The new claims by MPs are out today and we can see the details of all the claims made last year and the start of this financial year. This information can be seen by clicking the name of your MP
Kevin Barron, John Healey and Denis MacShane. It should be pointed out here that John Healey is already publishing this information himself on the website http://www.johnhealeymp.co.uk. Where John has shown the way, Kevin and Denis must follow, Rotherham voters demand nothing less, so please stop mucking about and give us the information, it is our money you have spent!
I thought I would have a look first at MacShane's claims, I was first saddened and then increasingly indignant that amongst the receipts were the following:
20 August 2008 £529:47 On a flat screen TV, HDMI Lead and DAB Radio
24 September 2008 £29:45 Dry cleaning
04 October 2008 £8:25 Dry cleaning
06 October 2008 £12:00 Dry cleaning
20 October 2008 £16:25 Dry cleaning
11 November 2008 £8:25 Dry cleaning
22 November 2008 £8:25 Dry cleaning
08 December 2008 £19:90 Dry cleaning
20 December 2008 £10:50 Dry cleaning
04 February 2009 £16:50 Dry cleaning
14 February 2009 £13;25 Dry cleaning
07 March 2009 £46:98 Dunelm Mills Rotherham (Curtain and Kettle)
As well as the above He also claimed the maximum for his food £400 per month no less.
There is also an interesting set of correspondence in this years file relating to his claim for cleaning. Stupid fool didn't know that after the Speakers statement of 20th May he could no longer do so and he was duly told off for it - naughty boy!
We believe that his salary should cover all of these items, What does he think his £64,000 plus salary is for? He should not have claimed them. Therefore we are demanding the repayment of these claims a total of £627:07. Come on Denis pay up!
Showing posts with label Expenses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Expenses. Show all posts
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Saturday, 21 November 2009
'Two Homes' MacShane Must Go! part 2
The Legg letter details for the Rt Hon. Dr Denis Macshane MP are out. He received his letter whist away on a jolly to Canada to sell his book, sorry, to brief Canadian politicians on anti semitism.
He is the only Rotherham MP to be required to make a repayment, Kevin Barron is in the clear and John Healey has had to supply further documentary evidence of his claims.
Denis MacShane has been required to repay £1,300 for excess claims for cleaning, can't these MPs do this for themselves? - the rest of us have to!
MacShane also has a great deal of 'form' for trying to water down or delay all proposed changes to this corrupt system of MPs expenses, always making sure that it is never publicised, unlike everything else he gets up to, which you can be sure, will be done in a blaze of publicity.
It has now become a matter of public comment that MacShane has done little for his constituents, apart from angering many of them that is. This man simply has done nothing of note for his electorate if his recent leaflet is anything to go by, no substance but plenty of nice pictures. His most conspicuous success therefore may just be in spending your money and in self aggrandisement.
Labour Party members, aware of a catastrophic loss of confidence in them, are privately very concerned about the challenge posed to them by the rise in support for Peter Thirlwall and the Rotherham Independents, as indeed are the Tories who stand to lose even more votes than Labour in some areas, as even their current numerical strength on the Council has not led them to become an effective or credible opposition or even effective scrutineers of Council Business.
That is the backdrop against which the recent leaflet distributed to his constituents should be seen, as an attempt to shore up support for MacShane and Labour for the General and Local Elections to come (Who paid for it?). The fact that MacShane could actually lose Rotherham in the current circumstances is beginning to embolden MacShane's principal critics and hope still remains that he will not be Labour's Candidate next year. A week is a long time in politics, so anything is still possible!
Attention now focuses on what MacShane really means by
"All I want is that there is a fair, transparent and acceptable system that allows MP's to have a base in their constituency and in London and which allows MP's to see their children grow up" and speaks of "natural justice"*.
Is this simply a thinly veiled attempt to justify some of his previous actions in advance of more close scrutiny of his arrangements which would appear to show that he has financed both his London 'base' and his constituency 'base' from the public purse, something the regulations specifically prohibit! It is also a bit rich coming from him to refer to 'openness and transparency' when he has spent so much of his time and energy trying to prevent this from happening! Already the epithet 'Two Homes' MacShane is reportedly in circulation.
Only full public disclosure of MacShanes claims can now dispel the many questions now being asked and dispel the rumours about this that are currently circulating throughout Rotherham. They are doing so much damage to Labour's prospects for next years elections. The electoral damage will not be confined to MacShane himself but will have an effect on all of Labour's candidates locally and seats will be lost.
