WESTMINSTER GRAVY TRAIN

So yesterday our representatives at Westminster voted on salaries and expenses. Many (well most) voted against reforming the expenses system. Some MPs wanted wanted to introduce a degree of greater transparency in allowances claimed as well as a tighter auditing control. Those who voted to reject such plans include:— Jaqui Smith, Andy Burnham, Shaun Woodward, Paul Murphy, Caroline Flint. Some MPs obviously have the sense to realise that the mass of taxpayers is getting fed up with pushing the gravy train and that the reputation of Parliament in the eyes of the public demands some restraint. Others are totally without shame.

WESTMINSTER EXPENSES

Well our MPs have now come up with a new fix for their problems with housing expenses. As we know they have been very reluctant to open their expense claims to public view led by Michael Martin. The fix is simple — just look at the maximum that can be claimed annually and add it to the salary of MPs on a no questions asked basis and irrespective of whether it is needed. The amount seems to be around £23,000 pa tax-free which is roughly equivalent to £40,000 pre-tax. Discussions are still taking place so it has not been finalised and I gather HMRC have been involved in the discussions because of the tax implications. As far as I can make out the amount just replaces the housing allowance so there will still be other expenses eg for staffing and secretarial help. Now most of our legislation comes from Brussels perhaps we could reduce the burden on a long-suffering public by cutting the number of MPs drastically.

MINISTERIAL SECURITY

So Hazel Blears, a Cabinet minister, has had her laptop stolen from her office. Reports suggest that apart from information about her constituents there were also files of sensitive government information which should not have been on the computer. Perhaps the solution is to require that every computer belonging to an MP should carry unencrypted files detailing their expense claims for the current session of Parliament. And similarly all bags and briefcases that they carry on public transport or into public places should contain paper hard copies of same. As this is one class of data that many MPs do their utmost to keep under wraps the hope is that they would then exercise a greater degree of care.

MEPs

Yesterday the Sunday press reported that the EU allowances of yet another Tory MEP are being queried. Den Dover may have channeled allowances of up to £750,000 into the family firm MP Holdings which he used as "paying agent" and "service provider". A report in the Sunday Times deals mostly with the purchase of two cars but I would be interested to see where the rest went.

GRAVY TRAIN FOR MEPs

MEPs seem to make good use of their expense allowances and it seems that David Cameron is a little concerned about what might emerge. He wants the 28 Conservative MEPs to come clean but almost half of them are resisting (Daily Telegraph 9th June). Today the same paper reveals that a Labour MEP paid his boyfriend £8000 per month in 2002. He now pays £30,000 annually to the man personally but it is unclear what happens to the remainder of the allowance. Since 1999 he has claimed over £760,000 and it is believed that it was given to his boyfriend, now civil partner, to administrate. Scumbags.