being spent on this one Saturday afternoon that would be claimed back without hesitation by the obscene and amoral scavengers whom we have entrusted to run our daily lives. We all feel anger and disgust at their behaviour but all of a sudden I felt overwhelmingly sad when I realised the enormity of the situation and how low this country has sunk when the Mother of Parliaments is no different to a “third world” dictatorship in its contempt for the people.

- Pat, London, UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Is Blears an MP or a property developer? The Govt condems benefit fraud cheats but allows its own Cabinet ministers to claim expenses to do up properties as their second home and then claim that the same property is their main residence to evade Capital Gains Tax.

Gordon Brown finally apologised - did Cameron's apology yesterday have anything to do with this?

- David Burns, Beckenham, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Clearly a large number of the claims were against the spirit of the rules and not wholly and exclusively to enable them to discharge their duties, but to keep more folding in their pockets/purses.

As such illegal and obtaining money by deception. They should be sacked, with loss of benefit and prosecuted as any other criminal would be. The fact that they were elected to look after our interests makes their crime the more nasty and reprehensible. Rather than admit the error of their ways, the claim within the rules, or allowed. Their sentence should be that much stiffer, they are after all supposed to be intelligent people.

- Hugh, Middx, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Look how smug she looks for crying out loud! If I lived back in the UK I would personally wipe that grin off her face!

- Jc, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 20/05/2009 23:07
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To all of these Parliamentary crooks I quote the words of Oliver Cromwell to the Rump Parliament in 1653:
"You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"

- Candidly, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Any minister shown to have exploited the expenses system should be booted out. That should leave a fairly empty boardroom!

- Marianne (Uk National And Tax-Payer), SW France/London, 20/05/2009 23:07
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This is what happens when you give people jobs not on their ability but on other factors, such as age, creed or in this case gender.

- Dereck, London, England, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Excellent! Two idiots down, the rest of the cabinet/party to follow?

- Gareth, Hampshire, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Not good enough, sack them both. They are arrogant and incompetent.

- K Lee, Cheshunt, UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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I am so Ashamed to now call myself English - how dare these politicions Steal from the hardworking people of this country - how they must have laughed whilst furnishing their homes from John Lewis when some people have to furnish their homes from Charity Shops!

- Jean, Surrey, 20/05/2009 23:07
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given the liberties they've taken with the public purse and their inability to perceive the wrong they've committed, surely all their decisions taken on our behalf are dubiousat best and deserve closer scrutiny. if they've made mistakes on a financial level then their ability is questionable and perhaps they are inept and should never have been awarded the positions they occupy.

- M.O'Brien, london.uk, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Utter incompetents, the pair of them.

As for Ms Blears, never mind a 'demotion' she should be prosecuted for fraud.

Either she's lied to and cheated the commons system or she's lied to and cheated the taxman.

It's a cast iron case, there is no ambiguity.

Corrupt and fraudulent, but she seems to think if she smiles sweetly enough then maybe people won't think she's a disgusting thief.

- John, London, 20/05/2009 23:07
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That'll take the smirk off "On Yur Bike" Blears' arrogant mug and Smithy can spend more time with hubby selecting suitable viewing material.

- Strongbow Sullivan, Paris,France, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Why demotion? The pair should be sacked from their Ministerial posts and deselected by the Labour Party. They cannot be sacked as MPs until there is an election, but they would have to fight their seats without party backing - if they dared. Come on Gordon do the decent thing.

- James Elliott, Eastbourne UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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A chandelier
Two over large for larded arse khazi seats
Murder the trees Aga's, how chique
A bath plug
No partridge in a pear tree. yet?

No name or face in payment paid
A nameless numbered nation
Make payment
Oh how smart your kitchen
Garden, neater than Kew
Ah a swimming pool.…
Tut tut it leaks
No stress the nameless number will pay the plumber

Time so much time
To scribe the shopping list, sod the NHS and other pifling topics
And the honourable members look busy
And the trusting face of Mrs x
Oo No not Mrs x but number million and two
You paid toward a gardener number million and two
And in your meagre front yard the thistles still grow

What will you do number million and two?
Allow a continue
Of a slapped face?
Yes, you will...
Get angry number million and two
Don't forget...Do NOT forget
They hope you will forget
You do not have dementia number million and two
Do not forget

- Midge, London, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Why shouldn't she look smug? She knows that no-one can touch her or her ill-gotten gains.

