Could It Get More Sickening...

[Heilandee]

What would you expect of Gordon Brown anyway, he's from Fife is he not, and you know the saying "beware of a Fifer"!!

But Johnboy's a Fifer..............................................Aye, i see what ya mean :thumb04:

[Johnboy]

Seems to get worse by the day, no wonder the MP's & Ministers don't want us to see their expense claims...

Are they ALL at it !

Of course "we've all got it wrong" or "it was a terrible mistake, I didn't know what I was doing, I never actually looked at the forms that I was signing, my dog filled them in for me, oh... yea, can I claim for the dog too" ?

In light of today's revelations, it certainly appears as if they are all at it....

The latest pathetic excuse being banded around is that - "no rules were broken"

They make the feckin rules...

Obviously the whole object of the exercise is not to have to touch one's salary. That should just go straight into a savings account - day to day living costs can be met from the expense claims.

Today's MPs are the most evil, corrupt, money-grabbing barstewards that could ever be encountered. When the cuntzz aren't telling us to tighten our belts and live more frugally, they are filing (and fidling) expense claims on a scale that could only be described as obscene...

Get rid of the whole feckin lot....

Edited May 8, 2009 by Johnboy

[Johnboy]

Breaking news....

The government have now called the police in to investigate how the Daily Telegraph managed to get copies of these latest expenses claims.

Lord Mandelson submitted a claim for several thousand pounds to sort out a leaking roof in his second home. He was at pains to point out that the claim wasn't just for roof repairs - several items in the house had been damaged by the leak...

Is one not entitled to ask why he didn't think to claim on his insurance? Or is it just accepted that would have been too much hassle for our poor overworked MPs - he might have had to cough up a ?100 as the first part of a claim. Probably much easier just to submit an expenses claim.

These people are just completely out of touch with how the public feel about their endless abuses of the whole expenses system. They should be lined up against a wall and shot.

[Joonya]

In answer to the original question "can it get more sickening?" then I think the answer is yes.

Every job, be it street sweeper or 'high and mighty ruler of britain', has its perks. Workin in retail I get a ?6 per day food allowance, so I obviously use as much of that 6 quid as possible and use it to my benefit (especially when the airport itself charge over ?4 for a bacon role!!!) I make sure i get a drink on this expense and depending on my mood, a dessert too.

I can certainly see what CaleyD was trying to point out in terms of it happening accross the board but we're only in uproar because of the current climate.

what I will ask is this....

With the country heading on a downward spiral, and these MP's claiming for anything using the public purse rather than their own platinum credit card (which, by the way, they probably didnt earn), where does the very thin line between fraud and claiming expenses get crossed?

I mean, there are polish in this country who are menipulating the system and get away with it, yet Joe Bloggs who doesn't pay his TV license for 2 months so he can feed his kid is done for fraud. The muslims who are followed for years on susspition of terrorism are only interviewed and released (not deported), yet Mrs Bloggs down the street looses out on her child benefit cash as soon as she enters a working environment, thus leaving her only a few pounds better off for a much more difficult lifestyle... The who lots stinks!!!!

[Canada Bob]

I mean, there are polish in this country who are menipulating the system and get away with it, yet Joe Bloggs who doesn't pay his TV license for 2 months so he can feed his kid is done for fraud. The muslims who are followed for years on susspition of terrorism are only interviewed and released (not deported), yet Mrs Bloggs down the street looses out on her child benefit cash as soon as she enters a working environment, thus leaving her only a few pounds better off for a much more difficult lifestyle... The who lots stinks!!!!

I'm with you on the above, where's Guy Fawkes when you need him !!!

It's a crying fekkin shame what going on, those who contribute to society, the blokes who get up in a morning and go to work, many for less than a tenner an hour can count themselves lucky if they manage to keep up with their bills right now. While all this thievery is going on, a Million home owners in the UK are 3 months behind on their mortgages, on their ONLY house, not their second ot third homes, funded by the rest of us.

The way things are now some blokes in their 50's who get laid off will never see regular work again, where's their "pension plans" how will they manage for the rest of their lives, the only perk they get for decades of work is a fekkin Bus pass !!!

Do you know that less than 5% of the people in the UK ever manage to scrape together 100,000 quid {in actual cash in the bank} yet MP's get that per year ! NOT PER LIFE TIME !!! To add Insult to Injury the UK run right now by a so called Labour Government still has 30% or so of it's people living at or below the Poverty Level !!!

Is this what generations of working class folks sacrificed for? not to mention the man and women who fought and fell for King & Country in the last 100 years. It's all a bloody illusion, they'll let you do the donkey work, let you make the sacrifices, the "Blood Sweat & Tears" are all yours, while those who have conned the Nation steal every penny they can lay their b*stard hands on...

One of the things life has taught me is, "the harder you work the less you get paid for doing it, those who do the least work, get the highest wages" how fekkin' perverse is that !!!

Bleedin' diabolical aint it, but this will all end in tears, when we can't trust any of the mainstream Political parties people will migrate to the extremists BNP and the like, who knows what happens then, but it would be nice to see some old women knitting while the heads of the prevailing regimes fall into baskets, I'd take up knitting myself if I could be there to see that...

Edited May 9, 2009 by Canada Bob

[EWS]

I'm with you on the above, where's Guy Fawkes when you need him !!!

He is right here Bob.

I completely agree with you, I for one am ashamed that it took me until I was a tax payer to realise how much the government is taking us for a walk. They are driving this country up the wall, and it is partly why I am looking at leaving the country in the next 5-7 years. At the moment, Australia and the USA look good, with the USA being more difficult to get into however, it might be Oz that I move to.

