This piece is not going to win much agreement, so first, let me make my basic position clear. I am not an admirer of MPs as a genus. They are ineffectual and supine, submitting too easily to their party line. They got where they are by the outrageously archaic and unrepresentative First Past the Post electoral system, and they are unwilling to change it. They are happy to let corporations take over domination of the world. They do not understand where money comes from. They are like sheep. They do not give straight answers. And so on and so forth. Get it? I am not a friend of MPs.
Having said that, it is a principle in law that new laws are not applied retrospectively. If the expenses system administered by the Civil Service previously was crap. We all deserve a better system. But applying a better system retrospectively is dubious, and I for one will not criticise an MP that challenges the ruling of "Sir" Thomas Legg.
Showing posts with label MP expenses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MP expenses. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
MEP expenses - Greens rule, Ukip drool
OpenEurope is a think tank calling for reform of European institutions. it has published an important league table of MEP performance here: http://www.openeurope.org.uk
MEPs were ranked on transparency, openness, democracy, fighting waste and misuse of EU funds. (http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/rankingguide.pdf/ )
From the data for some of the UK parties - Green, Con, Lab, LibDem and UKIP – I have calculated the average position for each. The lower the score, the better the political group has performed.
And the results are:
Greens – 51 (best performance)
LibDem - 116
Conservatives 152
Labour 205
UKIP 343 (worst performance)
This survey is vitally important for the electorate. People are understandably angry with the three Westminster parties, and at the moment, due to deficient information, UKIP is the one of the main beneficiaries of the disaffection. This research shows that to vote UKIP in protest at MP expenses scandals is to jump from the Westminster frying pan into the Brussels fire.
MEPs were ranked on transparency, openness, democracy, fighting waste and misuse of EU funds. (http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/rankingguide.pdf/ )
From the data for some of the UK parties - Green, Con, Lab, LibDem and UKIP – I have calculated the average position for each. The lower the score, the better the political group has performed.
And the results are:
Greens – 51 (best performance)
LibDem - 116
Conservatives 152
Labour 205
UKIP 343 (worst performance)
This survey is vitally important for the electorate. People are understandably angry with the three Westminster parties, and at the moment, due to deficient information, UKIP is the one of the main beneficiaries of the disaffection. This research shows that to vote UKIP in protest at MP expenses scandals is to jump from the Westminster frying pan into the Brussels fire.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
MP Expenses: the System is Broken
Well the MP expenses jamboree is providing a lot of laughs and provoking a lot of anger. Perfectly right that it should, and nothing that follows should be taken as implying that the Mabinogogiblog is not as tickled and angered as the rest of the world.
But it is not just a story about venal, possibly fraudulent individuals. The system that the MPs evolved for themselves is a royal mess, just like so any other systems that Parliament produces, including the useless First Past the Post electoral system that puts them there.
The Commons fees office (Director: Andrew Walker) not only failed to quality check the MPs claims, they actively encouraged a house "flip" (changing and charging on first and second homes).
This from the Guardian:
Expenses claim systems are a way of begging for innaccuracies, dodgy practice and fraud. They are paperwork heavy, need loads of receipts, book-keeping, accountancy and checking. Like the FPTP voting system, the MP expenses scheme is not fit for purpose.
It has got to be abolished, and a better way to cover the need of MPs to live in London must be put in place. A hostel/hall of residence is suggested, but this has not been thought through option. Clearly, it would quickly degenerate into chaos, with MPs hitting each other with wet towels, arranging dangerous booby-traps, and b*ggering each other. It is a is a punitive remedy, but not really sustainable, because the quality of candidate would fall even further, and let's face it, the office of MP is vital for democracy, and they deserve to go back to a homely place at the end of the day.
So the obvious clear and simple answer is to give them a flat rate London Living Allowance, sufficient to rent a decent flat or house in London. Eliminate the time-wasting farce of expenses claims altogether.
But it is not just a story about venal, possibly fraudulent individuals. The system that the MPs evolved for themselves is a royal mess, just like so any other systems that Parliament produces, including the useless First Past the Post electoral system that puts them there.
The Commons fees office (Director: Andrew Walker) not only failed to quality check the MPs claims, they actively encouraged a house "flip" (changing and charging on first and second homes).
This from the Guardian:
"Yesterday the Conservative MP Steve Crabb said he had been encouraged to maximise his claims by a fees office employee who suggested the MP "switch" his properties. Crabb said "an official in the fees office" told him: "Steve, I'm looking at your allowances and you've spent hardly anything." Crabb then described the official as saying: "You'd get more for your allowances if you switched [the second home he claimed on]."
Crabb "flipped" the home he described as his second home and then claimed £9,300 in stamp duty on the new residence and £1,325 a month in interest on his mortgage. He was able to switch after renting a room from MP Daniel Kawczynski. In all, he has claimed £67,633 in second home expenses since 2005".
So there we have it. The Civil Service must shoulder some of the blame.Expenses claim systems are a way of begging for innaccuracies, dodgy practice and fraud. They are paperwork heavy, need loads of receipts, book-keeping, accountancy and checking. Like the FPTP voting system, the MP expenses scheme is not fit for purpose.
It has got to be abolished, and a better way to cover the need of MPs to live in London must be put in place. A hostel/hall of residence is suggested, but this has not been thought through option. Clearly, it would quickly degenerate into chaos, with MPs hitting each other with wet towels, arranging dangerous booby-traps, and b*ggering each other. It is a is a punitive remedy, but not really sustainable, because the quality of candidate would fall even further, and let's face it, the office of MP is vital for democracy, and they deserve to go back to a homely place at the end of the day.
So the obvious clear and simple answer is to give them a flat rate London Living Allowance, sufficient to rent a decent flat or house in London. Eliminate the time-wasting farce of expenses claims altogether.
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