- Pacifus, Newcastle Australia, 20/05/2009 23:07
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This unfortunate deformed creature is sadly the result of having a big mouth and a very small brain.

- Lezli Taubler, London / UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Yes, demote them to 'Cleaners of Parliamentry Latrines'. While were at it, how about an early election. It might clear the decks of all these expense rows that have engulfed all MPS and all parties.

- Uncle Vanya, East Anglia Area UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Brown must find the courage to instigate police investigations and prosecutions (meaningful investigations and rapid tracked prosecution )for Smith Blears McNulty Hoon and others suspected of seeking pecuniary advantage by deceit.All monies must be repaid ;party expulsion goes without saying.Sadly Brown is so incapable of connecting with people that he can not understand the depth of contempt and loathing for MPs.

- Peter Doff, york UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Do as I say, not as I do. Well it has worked so far. What is the problem?

- M S, Manchester, England, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Are we becoming third world country? Where politicans act as they like. It is about time Hazel Blears, Jacqui Smith, and Herman to go , if they have any honour left, which I dought.

- Surj, london, 20/05/2009 23:07
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The rot started at the top with LYING Phony 'whiter than white' bliar, and continued with Boredom Clown. bliar is gone, why is Clown still PM? He appointed those useless ministers, he is responsible AND accountable, so when are you going to get it into your thick skull Boredom, it's long past your 'sell by date' for you to go, the stench has reached to the furthest corners of Great Britain, so when are you leaving you DIShonourable, pathetic, incompetent man?

- Ralph, London GB, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Fish starts to stink at the head.
Brown has spawned all this behaviour. Throwing two bad ones out doesn't make the mouldy rest any better.

- Ex London, Germany, 20/05/2009 23:07
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The right honourable trust placed in parliamentarians has been damaged beyond repair, why should voters trust any politician ever again. Unfortunately there are honest men and women in politics that we will never know. Unless the dishonourable members are removed completely from ever holding any political office.

- Graham Moore, France, 20/05/2009 23:07
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I don't just want them demoted.

I want them dismissed for having systematically fiddled expenses. Just like would happen iny other workplace.

I also want HMRC to reclaim 40% (plus interest) of the value of expenses claimed that were not essential for doing the job.

- Ant, Egham, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Pleases note Ms Harperson this is exactly what you get when people like you try to legislate to ensure women only selection panels. Both Smith and Blears were primarily appointed to the Labour Cabinet because they were women, not based on the best candidate, whether they were male or female. This is the result two hopeless female Ministers completely out of their depth, and now they will be 'removed' putting back the cause of intelligent and capable career women for years. I would think that you are only hanging in by the skin of your teeth, as to lose 3 female Cabinet Ministers in one go would be a complete disaster for the Government and it's 'womens' policy.

- Paul, South London, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Let's figure this one out . . . Bleary-Eyed advises the House of Commons that her Kennington property is her 2nd home yet informs the taxman that it is her "main residence" - So which was it? On the face of it Blears either lied to the House of Commons or to the Taxman!

Does this sort of lie to the Taxman normally go unpunished?

Is there some unwritten law that actually permits anybody to lie to the taxman about their 2nd properties? Why bother to fill in a "Land & Property" tax form supplement when it's far easier for 2nd property owners to simply say that "they forgot to" or that "they didn't know that they had to" fill one in?! How much is the HMRC - losing out - on this nice little scam by 2nd property owners each and every year?

Of course, it must also be very easy to forget that your "2nd home" is actually your "main residence" when it saves you some £18,000.00 in Capital Gains Tax, right?

- Fraser, Telford Park, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Out Out Out... come on people, let's start demonstrating with our voices!

- Lee, London, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Sacked? Yes. Not only from the Cabinet but from the Labour Party as well, so that bye-elections will be needed in this disgraceful pair's consituencies. Give the people the chance to vent their disgust.

While we are at it, let us include all those other Cabinet members who have had their snouts in the trough. The Cabinet Room would soon be empty.

- Jan, tottenham. london, 20/05/2009 23:07
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Demotion is not enough. Such a move leaves them free to carry on in the same corrupt manner. They must be sacked and a police investigation launched into their claims. All "second homes" paid for and furnished by the tax payer must be sold and the monies repaid to the public purse. If they are unwilling to sell the properties then they must be made re-mortgate them to raise the money owed. They must NOT be allowed to remain in post until June 2010 whilst in the meantime continuing to submit claims for bogus expenses.

- R.F., Yorks, UK, 20/05/2009 23:07
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