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HAVE YOUR SAY

SHOULD MPS HAVE THEIR EXPENSES SLASHED?

MPs are now moaning about fuel prices

Thursday June 19,2008

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(29)

GREEDY MPs are moaning that they cannot claim enough in expenses to pay for their car journeys as fuel prices continue to soar.

They say the mileage rate they are paid when on official business is no longer high enough, and that they are effectively subsidising the cost of car travel for work.

But as the rising price of unleaded and diesel continues to squeeze motorists and hauliers across Britain, critics slammed MPs whose total expenses last year averaged £136,000 each – all funded by taxpayers.

So do you think MPs have anything to moan about? Are they taking too much money in expenses already? Should have their allowances slashed?

*** HAVE YOUR SAY NOW! ***

MP'S EXPENSES

27.06.08, 9:25pm

I am absolutely outraged at just how much MP's are able to 'claim' and get away with.
I just wonder how many of them are there to be parliamentarians or are they only interested in how much they can line their private pockets with.

Far too much is made of the cost to the country of our Royal Family.
Just how much do the MP's cost each citizen in this country, precious little is given about these
parasites.
I have vowed never to vote again for a local councillor or MP, they are not worth wasting petrol or paper on. Just far too gready for words.

• Posted by: barbarad • Report Comment

MPS CAR JOURNEYS

11.06.08, 7:06am

What a pity our MPs might just be beginning to feel a slight squeeze on their bank accounts. Welcome to the real world,join the masses that you have so readily helped to ruin, and so greedily are ripping off. No doubt at the stroke of a pen you will overcome this minor glitch, and continue to live in your castles in the sky, on the other hand, you could join us on our overstretched public transport facilities, and enjoy the sardine treatment. Life is such fun for a pervert.

• Posted by: kd633 • Report Comment

"ALL ABOARD THE GRAVY TRAIN" ( 2ND AMENDMENT)

06.06.08, 8:38am

Amended again because another so called MP/MEP, "comes out of the woodwork."

MPS & MEPS - "ALL ABOARD THE GRAVY TRAIN!"
03.06.08, 9:25pm

Labour MPs and (MEPs) are a disgrace, they "self police" and therefore operate as a law unto themselves, I find it hard to believe that MPs have the right ("or have given themselves the right!") to set their own wage level & expense budget without some form of "external" audit, or at least a performance related pay scheme to gauge an MPs effectiveness, I think lack of principles and sleaze runs deep in todays politicians, exorbitant expense claims, MPs employing non existent offspring to name a few are all testament to the real "core values of todays MPs who no longer view the role of a British MP/MEP as an honour and a way to serve the Great British public but instead see it as a way to obtain privillages and ride the "Gravy train". Time and again MPs have been proven to be less than trustworthy which in any other profession would call for a competency criteria review and greater monitoring of these so called "principled leaders of democracy" and not by themselves or by any other linked "in their pocket bodies" but a real unbiased external auditor.

How can the goverment justify spending over £100,000+ of tax payers money in an attempt to keep their expenses secret?, ("The Masons are more transparent than an MPs/MEPs allowances"),
who in this day and age is given an open cheque book to the tune of 23,000+ p/a to go shopping with no receipts required? and all this underwritten by the tax payer. This type of self-regulation by MPs stinks of "nod's, winks and shady behind the scenes deals between themselves, a perfect example of self-aggrandizement.

(Q) How often do MPs attend Parliment?, lets say once or twice a week at most, why don't they stay in a Hotel?, (Ps....Ritz, Hilton or any other luxury hotel most definately excluded). Why not follow standard business practice?, if i work away i stay in a hotel, there is absolutely no plausable reason for British MPs to have expensive tax payer funded second homes, all around hard working UK citizens are losing their homes it's just another case of double standards, the Labour Party motto should be "LET THEM EAT CAKE!"

• Posted by: Chris_Hickman
______________________________________________________________________________

Named & Shamed

(1st Amendment - MEP Giles Chichester made on 05.06.08)

BRUSSELS (AFP) - MEP Giles Chichester on Thursday stood down as head of British conservatives at the European Parliament after admitting breaking assembly rules on expenses.
Chichester, an MEP since 1994, has been using a firm founded by his father, late round-the-world yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester, to channel staff allowances. (£450,000+).

