Tonight:
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There sat Blears, the brazen hussy, as her boss said avoiding tax wasn’t on
Chris Blackhurst13 May 2009
Dark suit, dark tie, dark hair, dark mood. While Gordon Brown did his best Mr Glum performance, succeeding in looking thoroughly miserable, those whipper-snappers opposite had him in knots.
Three times David Cameron used the word "leadership" in relation to MPs expenses. Not once was it a reference to the skills of the Prime Minister. Oh no. This was young, bright, sharp-suited "can do" versus older, measured "can't".
While Gordon fell back on his tried and trusted shield of the independent review to tackle a tricky problem, Dave wanted action here and now. He spoke of MPs publishing their exes as they were incurred, pause, "on-line" in, pause, "real time".
Then the sexy digital beast went further. MPs should scrap their 10 grand a year communications allowance, which they use to peddle "good news" about themselves to their constituents. Suddenly, Cameron was the irresponsible tearaway Daily Telegraph editor, doing his job for him. The Tory meister wasn't done: we should be saving money and reducing the number of MPs and Lords, we've got more representatives than anywhere except China! Around him, the turkeys agreeing to Christmas, gave shocked, vigorous nods.
You there, with the swimming pool. Get out! Oi', matey with the tennis court, on yer' bike! As for you, with the horse manure, return whence you came! The muscle-rippling Cameron was up for leading them to the door, one by one.
Poor Brown. With Jack "I don't do accountancy" Straw and Hazel "I've got so many houses but none I call home" Blears sitting alongside him, all he could do was try and be statesmanlike and blather on about outsiders coming up with a new set of rules.
It was hard to work out what was redder: Hazel's hair and jacket or Michael Martin's face. Brown's discomfort isn't helped at times like this by his Glasgie soul-mate. They manage to make the other sound out of touch and from a different place - from Scotland, in fact.
But Blears, she really is something else. There she sat, the brazen hussy, as her boss said MPs "flipping" their houses and avoiding CGT wasn't on. Once, I swear, she actually licked her lips. Shameless wasn't the word for it.
No sooner did Cameron sit down, than another sixth former got up. Another who was confident and smooth, compared to Brown's hesitation and stumbling. They've got a bit of a thing going on have Nick and Dave. It started with the Ghurkas and their uniting to make fools of the Government and sure enough, Clegg was quick to mention those brave warriors again. The Lib Dem Officer Commanding was also opting for a quick fix on MPs' expenses. What did Gordon do? What do you think? He glowered and harped on about waiting for the recommendations of an external panel.
It was a lame and tired response. He knew it, his colleagues knew it. By the time the new code properly kicks in, many of them will have gone. No wonder they looked so depressed and broken. Next summer, they will have use their own money to buy their barbecue sets and sun-loungers. It's so unfair!
Reader views (10)
RE John Smythe. MPs CAN be chrged with the 2006 FRAUD ACT .2, 3 & 4. (MPs are not exempt) The most damning part for MPs is:_ Fraud by abuse of position. A person is in breach of this section if he—
(a) occupies a position in which he is expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of another person,
(b) dishonestly abuses that position, and
(c) intends, by means of the abuse of that position—
to make a gain for himself or another, or
(ii) to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.
(2) A person may be regarded as having abused his position even though his conduct consisted of an omission rather than an act.
(The Law is perfectly clear here and they must have had crooked MPs in mind when they drafted this)
The Penalties for those found Guilty are:-six months to ten years in prison; an unlimited fine; or both.
- Frank, Bristol, 13/05/2009 21:15
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#Rogan, Irving
I didn't just read the headlines, I watched PMQs on BBC which we have in Spain, along with Sky, Setanta, and any other provider we wish to subscribe to. Cameron is not advocating transparency, he is quite content to be the decision-maker in who does and does not repay their excesses. One only has to glance at the list provided by the ES to see the pathetic amount his 'leadership' has recovered from his MPs and shadow ministers. I would say I am less partisan than you; I want all MPs, of whatever party, to repay everything they are not entitled to. I also want to see an independent report, naming names and amounts, so I can decide who are the wrongdoers, not David Cameron, Gordon Brown or Nick Clegg.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain, 13/05/2009 16:32
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When interviewed on Newsnight last night, Stephen Fry said the issue of M.P.s expenses was all a fuss about nothing! Typical New Labour Rich Luvvie.
- Janet, London, UK, 13/05/2009 16:18
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Blears really is putting two fingers up at her party,parliament and the voters.The repayment cheque with her smug expression must cost the party votes.I worry that she may believe the nonsense she spouts;she is mad as a box of frogs claiming that the public hates the system as tho' she has been forced to misuse it.Indeed she has claimed that the House Authorities imposed her 1st/2nd home designations on her.It has been suggested that as there is no means of returning the money she will merely build up a healthy credit for next year but I am sure that she would not be so 2 faced.
- Peter Doff, york UK, 13/05/2009 15:50
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Wonder what the current going rate for a Knighthood or similar is? Perhaps they used a John Lewis type of price list?
Tory,Labour,Lib etc etc all seem to be up to their knees in this 'legal' scam. Sack the lot and fine all guilty parties then start again with new 'honest' MPs if possible to find. Euro lot are even more crooked than this lot.
- Mike, London England, 13/05/2009 15:46
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Val Daniels, your loyalties are showing - just a little. In case you haven't actually read beyond the headlines, here's a little heads up for you - Cameron has been advocating transparency, warts and all - Brown has been hedging on concrete responses while mumbling about it 'not being right', and 'we have to do something'.
The 'something' wouldn't take effect until AFTER any forthcoming election.
Do you need it stated any clearer than that?
- Rogan, Irving, 13/05/2009 15:29
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Question Time is a must watch tomorrow evening. I wonder who the panel will be. I'd love Hazel Blears to get a roasting from the live audience and rest of the panel. However no such luck tomorrow's panel: Margaret Beckett, Theresa May, Ming Campbell, Steve Easterbrook and Benedict Brogan. Boo, no Blears or Smith, I suppose it is now widely recognised that they are both massive liabilities with limited time on the left meter.... just like their boss GB.
- Goggs, London, 13/05/2009 15:26
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I've just been on the phone to the Inland Revenue to see if I can get the cost of clearing my moat deducted from my tax, but they won't let me. Shame!
- Phil, London, 13/05/2009 15:09
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If we the public had not paid some tax on time, we would be subject to high Inland Revenue interest rates plus penalties which can be 100% of the sum owed. Also, they would go back six years (not four as suggested by Brown). If there was fraud, as in the case of MP expenses, they would be arrested and put on the police National DNA database, then the Inland Revenue would go back 20 years. How come its one law for the public and another for the MP's. Especially when it is the MP's that have voted for the laws on the public. This cannot be right.
Also apart from outright fraud, there is also the additional charge of massive hypocrisy and double standards, what penalty for that?
- John Smythe, London, 13/05/2009 14:45
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David Cameron does not want a transparent independent review of MPs expenses, conducted by external auditors. What the Telegraph uncovered with regard to claims for moats, chandeliers, swimming pools, housekeeper's salary, plus the cost of her car, paddock rolling, porticos, wisteria trimming, tennis court repairs, etc, etc defies belief. They make Tesco shoes and bath plugs look very small fry. One can only imagine what the figures over 4 years amount to; David Cameron wont want them to see the light of day. This is not about leadership, it's about openness; it's about allowing us to see what ALL MPs have claimed, and enable the excesses to be repaid.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain, 13/05/2009 14:22
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