Tag Archives: paul waugh

Mark Pack

Is this an indictment of MPs … or of journalists?

By Mark Pack | Fri 20th March 2009 - 8:56 pm

Paul Waugh has blogged today about the question of how long MPs spend in the Commons. As one might expect of a blog which is rapidly moving up many people’s ‘must read’ lists, it’s a better piece than many of those written on the topic. He does give a few outings to the point that if an MP is absent from Parliament, that doesn’t mean they are not working:

A combination of generous holidays and reformed hours means that many MPs now have what is effectively a three day week (tho in some cases it is a two-and-a-half day week).

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Posted in Parliament | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

At the third time of asking, Jacqui Smith gets investigated

By Mark Pack | Wed 18th February 2009 - 12:27 pm

Paul Waugh has the story:

Jacqui Smith’s expenses claims are set to receive fresh scrutiny today. I’ve learned that she has now been written to by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards John Lyon in the light of fresh allegations made this weekend by her neighbours in south-east London.

Having turned down two previous requests to investigate the affair, Mr Lyon has asked the Home Sec to  provide additional information on how often she stays at her sister’s home in Nunhead.

Dominic and Jessica Taplin  this weekend told the Mail on Sunday that Ms Smith was rarely in her London home more than three nights

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

Ambulance-chasing, Colin Rosentiel, the Standards Board, and our loss of civic pride

By Stephen Tall | Thu 5th February 2009 - 8:40 pm

Some may feel I’m asking for trouble by highlighting for a second day running the case of Colin Rosentiel, the Lib Dem Cambridge city councillor who allegedly blocked an ambulance on an emergency call to protect some common land. But, having reported the story here yesterday, it prompts a wider question than the rights and wrongs of an individual councillor.

A couple of folk linked in the comments thread to the report of Cambridge city council’s monitoring officer to its standards committee – you can read it in full here. And I mean in full – it’s …

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Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 11 Comments
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