esme   10 #37 Posted May 11, 2009 Build them a student type halls set up with loads of things they don't need but pay rent for and then means test theyre expenses in line with student loans including assesing the income of parents/spouse e.t.c.  Ask them to pay back the loans over the course of the rest of their lives. Completely fair as the majority of MP's today had access to free education. The experience of being an MP looks good as experience on their CV which helps them to get a much better job when they are done.  Live on that! ooooh ya beat me to it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
prettygood   10 #38 Posted May 11, 2009 A new independent audit unit will now oversee the expenses, oh thats alright then another £600,000, thats £1000 per MP just to stop them fiddling. 600 MPs monthly expences, I would have thought a couple of good wages clerks on£20,000 each could see that off. Thats a saving of £560,000 straight away. why not fine them 50% of everything they overcharge, that would soon get them in line.  The proposal for an independent external audit is yet another scam by the politicians. As with so many other issues, any attempt to reform an ailing system is actually just a ruse to twist the system even more in their favour. If an external company is given responsibility for MPs' expenses, that company won't be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. That means that we'd be getting even less accountability for their expenses than we've been getting up until now. Don't fall for it.  I'd like to see all MPs' expenses for the last five years released totally unredacted now, not in July. I'd then like to see this rotten parliament dissolved and a general election called immediately. All of the MPs that have been caught at the trough will have to face their constituents at the ballot box while public anger is still high.  What depresses me most about this is the lack of honest MPs willing to speak out about the expenses. Although many MPs have not been exposed in the Telegraph, they must have known that this behaviour was going on amongst their colleagues. Where have been the whistleblowers willing to speak out about this corruption, even though it would have got them ostracised by other MPs? Apart from Norman Baker the Lib Dem MP I'm not aware of anyone speaking out before now. Our Sheffield MPs may not have been in the Telegraph themselves but I bet they were aware of at least a few other MPs who were fiddling the system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Fogey   10 #39 Posted May 11, 2009 Esme, maybe we haven't gone far enough, being an MP is probably so good on your CV that we should charge them fees. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
esme   10 #40 Posted May 11, 2009 Esme, maybe we haven't gone far enough, being an MP is probably so good on your CV that we should charge them fees.  well students have to pay their loans back as they are supposed to be the main beneficiary of their education ignoring all the extra tax the government gets from their higher earnings when they get a job  so as ministers will usually benefit from their time as a minister by obtaining well paid positions on boards of industries that they passed legislation on while in office, occasionally obtaining such positions while still in office, I'd say yes  but again it will never happen as the people in charge of making it happen are the people we have the problem with Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
alchresearch   206 #41 Posted May 11, 2009 I find it amusing that they're prepared to undergo many hardships to become an MP (such as long hours and being away from the family). Yet as soon as they become MP they seem to think the job should change to suit them or compensate them in some way.  Andy Burnham is a typical case. He was always in the local paper trying to drum up support by turning up at the opening of an envelope. And now he's "made it" he's failing left right and centre. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Tricky   10 #42 Posted May 11, 2009  how low can this man go?  ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ v Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
cgksheff   44 #43 Posted May 11, 2009 "I want to apologise on behalf of politicians on behalf of all parties for what has happened in the events of the last few days."  Doesn't quite come up to a full apology for abusing the system. Does it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Rich   12 #44 Posted May 11, 2009 Ugh, and this man wants to run the country? He can't even run his own Party competently! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
oldprune   10 #45 Posted May 11, 2009 How low can this man go?  I heard that he had sex with a dachshund,         although I have no way of verifying if it is true. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Tricky   10 #46 Posted May 11, 2009 I heard that he had sex with a dachshund, I suppose we can't ask the gender of the dachshund for fear of being branded homophobic? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
testydonkey   10 #47 Posted May 11, 2009 Better than this 'apology' over the e-mail slurrs  "I take full responsibility for what happened - that is why the person that was responsible went immediately."  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/gordon-brown/5164221/Gordon-Brown-says-sorry-for-Damian-McBride-Tory-smear-emails.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Funky_Gibbon   42 #48 Posted May 11, 2009 The suggestion that they all live in an apartment block isn't going to happen. It's too much of a security risk to put the entire political class into one handy target and would need 24-hour security at the same level as Parliament. I doubt it would be much cheaper than the current system.  What should happen though is that whatever 2nd property they choose is owned by the state not the MP and when that MP leaves Parliament the property either gets passed on to the MP replacing them or gets sold on the open market and all proceeds go straight back into the public coffers. No MP should be allowed to profit on something that was paid for by the taxpayers rather than themselves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...