Comments on: Bring in the police?

By: Michael Taylor

Michael Taylor — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:34:42 +0000

Is there a statute of limitations ruling covering the false market created by the BBC when it passed on the Lloyds/HBOS leaks? And as part of its (hoped for) program of restoring democratic and legitimate governance in the UK, will the incoming Conservative government consider what investigations should be made of this disgraceful and extremely expensive episode?

By: Jackie

Jackie — Sun, 10 May 2009 03:02:36 +0000

No don’t bring in the police.

Bring in the Inland Revenue and have all these so called expenses checked against declared income. The Revenue will not accept many of these claims as reasonable expenses in the course of earning income. Then many of these greedy people will have to pay the revenue back tax plus penalties.

And The Revenue can bring criminal prosecutions if they so wish.

No the Tax man is far more useful than a policeman in these circumstances.

By: Eleanor

Eleanor — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:40:53 +0000

They also used the BNP List, which led to people losing their jobs because if their political affiliation.

(I’m not sure I “like” the BNP, but it’s still a legitimate political party)

By: mikestallard

mikestallard — Sat, 09 May 2009 20:21:33 +0000

Evenin’ All, People’s Police ‘ere.
We suspect Terrorist attack from Daily Telegraph op bikini red imminent.
‘Ome Secretary’s orders.
ID cards on the table please.
You are all under arrest.
Mind ‘Ow you go!

By: julian crutch

julian crutch — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:41:06 +0000

I just cannot wait to read what JR has been claiming Will he resign if he is found to have had his noses in the trough

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:36:54 +0000

Answer. Work out what the total costs of Ms P are. Divide that figure by the number of members. Pay each one that amount out of which they have to pay all their own salaries, all expenses and superannuation. No extras at all. Let each one decide for themselves what they want to spend it on and at the end of each fy each must publish a set of audited accounts(by a recognised external auditor) My guesstimate is that the cost of each MP would be about GBP250,000 to 300,000. That may seem a lot but my guess is that it would be no more than is currently being paid.

It might be illuminating to see how many manage what would in effect be a small business.

Second point is that the Inland Revenue should satisfy itself that all M’s p should have declared for tax all the benefits they have received. I suspect that the Taxman may have a narrower view of what constitutes a reasonable business expense than the members have.

By: adam

adam — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:33:16 +0000

I see Labour still operating under their “nothing to hide then nothing to fear philosophy.”
Like all good socialists, faithful to their principles.

By: Denis Cooper

Denis Cooper — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:22:08 +0000

Which is one thing that needs to change: there should be a legal mechanism, a “recall” system, whereby constituents can FORCE the person they previously sent to Parliament to resign that commission, at any time they choose within certain limits, so that they are then freed to elect a new representative in his stead. It was not the people, but the MPs, supposedly servants of the people, who decided that their five year contracts should be safe from early termination by those who elected them. Why should we continue to tolerate that?

By: Janet Child

Janet Child — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:00:15 +0000

Yes, the person who “leaked” the information is in fact a whistleblower and should be protected, not subjected to any kind of investigation. He/she has done us all a favour and the press have every right to publish information when it is in the public interest. In fact we should all be grateful for them or many abuses would be a lot worse than they are already. It is a question of integrity. In all the cases cited it should be a case of “don’t shoot the messenger”; if there has been no wrongdoing there is no “story”.

By: sm

sm — Sat, 09 May 2009 12:59:14 +0000

Cassius is correct.

We need some constitutional reform to enable the local electorate to exercise direct control on their elected representatives during their tenure. The triggers for allowing the control eg a forced byelection can be discussed and detailed.

eg a certain number of voters petitioning for the procedure.

Expenses are sadly only one aspect of MP’s not remaining faithful to their historic roles as guardians of democracy.

I fear nothing less than legally enforceable constitution should be implemented and not from an alien non democratic EU supersate especially without a referendum. Stronger freedom of information laws should be part of this.

Why cant we learn from others, the US, Canada etc. They have recognised the fallibility of individuals.