"A man put in place to make more MEPs expenses more transparent - I rest my case."
______________________________________________________________________________

(2nd Amendment - Den Dover MEP 06.06.08)

Den Dover MEP, over the last 9 years this MEP has paid over £750,000 to his familly?, his wife and his daughter to be precise (i.e) The familly business for secreterial services, that is £41.500 per secretary p/a, for the last 9 years.

(Q) Which came first the secretarial business or the MEP job?, was one created around the other?. The worst thing about this is that "Den Dover MEP" claims he has done nothing wrong? and technically he hasn't, what he and his "ilk" have done is abuse and manipulate a poorly regulated expenses system, for his own gains. Why because he new he could get away with it, and why hasn't something been done about it over the years? why hasn't it been addressed? The expense claim system is left "intentionally"
open to abuse by the people who profit from it, MPs & MEPs are well aware of the loop holes and weaknesses when it comes to claiming expenses, this is seen as a "perk" and is part of "their culture," turning a "blind eye" to any indiscretions because they are "all queuing at the trough."

MPs & MEPs = "immoral".
______________________________________________________________________________

• Posted by: Chris_Hickman • Report Comment

"ALL ABOARD THE GRAVY TRAIN" (AMENDMENT)

05.06.08, 8:10pm

MPS & MEPS - "ALL ABOARD THE GRAVY TRAIN!"
03.06.08, 9:25pm

Labour MPs and (MEPs) are a disgrace, they "self police" and therefore operate as a law unto themselves, I find it hard to believe that MPs have the right ("or have given themselves the right!") to set their own wage level & expense budget without some form of "external" audit, or at least a performance related pay scheme to gauge an MPs effectiveness, I think lack of principles and sleaze runs deep in todays politicians, exorbitant expense claims, MPs employing non existent offspring to name a few are all testament to the real "core values of todays MPs who no longer view the role of a British MP/MEP as an honour and a way to serve the Great British public but instead see it as a way to obtain privillages and ride the "Gravy train". Time and again MPs have been proven to be less than trustworthy which in any other profession would call for a competency criteria review and greater monitoring of these so called "principled leaders of democracy" and not by themselves or by any other linked "in their pocket bodies" but a real unbiased external auditor.

How can the goverment justify spending over £100,000+ of tax payers money in an attempt to keep their expenses secret?, ("The Masons are more transparent than an MPs/MEPs allowances"),
who in this day and age is given an open cheque book to the tune of 23,000+ p/a to go shopping with no receipts required? and all this underwritten by the tax payer. This type of self-regulation by MPs stinks of "nod's, winks and shady behind the scenes deals beween themselves, a perfect example of self-aggrandizement.

(Q) How often do MPs attend Parliment?, lets say once or twice a week at most, why don't they stay in a Hotel?, (Ps....Ritz, Hilton or any other luxury hotel most definately excluded). Why not follow standard business practice?, if i work away i stay in a hotel, there is absolutely no plausable reason for British MPs to have expensive tax payer funded second homes, all around hard working UK citizens are losing their homes it's just another case of double standards, the Labour Party motto should be "LET THEM EAT CAKE!"

• Posted by: Chris_Hickman

(Amendment made on 05.06.08)

BRUSSELS (AFP) - MEP Giles Chichester on Thursday stood down as head of British conservatives at the European Parliament after admitting breaking assembly rules on expenses.
Chichester, an MEP since 1994, has been using a firm founded by his father, late round-the-world yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester, to channel staff allowances. (£400,000+).

"A man put in place to make more MEPs expenses more transparent - I rest my case."

• Posted by: Chris_Hickman • Report Comment

SHOULD MPS HAVE THEIR EXPENSES ?

05.06.08, 12:18am

That I think is a more suitable question.
They should have a basic wage and expenses should be submitted for scrutiny, perhaps by the opposition.The idea that they can claim for any personal belongings and or property is ludicrous.
We have to do something to stop it
We should have a few places like town halls and chambers etc where accommodation could be made available to members of parliment away from home, we could have an mps club in each town where the Lord Mayor is housed, perhaps his wife / or her husband could do bed and breakfast.

• Posted by: songbird • Report Comment

SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

04.06.08, 10:22pm

If they do not want us to know then it stands to reason that they must be on a good thing.
It is not our role in life to indulge them in luxury,they chose the job now we, the taxpayers , need them to have new contract of employment and expenses not decided by themselves.

• Posted by: Maggie • Report Comment