Monthly Archives: May 2009

The Revenue have made clear that if any MP has paid for personal tax advice, they need to pay tax on any claim they made for public reimbursement. The Ministers concerned have to demonstrate that the advice they bought was advice on the tax position of their employees, not for their own affairs. If there [...]

It is good news that at last, after years of criticism by many of us, even the EU has decided its Common Fishery Policy is wrong. Fishermen have got angry, despaired, lost their livelihoods over the years of mind boggling incompetence and aggressive obstinacy. We have been told for too long that throwing back dead [...]

As I reached London before 7 am to avoid the £8 tax for coming to work called the Congestion Charge, I looked forward to another day with a broken Parliament not even bothering to meet to try to mend itself. It beggars belief that the government will use its majority to send Parliament away as [...]

There are signs that this big story about the expenses of the public sector is not going to stop at MPs. The Telegraph doubtless has more to say about what MPs have claimed for office costs and staffing as well as for second homes. Meanwhile the Sunday Times is working away revealing more about the [...]

Recently I wrote on this site “In the age of the internet (government is) now discovering that the cameras which point at the public can also capture them. When people ask the old question Quis custodiet ipsos custodes – who will watch the watchers themselves – we now have a new answer. The watched can [...]

Before the expenses row blew up I led a discussion on this website of how much MPs should be paid. Some of you thought MPs should be paid more. Some MPs themselves think the answer to the current mess is to pay them more by way of salary, cutting back on the expenses allowed. I [...]

If an MP wants the taxpayer to fund a website there should be no party politics or strong opinion on it. If an MP wants to send out a free newsletter paid for by taxpayers, it has to avoid political comment and is best submitted to neutral assessors in Parliament first before being sent out. [...]

How many more wake up calls does the government need, before they recognise the seriousness of the UK’s debt situation? In government circles it is fashionable to dismiss arguments that we need to control the deficit. They believe that spending whatever it takes will prevent or limit the recession. They think they can go on [...]

The President lost the vote to close down Guantanamo Bay. It is a reminder of just how difficult it is proving, for him to be different from President Bush. I always felt he was going to be very similar to his predecessor in policy in major areas. It was clear he would continue with the [...]

In recent days quantitative easing in the USA has got to the US dollar. It has started to fall against other currencies. I guess the US authorities are relaxed about that. It will correct the balance of payments more quickly, and put more pressure on the exporting countries. Over the last year the US economy [...]