Tag Archives: mps expenses

How well is Cameron dealing with MPs’ expenses?

By Stephen Tall | Fri 29th May 2009 - 7:20 pm

Until the last couple of days, received wisdom – both among the mainstream media and the blogosphere – is that David Cameron has had a ‘good crisis’, dealing firmly with those Tory MPs who’ve committed egregious expenses abuses (from moats to trees to duck islands) and being ahead of the curve on democratic reforms.

So I was intrigued to read this analysis by the London Evening Standard’s Paul Waugh today, which notes how this received wisdom is now beginning to be questioned, not least by Tory MPs themselves:

… as the days have gone on, it seems that Cameron has also

…

Posted in News | Also tagged david cameron and paul waugh | 6 Comments

David Amess hides in a hairdressers

By Mark Pack | Fri 29th May 2009 - 4:40 pm

Another one to file in the “how not to handle the media” file, via the Echo:

MP DAVID Amess ran from the Echo to avoid questions after his expenses showed he claimed the maximum of £400 for food every month for the past four years.

The Tory MP sought refuge in a hairdressers’ as he tried to duck the issue.

He eventually made his escape when a car arrived at the salon in Westcliff and drove him away, with Mr Amess hiding his face behind a leaflet.

The Southend West MP’s extraordinary actions came after it emerged he claimed the maximum £19,000 on

…

Posted in News | Also tagged david amess | 3 Comments

Dawn Butler does it again

By Mark Pack | Thu 28th May 2009 - 2:51 pm

Another one for the “how not to handle the media” file courtesy of Brent Labour MP Dawn Butler (she of the unhappy letter and the disappearing statement, not to mention the numerous expense issues):

AN ELEVENTH hour climb down saw one of the borough’s MPs back out of a face-to-face parliamentary briefing to explain expenses claims.

Dawn Butler MP for Brent South cancelled crisis talks with the Times at Portcullis House in Westminster by text message just as a reporter arrived at the Houses of Parliament for the scheduled meeting on May 21.

Ms Butler claims a

…

Posted in News | Also tagged dawn butler | 1 Comment

Guardian mostly apologises to Jo Swinson

By Mark Pack | Wed 27th May 2009 - 9:57 am

From today’s Corrections and Clarifications column in the Guardian:

A further correction to our graphic surveying the expenses of certain MPs: In the category Cheapest claims, we stated without qualification that cosmetics were included in receipts submitted by Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire (23 May, page 6). Jo Swinson has denied claiming for these makeup items, telling the Telegraph, which originally reproduced one of her receipts, that the cosmetics appeared on a Boots receipt for other items she was claiming.

(More on this story in James Graham’s weekend post – including his request that you send an …

Posted in News | Also tagged Jo Swinson and the guardian | Leave a comment

Daily View 2×2: 27 May 2009

By Alix Mortimer | Wed 27th May 2009 - 9:34 am

2 big stories

Much of today’s coverage is summed up perfectly by the Independent’s headline Brown v Cameron v Clegg, under which all three leaders set out their visions for the rebuilding of Britain’s broken politics. They are due to take party in cross-party talks according to the Guardian, talks to be led by that famed bastion of reform, Jack Straw. Perhaps that’s who Nick Clegg was thinking of when he said (to the Times): “There are prominent people in government who recognise that the game’s up.” Our friends in the Lords are

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged david cameron, gordon brown, Jo Swinson, matthew oakeshott, nick clegg and steve webb | 6 Comments

Opinion: Why the sensible candidate is now the outmoded one

By Rich Wilson | Mon 25th May 2009 - 3:40 pm

It’s hard to keep pace with the news of the number of MPs who are leaving the Commons at the next election owing to the expenses scandal. This is only likely to rise, as deselections start and even safe seats start coming available. We are going to be in a situation where even the unlikeliest of prospects become possible wins for the Lib Dems, so how do we capitalise on this?