*Natural Justice in this context means, that what ever I did in the past I should be forgiven for it 'because it was within the rules at the time'. This threadbare argument would hold water if it were not for the fact that they were so loose that almost anything was within them and neither were they properly policed, it therefore comes down to a judgement whether they stayed within the spirit of them and whether they were greedy or not. Against these measures it is beginning to look as though MacShane has some serious explaining to do!
He is the only Rotherham MP to be required to make a repayment, Kevin Barron is in the clear and John Healey has had to supply further documentary evidence of his claims.
Denis MacShane has been required to repay £1,300 for excess claims for cleaning, can't these MPs do this for themselves? - the rest of us have to!
MacShane also has a great deal of 'form' for trying to water down or delay all proposed changes to this corrupt system of MPs expenses, always making sure that it is never publicised, unlike everything else he gets up to, which you can be sure, will be done in a blaze of publicity.
It has now become a matter of public comment that MacShane has done little for his constituents, apart from angering many of them that is. This man simply has done nothing of note for his electorate if his recent leaflet is anything to go by, no substance but plenty of nice pictures. His most conspicuous success therefore may just be in spending your money and in self aggrandisement.
Labour Party members, aware of a catastrophic loss of confidence in them, are privately very concerned about the challenge posed to them by the rise in support for Peter Thirlwall and the Rotherham Independents, as indeed are the Tories who stand to lose even more votes than Labour in some areas, as even their current numerical strength on the Council has not led them to become an effective or credible opposition or even effective scrutineers of Council Business.
That is the backdrop against which the recent leaflet distributed to his constituents should be seen, as an attempt to shore up support for MacShane and Labour for the General and Local Elections to come (Who paid for it?). The fact that MacShane could actually lose Rotherham in the current circumstances is beginning to embolden MacShane's principal critics and hope still remains that he will not be Labour's Candidate next year. A week is a long time in politics, so anything is still possible!
Attention now focuses on what MacShane really means by
"All I want is that there is a fair, transparent and acceptable system that allows MP's to have a base in their constituency and in London and which allows MP's to see their children grow up" and speaks of "natural justice"*.
Is this simply a thinly veiled attempt to justify some of his previous actions in advance of more close scrutiny of his arrangements which would appear to show that he has financed both his London 'base' and his constituency 'base' from the public purse, something the regulations specifically prohibit! It is also a bit rich coming from him to refer to 'openness and transparency' when he has spent so much of his time and energy trying to prevent this from happening! Already the epithet 'Two Homes' MacShane is reportedly in circulation.
Only full public disclosure of MacShanes claims can now dispel the many questions now being asked and dispel the rumours about this that are currently circulating throughout Rotherham. They are doing so much damage to Labour's prospects for next years elections. The electoral damage will not be confined to MacShane himself but will have an effect on all of Labour's candidates locally and seats will be lost.
*Natural Justice in this context means, that what ever I did in the past I should be forgiven for it 'because it was within the rules at the time'. This threadbare argument would hold water if it were not for the fact that they were so loose that almost anything was within them and neither were they properly policed, it therefore comes down to a judgement whether they stayed within the spirit of them and whether they were greedy or not. Against these measures it is beginning to look as though MacShane has some serious explaining to do!
Sunday, 6 September 2009
MP's Expenses - What's on the web!
First post on the sorry saga of the expenses row here in Rotherham.
This is when the internet comes into it's own, the links below take you to the main sources of information.
The Rt Hon. Kevin Barron MP. Parliament, Daily Telegraph. Does not have web site, and has provided no extra information. Why not? We have paid through the nose for it!
The Rt Hon. John Healey MP. Parliament, Daily Telegraph. From his own site HERE and HERE
The Rt Hon. Dr Denis MacShane MP. Parliament, Daily Telegraph. Own site on epolitixs, devoid of any extra useful information.
They make interesting reading! Have fun!
This is when the internet comes into it's own, the links below take you to the main sources of information.
The Rt Hon. Kevin Barron MP. Parliament, Daily Telegraph. Does not have web site, and has provided no extra information. Why not? We have paid through the nose for it!
The Rt Hon. John Healey MP. Parliament, Daily Telegraph. From his own site HERE and HERE
The Rt Hon. Dr Denis MacShane MP. Parliament, Daily Telegraph. Own site on epolitixs, devoid of any extra useful information.
They make interesting reading! Have fun!
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