[cite]Posted By: Curb_It[/cite]see the greenwich one doesnt. thankfully.
would he have a second home because he's not actually from that area originally?
Up until now, any MP who represented an Outer London constituency (i.e Bexley or Bromley, but not Greenwich) could claim for a second home. So many, but not all of them, did. I wouldn't defend it and both Labour and Tory MPs were at it. MPs from inner London (the old ILEA area) can claim the London supplement instead, which to be fair is similar to what most people get if they work in Central London (or did 20 years ago when I last commuted).
Following the current scandal, outer London MPs will no longer be able to claim for a second home and the total amount the rest can claim for this has been reduced by about half. But it still means some people whose seats are 20 miles from parliament can claim.
Conway isn't standing in Old Bexley and Sidcup; he has been replaced as candidate by the current Tory MP for Hornchurch, whose constituency has been abolished.
Expense ReportcloseConstituency: Ilford North
MP: Scott, Mr Lee
Party: CON
Expenses
Second Home: £0
London Supplement: £2,812
Office: £14,585
Staffing: £89,273
Stationery: £595
IT Provision: £926
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £5,652
Travel: £3,845
Total Expenses: £120,079
Quite reasonable really.
I dont begrudge them paying their relatives to do a job, as long as they actually 'do' the job.
I suppose your average secretary / p.a earns 25-35k so if your wife/husband,mistress etc can do the job, why not employ them. It is the ones like Conway who employed his son as a researcher and who was at university at the time, that have caused this outcry. i think one MP commented that the house of commons should employ all the secretary's,researchers etc and that the MP's are allocated these from a pool, and that the wages are not responsibility of the MP. This would stop the relatives from being employed on a willy nilly basis.
[cite]Posted By: Off_it[/cite]I wonder how much of the "staffing" costs claimed are actually in relation to members of their own families? About 80% I would guess, the parasites.
I don't have a problem with MP's employing family members at the going rate, as long as they are actually doing the job.
[cite]Posted By: Miserableold-ish git[/cite]Travel; £2,782 ! Its 4 bloody miles from his house to HOP !!
Far be it for me to defend Jim Dowd, but I think the expenses are not to and from HOP, but travelling as an MP as part of his committee work. Sadly Dowd is a Palace fan, which galls me in that we asked him to open the East Stand.
One of the MPs reasons for a second home was the fact that once when the moon is blue,they work very late and there is n public transport or they are to tired to drive. Therefore get them black cabs even 100 miles away over a year the tax payer would be quids in.
[cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]Are you planning to stand again, Rick?
No it's not worth it now. JOKE :-)
The great thing about being the Labour candidate in OBS is that the current furore - or pretty much anything the government does, for that matter - makes no difference whatsoever to the chances of me winning.
However, I do think it's disastrous for politics generally and especially harsh on the activists of all mainstream parties who knock on doors.
I also feel sorry for the activists who will be geting it the neck on the door step, and for the MPs who have not had their noses in the trough.
This has without doubt been a disaster for UK democracy. However it culd also be an opertunity to completely look at the whole process.
Loose the idea of 3 lines whips--------- let all votes be "free" Proportional(sic) representation brought in (yes there will be some far right/far left) An elected house of Lords No PM without being voted in by the public. Manifesto items to be binding
The Queen could disolve Parliament--------- she wont, but it would be the single best thing that Royalty has done in hundreds of years.
[cite]Posted By: WSS[/cite]Is that a yes or a no?!
Look, I'm a (part-time) politician. I can't be giving straight answers to straight questions or where would we be?
[cite]Posted By: Goonerhater[/cite]
Loose the idea of 3 lines whips
let all votes be "free"
Proportional(sic) representation brought in (yes there will be some far right/far left)
An elected house of Lords
No PM without being voted in by the public.
Manifesto items to be binding
The Queen could disolve Parliament
she wont, but it would be the single best thing that Royalty has done in hundreds of years.
I agree with PR - or at least a single transferable vote - and an elected House of Lords (in direct proportion to votes). This of itself would start to rupture the big coalition parties (Labour & Conservatives), but you're never going to get rid of party influence in votes and a directly elected PM would require a massive constitutional shift with all kinds of implications.
As for manifesto commitments, it's up to the electorate to punish politicians who break them if they choose - I can't see any way you could police such a commitment beyond that because there will always genuine changes in circumstances and differences of interpretation. We elect representatives to make decisions for us on the assumption they have the time and intelligence to analyse the issues when the general public has neither the time nor the inclination.
As Harold Macmillan said, the biggest challenge to any politician is "events"; you can't rely on a four or five-year-old manifesto to steer you through them.
Constituency: Maidstone and The Weald
MP: Widdecombe, Rt Hon Ann
Party: CON
Expenses
Second Home: £858
London Supplement: £0
Office: £20,957
Staffing: £87,456
Stationery: £465
IT Provision: £1,000
Staff Cover: £2,430
Communication: £0
Travel: £1,659
Total Expenses: £115,728
£858 wouldn't even pay for the maintenance of her swimming pool!
Constituency: Gravesham
MP: Holloway, Mr Adam
Party: CON
Expenses
Second Home: £22,587
London Supplement: £0
Office: £13,598
Staffing: £85,166
Stationery: £957
IT Provision: £1,009
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £21,063
Travel: £2,602
Total Expenses: £149,535
£22.5k on a second home, checking on They Work for You, most of his travelling is done by car, so Adam, Why do you need a second home when you can drive from Westminster to Gravesham in less than an hour after a late night session in the House?
How many spare office blocks in Westminster? Cheaper to convert one or two into units of small flats?