Firstly, we have to recognise that contests for those seats shall not be for the faint of heart. Big hitters with safe seats such as Hazel Blears and Alan Duncan …

Posted in Op-eds | 39 Comments

Jo Swinson’s expenses: why you should write an email today

By James Graham | Sun 24th May 2009 - 1:42 pm

I’ve been very gratified by the entirely positive feedback my articles about the Daily Telegraph and Jo Swinson yesterday have received. This is entirely in keeping with the broadly sympathetic reaction Jo has received on both the blogosphere and on Twitter.

That the story has had such a positive backlash is of course a good thing. The trouble with such stories however is that they often grow in the retelling. I’ve already cited how the BBC and Guardian have contributed to this. What if a candidate opposing Jo in the general election campaign were to base a dirty tricks campaign …

Posted in News | Also tagged daily telegraph and Jo Swinson | 3 Comments

LDV Members’ Survey – MPs’ expenses (5): how Nick Clegg’s performed

By Stephen Tall | Sun 24th May 2009 - 10:30 am

On Tuesday evening, LDV emailed those Lib Dem party members signed-up to our private discussion forum inviting them to take part in a survey focusing on MPs’ expenses. Many thanks to the 240+ of you who have so far completed it; we’ve been publishing the results on LDV over the last few days. You can catch up on the results of all our past exclusive LDV members’ surveys by clicking here.

Today we’re publishing the result that always prompts a bout of nerves in the leader’s office – how LDV’s party member readers view Nick Clegg’s performance. LDV …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged nick clegg | Leave a comment

LDV Members’ Survey – MPs’ expenses (4): Lib Dem MPs’ claims

By Stephen Tall | Sat 23rd May 2009 - 6:30 pm

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LDV asked: The following MPs have been named by the Telegraph in connection with the MPs’ expenses row. Please indicate those you believe – on the …

Posted in LDV Members poll | 43 Comments

This is what happens when journalists lower their standards #mpsexpenses

By Stephen Tall | Sat 23rd May 2009 - 3:45 pm

A week ago, I wrote an article attacking the Telegraph’s coverage of the MPs’ expenses row under the deliberately provocative headline, What has the Telegraph done for the reputation of journalism? Amidst all the outrageous abuses by MPs that the newspaper has reported, I said, it’s also been guilty of some shoddy reporting, giving equal prominence to stories which simply do not stand up to scrutiny, and deliberately omitting facts which do not fit with its headline allegations.

The main point of the article, though, was to challenge how the rest of the news media was responding to the …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged bbc, daily telegraph, james graham, Jo Swinson and the guardian | 20 Comments

Bring back Nads!

By Stephen Tall | Sat 23rd May 2009 - 1:10 pm

It’s been quite a week for Nadine Dorries, the eccentric Tory Cornerstoner MP for Mid-Bedfordshire. Yesterday she earned copious media coverage for her suggestion that MPs are on ‘suicide watch’ for their Parliamentary colleagues amidst the “unbearable” Westminster atmosphere sparked by the Telegraph’s MPs’ expenses allegations.

But when reading her blog, it wasn’t that part which most caught my attention – it was this part:

… this country has never had a Prime Minister with the political courage to stand up to the British media, and award MPs the pay rise proposed year after year, by the Senior Salary Review

…

Posted in News | Also tagged daily telegraph and nadine dorries | 1 Comment

YouTube ‘cos we want to: MPs’ expenses special

By Stephen Tall | Sat 23rd May 2009 - 12:05 pm

Welcome to an occasional new LDV feature, YouTube ‘cos we want to, rounding-up a couple of the most amusing/bad/interesting YouTube videos doing the rounds. This week, our focus is MPs’ expenses (what else?).

First up, let’s enjoy Tory MP Anthony “I’ve got a very very large house” Steen’s joyously apoplectic radio interview defending his claims from the taxpayer for treating 500 of his trees:

Then there’s American Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart giving his Daily Show take on MPs’ expenses – and coming up with the best one-word description yet coined, ‘Scamalot’:

Posted in YouTube | Also tagged anthony steen, beau bo d'or and jon stewart | 1 Comment

LDV Members’ Survey – MPs’ expenses (3): the political impact

By Stephen Tall | Fri 22nd May 2009 - 7:05 pm

On Tuesday evening, LDV emailed those Lib Dem party members signed-up to our private discussion forum inviting them to take part in a survey focusing on MPs’ expenses. Many thanks to the 240+ of you who have so far completed it; we’ll be publishing the results on LDV over the next few days. You can catch up on the results of all our past exclusive LDV members’ surveys by clicking here.

1.

LDV asked: On the basis of all that you have read, seen or heard – and trying to put party loyalties to one side – which …

Posted in LDV Members poll | 2 Comments

Ros Scott: Lib Dem internal code of conduct on expenses

By Alix Mortimer | Fri 22nd May 2009 - 12:00 pm

The membership have just received an email from the President summarising the decisions made at the Federal Executive meeting on Monday.

1. There will be a code of conduct binding on Liberal Democrat parliamentarians and candidates.
2. All Liberal Democrat MPs will support the proposals from Sir Christopher Kelly’s review of MPs’ expenses. There will be no picking and choosing of which of his recommendations to support.
3. Our leader and Chief Whip in the House of Lords will undertake a thorough review of expenses and allowances in the House of Lords.
4. We will end the self-regulation of Parliament.
5.

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Posted in News | Also tagged ros scott | 36 Comments

Ordinary voters have lost touch with Conservative MPs

By Helen Duffett | Fri 22nd May 2009 - 11:15 am

Two startled Conservative MPs have been speaking out against the reporting of MPs’ expenses:

Conservative MP Anthony Steen has expressed his dismay at the public’s interest in his lavish expense claims for his country house.

The MP for Totnes in Devon has claimed £87,000 over four years for his second home. (“Some people say it looks like Balmoral,” he offered in his defence.)

On yesterday’s World at One programme on Radio Four he was indignant:

Do you know what it’s about? Jealousy. I’ve got a very very large house.

In a breathtaking display of narcissism, he kept on digging:

We have a wretched Government here which

…

Posted in News | Also tagged anthony steen and nadine dorries | 5 Comments

Beith and Swinson latest Lib Dems named in expenses row

By Stephen Tall | Fri 22nd May 2009 - 10:21 am

Jo Swinson and Sir Alan Beith have both found themselves dragged into the latest set of allegations to be circulating – for the record, and avoidance of doubt, looking at the newspaper reports it doesn’t seem either of them have any reason not to be able to look their constituents in the eyes.

Sir Alan Beith

The Telegraph’s story about Sir Alan relates to a rented flat in London he shares with his wife, former fellow Lib Dem MP (now a Lib Dem peer) Baroness (Diana) Maddock. You can read the story here. I assume the Telegraph is publishing now …

Posted in News | Also tagged alan beith and Jo Swinson | 30 Comments

LDV Members’ Survey – MPs’ expenses (2): what you think of it all

By Stephen Tall | Thu 21st May 2009 - 7:00 pm

On Tuesday evening, LDV emailed those Lib Dem party members signed-up to our private discussion forum inviting them to take part in a survey focusing on MPs’ expenses. Many thanks to the 230+ of you who have so far completed it; we’ll be publishing the results on LDV over the next few days. You can catch up on the results of all our past exclusive LDV members’ surveys by clicking here.

1.

LDV asked, Which of the following statements most closely matches your own view:

And here’s what you told us:

>> 38% – The alleged abuses by MPs of the allowances system is an issue of fundamental importance to the political system.

>> 56% – The alleged abuses by MPs of the allowances system is an important issue, but the reporting of it has sometimes been over-the-top.

>> 4% – The alleged abuses by MPs of the allowances system is pretty trivial compared with the other issues facing this country.

>> 1% – Don’t know / Other.

2.

We then asked: The Daily Telegraph has been running the MPs’ expenses story, having apparently obtained stolen data by paying a source up to £100,000. MPs’ expenses were due to be published by Parliament itself in June after a long-running FOI campaign. Some have criticised the Telegraph’s actions as ‘chequebook journalism’, while others have defended the paper for exposing the alleged abuses of the allowance system by MPs. Do you think, on balance, the Daily Telegraph’s actions have been:

Here’s what you said:

Posted in LDV Members poll | Leave a comment

Daily View 2×2: 21 May 09

By Alex Foster | Thu 21st May 2009 - 10:03 am

What’s up in blogs and news.