Constituency: Haltemprice and Howden
MP: Davis, Rt Hon David
Party: CON
Expenses
Second Home: £17,643
London Supplement: £0
Office: £19,258
Staffing: £88,036
Stationery: £462
IT Provision: £1,316
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £2,871
Travel: £10,888
Total Expenses: £141,963
Constituency: Hull East
MP: Prescott, Rt Hon John
Party: LAB
Expenses
Second Home: £23,083
London Supplement: £0
Office: £10,920
Staffing: £88,563
Stationery: £674
IT Provision: £1,251
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £0
Travel: £15,441
Comments
Up until now, any MP who represented an Outer London constituency (i.e Bexley or Bromley, but not Greenwich) could claim for a second home. So many, but not all of them, did. I wouldn't defend it and both Labour and Tory MPs were at it. MPs from inner London (the old ILEA area) can claim the London supplement instead, which to be fair is similar to what most people get if they work in Central London (or did 20 years ago when I last commuted).
Following the current scandal, outer London MPs will no longer be able to claim for a second home and the total amount the rest can claim for this has been reduced by about half. But it still means some people whose seats are 20 miles from parliament can claim.
Conway isn't standing in Old Bexley and Sidcup; he has been replaced as candidate by the current Tory MP for Hornchurch, whose constituency has been abolished.
MP: Scott, Mr Lee
Party: CON
Expenses
Second Home: £0
London Supplement: £2,812
Office: £14,585
Staffing: £89,273
Stationery: £595
IT Provision: £926
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £5,652
Travel: £3,845
Total Expenses: £120,079
Quite reasonable really.
I dont begrudge them paying their relatives to do a job, as long as they actually 'do' the job.
I suppose your average secretary / p.a earns 25-35k so if your wife/husband,mistress etc can do the job, why not employ them. It is the ones like Conway who employed his son as a researcher and who was at university at the time, that have caused this outcry. i think one MP commented that the house of commons should employ all the secretary's,researchers etc and that the MP's are allocated these from a pool, and that the wages are not responsibility of the MP. This would stop the relatives from being employed on a willy nilly basis.
No it's not worth it now. JOKE :-)
I don't have a problem with MP's employing family members at the going rate, as long as they are actually doing the job.
Far be it for me to defend Jim Dowd, but I think the expenses are not to and from HOP, but travelling as an MP as part of his committee work. Sadly Dowd is a Palace fan, which galls me in that we asked him to open the East Stand.
Me too.
Orpinton to London 25 mins, I wonder where his 2 homes are.
The great thing about being the Labour candidate in OBS is that the current furore - or pretty much anything the government does, for that matter - makes no difference whatsoever to the chances of me winning.
However, I do think it's disastrous for politics generally and especially harsh on the activists of all mainstream parties who knock on doors.
Listen to Jeremy Paxman : - )
This has without doubt been a disaster for UK democracy. However it culd also be an opertunity to completely look at the whole process.
Loose the idea of 3 lines whips--------- let all votes be "free"
Proportional(sic) representation brought in (yes there will be some far right/far left)
An elected house of Lords
No PM without being voted in by the public.
Manifesto items to be binding
The Queen could disolve Parliament--------- she wont, but it would be the single best thing that Royalty has done in hundreds of years.
Look, I'm a (part-time) politician. I can't be giving straight answers to straight questions or where would we be?
I agree with PR - or at least a single transferable vote - and an elected House of Lords (in direct proportion to votes). This of itself would start to rupture the big coalition parties (Labour & Conservatives), but you're never going to get rid of party influence in votes and a directly elected PM would require a massive constitutional shift with all kinds of implications.
As for manifesto commitments, it's up to the electorate to punish politicians who break them if they choose - I can't see any way you could police such a commitment beyond that because there will always genuine changes in circumstances and differences of interpretation. We elect representatives to make decisions for us on the assumption they have the time and intelligence to analyse the issues when the general public has neither the time nor the inclination.
As Harold Macmillan said, the biggest challenge to any politician is "events"; you can't rely on a four or five-year-old manifesto to steer you through them.
MP: Widdecombe, Rt Hon Ann
Party: CON
Expenses
Second Home: £858
London Supplement: £0
Office: £20,957
Staffing: £87,456
Stationery: £465
IT Provision: £1,000
Staff Cover: £2,430
Communication: £0
Travel: £1,659
Total Expenses: £115,728
£858 wouldn't even pay for the maintenance of her swimming pool!
MP: Holloway, Mr Adam
Party: CON
Expenses
Second Home: £22,587
London Supplement: £0
Office: £13,598
Staffing: £85,166
Stationery: £957
IT Provision: £1,009
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £21,063
Travel: £2,602
Total Expenses: £149,535
£22.5k on a second home, checking on They Work for You, most of his travelling is done by car, so Adam, Why do you need a second home when you can drive from Westminster to Gravesham in less than an hour after a late night session in the House?
How many spare office blocks in Westminster? Cheaper to convert one or two into units of small flats?
Shame on you Dave.
Could be quite possible, once the new supreme court is up and running!
MP: Davis, Rt Hon David
Party: CON
Expenses
Second Home: £17,643
London Supplement: £0
Office: £19,258
Staffing: £88,036
Stationery: £462
IT Provision: £1,316
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £2,871
Travel: £10,888
Total Expenses: £141,963
Constituency: Hull East
MP: Prescott, Rt Hon John
Party: LAB
Expenses
Second Home: £23,083
London Supplement: £0
Office: £10,920
Staffing: £88,563
Stationery: £674
IT Provision: £1,251
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £0
Travel: £15,441
Total Expenses: £141,644
I had assumed he would have been a lot higher!