In the media

The expenses row continues to rumble with the MP for my ancestral home of Leominster getting scalped by the Telegraph alongside Ruth Kelly and a duck, if the pictures are to be believed.

Meanwhile over the Daily Mail has been working hard to bring you this extreme comparison with Cornish MP Andrew George – they’ve found one of his constituents who commutes to LB Barking & Dagenham, but whose weekday residence is a £30 tent. There’s some grass left in Parliament Square, isn’t there? We could have a tent city for MPs …

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged andrew george | 7 Comments

LDV Members’ Survey – MPs’ expenses (1): what you said about Chris Rennard

By Stephen Tall | Thu 21st May 2009 - 9:18 am

On Tuesday evening, LDV emailed those Lib Dem party members signed-up to our private discussion forum inviting them to take part in a survey focusing on MPs’ expenses. Many thanks to the 220 of you who have so far completed it; we’ll be publishing the results on LDV over the next few days. You can catch up on the results of all our past exclusive LDV members’ surveys by clicking here.

First up, we’re going to look at what you said about the expenses stories concerning Lord (Chris) Rennard, the party’s chief executive. Here’s what we asked: Though …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged chris rennard | 18 Comments

Opinion: Pushing for PR

By Daniel Russell | Wed 20th May 2009 - 8:07 pm

In a week which has seen the Commons Speaker lose his job over his part in the mis-handling of MPs’ expenses – which is merely the culmination of a less than satisfactory tenure in the prestigious position – surely it is time for other sweeping changes to be undertaken for the good of politics in the UK? In particular, now must be the time for the Lib Dems to be pushing even harder for proportional representation.

Voter apathy has been all too apparent in recent years and the disconnection between the public and the political process has been getting wider and …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged constitutional reform and proportional representation | 12 Comments

Opinion: the worst outcome of MPs’ expenses, a victory for the far right?

By George Turner | Wed 20th May 2009 - 2:15 pm

PoliticsHome recently carried some rather shocking numbers from a poll that it conducted between the 14-15 of May saying that over a quarter of British voters have changed their voting intentions as a result of the MPs’ expenses scandal. The main beneficiary it seems is UKIP, with 28% of those changing loyalty to the anti-European Union party. The second biggest beneficiary is the BNP with 16%.

Leaving aside for a moment the thoroughly disagreeable politics of these parties, any gain by UKIP or the BNP in the European elections on the basis of anger over expenses would be a …

Posted in News | Also tagged bnp and ukip | 5 Comments

Phil Willis latest Lib Dem MP named by Telegraph

By Stephen Tall | Wed 20th May 2009 - 1:20 pm

We have a rather belated entrant into the pantheon of Lib Dem MPs accused by the Telegraph of having abused the expenses system: Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Phil Willis.

The full Telegraph story is here. Tracing the sequence from the newspaper’s (actually rather confusing) report, it appears Phil’s main residence is near Harrogate, and he bought a basement flat as his London base a decade ago (presumably when first elected). So far no story.

However, in April 2007, Phil bought the neighbouring basement flat for £215,000, and designated it as his second home, claiming some expenses for stamp duty, legal …

Posted in News | Also tagged phil willis | 19 Comments

More Lib Dem saints #MPexpenses

By Alix Mortimer | Wed 20th May 2009 - 10:31 am

The Telegraph continues its series of saintly MPs and three more Lib Dems are included.

Tom Brake, Susan Kramer and Ed Davey are all Greater London MPs with columns of zeroes next to their ACA claims, even though they are strictly speaking entitled to them. They join Sarah Teather, Lynne Featherstone and David Howarth who have already featured in the series.

Here’s an interesting thing: will Vince Cable be included in this holy parade? He too is a Greater London MP who doesn’t claim the ACA he is entitled to. I seem to recall

…

Posted in News | Also tagged ed davey, susan kramer, tom brake and vince cable | 9 Comments

Ben Chapman’s rise and fall mirrors the rise and fall of Labour

By Mark Pack | Wed 20th May 2009 - 7:50 am

March 1997: John Major is Prime Minister and there’s a Parliamentary by-election in the Conservative-held seat of Wirral South. With a general election expected within weeks, the by-election is a major political event, with widespread media coverage.

New Labour use the campaign to showcase their mix of new and old, in the form of their candidate. He is Ben Chapman, the son of a farm labourer (tick the traditional Labour box) who became a successful senior civil servant, went into business and was a very recent recruit to the party (tick the New Labour box).

Carefully marshaled by minders through the campaign, …

Posted in News | Also tagged ben chapman, gordon brown and tony blair | 4 Comments

LDV members’ survey – MPs’ expenses special – now live

By Stephen Tall | Tue 19th May 2009 - 5:30 pm

The new LDV members’ survey is now live – this one focuses exclusively on the hot topic of MPs’ expenses. So if you are a registered member of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum – and any paid-up party member is welcome to join – then you now have the opportunity to make your views known. Questions we are asking your opinion on include:

– your views on MPs in general and the Telegraph’s reporting;
– which party you think has been hardest hit by the allegations;
– which Lib Dem MPs named by the Telegraph you think have questions to answer;
– whether …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged chris rennard | 4 Comments

LDV readers say: 85% wanted Michael Martin to quit

By Stephen Tall | Tue 19th May 2009 - 12:50 pm

Well, y’know, I’m personally convinced that Michael Martin must have been finally convinced to quit when he saw the overwhelming result of LDV’s over-night poll showing 85% of readers thought he should quit now. So much more likely than that the Prime Minister instructed him to resign voluntarily.

Here, for the record,is what you said in response to the question, “Do you think the Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin should resign over his handling of the MPs’ expenses row?”

>> 85% (137 votes) – The Speaker should resign now – reform cannot wait until the general election.
>> 9% (15)

…

Posted in News, Parliament and Voice polls | Also tagged douglas carswell, house of commons, michael martin and nick clegg | 4 Comments

Speaker Michael Martin to resign

By Helen Duffett | Tue 19th May 2009 - 10:47 am

Sky News reports that Commons Speaker Michael Martin will resign this afternoon, over the MPs’ expenses scandal.

Martin is expected to make a statement to the House of Commons at 2:30pm today.

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged michael martin | 4 Comments

The MPs who blocked expenses reform last summer

By Mark Pack | Tue 19th May 2009 - 8:50 am

Last summer an unholy alliance of Labour and Conservative MPs voted to block a series of major reforms to MP expenses, such as requiring receipts for all claims, having outside checks and major changes to the Additional Costs Allowance (ACA).

I commented on Dawn Butler’s role in this yesterday and on looking through the details of the vote it is good to see that all the Liberal Democrat MP voting went through the lobbies in favour of reform. Of course, the bulk of the blame for blocking the reforms must lie with the Labour Party as 146 of their MPs …

Posted in News | Also tagged david cameron | 6 Comments

Dawn Butler’s whirlpool bath

By Mark Pack | Mon 18th May 2009 - 10:49 pm

When blogging earlier today about how Labour MP Dawn Butler was one of those who blocked reforms to MPs’ expenses last year it crosseed my mind to make a satirical comment. Good thing I didn’t try really, as it would have been topped straight away by the latest Daily Telegraph revelation – that she claimed for a Jacuzi-style bath on expenses.

Posted in News | Also tagged daily telegraph and dawn butler | 10 Comments

Three “saintly” Liberal Democrat MPs #MPexpenses

By Helen Duffett | Mon 18th May 2009 - 6:16 pm

The Telegraph has canonised three Liberal Democrat MPs (for what that’s worth) because they have not made claims for second homes:

Sarah Teather’s balance sheet has a column of zeroes, as does fellow London MP Lynne Featherstone’s, here.

David Howarth, whose Cambridge constituency is a significant commuting distance from London, is also listed.

It’s worth noting that none of the Liberal Democrat MPs from London constituencies claim an allowance for a second home, but it’s still good to see the Telegraph including Lib Dems in their praise.

Posted in News | Also tagged david howarth, lynne featherstone and sarah teather | 8 Comments

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