I have an interesting choice at the next election (which should be this year, ****, it should have been last year). Labour are a massive no-no nowadays, but the problem is do I follow my heart and vote SNP or Lib Dem, or do I make a tactical vote and go Tory to help stop Labour getting back into power. A void ballot is a massive no in my opinion, as that is the only way that Labour will regain power.

Decisions decision.

[Canada Bob]

I have an interesting choice at the next election (which should be this year, ****, it should have been last year). Labour are a massive no-no nowadays, but the problem is do I follow my heart and vote SNP or Lib Dem, or do I make a tactical vote and go Tory to help stop Labour getting back into power. A void ballot is a massive no in my opinion, as that is the only way that Labour will regain power. Decisions decision.

Well, FWIW, my Dad used to say that Governments aren't voted in, they are voted out.

Even though I've always been left wing {but never a brainless card carrier}, I'd vote for the devil himself if i thought it would damage these b*stards who have conned the working class out of representation.

Just reading some of Saturdays revelations, but there's one expense claim here that I can't see a problem with...

Surely cnuts need panty liners !!!

The link below shows their lack of integrity, not to mention the disrespect and disregard they have for the rest of us...

Folks have gone to jail for less...

Canada Bob.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Canada Bob

[Joonya]

it's this quote from the second link that has frustrated me this morning...

"They can claim up to ?24,222 every year for their second property to cover mortgage and council tax costs as well as items on the now infamous 'John Lewis' list"

?24k to cover a 2nd property - jesus h christ man, i only just about earn that much per year BEFORE tax and I struggle to come out the end of the month without touching my overdraft! And I dont own a house either.

Every day I wake up at 4am to sort myself for work, yet I bet these buggers didnt even know there was a 4am!

Bring back the days where the king or queen of the country used to rule the land, and those who betrayed any system were beheaded or hung!!!

Alternatively, get these gits out of their posh houses, cars and from behind their offices complete with 50 inch surround sound cinema systems and all you can eat buffets, and get them on the backs of dustbin waggons, in the dumps picking at sh1t and seeing what us folks at the bottom of the social ladder have to deal with - see how they feel then when they realise that nearly 20% of all they earn goes to paying them for what they have.

Sickening seems to soft a word!!!

[Johnboy]

I mean, there are polish in this country who are menipulating the system and get away with it, yet Joe Bloggs who doesn't pay his TV license for 2 months so he can feed his kid is done for fraud.

Why do you single out the Poles?

[CaleyD]

Media generated hysteria at it's best.

[Johnboy]

Media generated hysteria at it's best.

You ain't seen nuffink yet!

[DAM]

In answer to the original question "can it get more sickening?" then I think the answer is yes.

Every job, be it street sweeper or 'high and mighty ruler of britain', has its perks. Workin in retail I get a ?6 per day food allowance, so I obviously use as much of that 6 quid as possible and use it to my benefit (especially when the airport itself charge over ?4 for a bacon role!!!) I make sure i get a drink on this expense and depending on my mood, a dessert too.

I can certainly see what CaleyD was trying to point out in terms of it happening accross the board but we're only in uproar because of the current climate.

what I will ask is this....

With the country heading on a downward spiral, and these MP's claiming for anything using the public purse rather than their own platinum credit card (which, by the way, they probably didnt earn), where does the very thin line between fraud and claiming expenses get crossed?

I mean, there are polish in this country who are menipulating the system and get away with it, yet Joe Bloggs who doesn't pay his TV license for 2 months so he can feed his kid is done for fraud. The muslims who are followed for years on susspition of terrorism are only interviewed and released (not deported), yet Mrs Bloggs down the street looses out on her child benefit cash as soon as she enters a working environment, thus leaving her only a few pounds better off for a much more difficult lifestyle... The who lots stinks!!!!

"but we're only in uproar because of the current climate". This makes it right then does it? They are just corrupt thieving ******** in my book and NOTHING makes it right.

[CaleyD]

They've been corrupt thieving b*******s since government was formed, if it's not the current climate that's generating the uproar then why have people, on the whole, been willing to accept the situation for so long?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending what's going on, but people need to obtain some sense of perspective on all this.

Firstly, the majority of claims are perfectly legitimate under the current system. Yes, the people claiming are the ones who put the system in place, but the information that it existed has been available to us all for years and only now has it become a big fuss. I bet there's not many people who've had expenses accounts who haven't made full use of them at some point or other....every one of them calling for the sacking of MP's is a hypocrite.

Part of the problem is that your average man/woman in the street doesn't fully understand what's happened to send the world economy off the rails and they are looking for someone to blame....so what we have is people who think the country is in financial strife because MP's have generous expenses packages. The media are feeding off that with their "lists" and although they are careful when it comes to mentioning Fraud, they haven't done anything to correct those making such claims.

It smacks a bit of the situation around 9/11 and using it, indirectly, as a way to justify going in to Iraq. Nobody ever blamed Saddam for 9/11 (rightfully so), but they never exactly went out of their way to explain to the hard of thinking that the two were unrelated.

Sometimes it's just as important to think about what the press don't say as what they do say. Think for yourself people and stop being media puppets.

[DAM]

They've been corrupt thieving b*******s since government was formed, if it's not the current climate that's generating the uproar then why have people, on the whole, been willing to accept the situation for so long?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending what's going on, but people need to obtain some sense of perspective on all this.

Firstly, the majority of claims are perfectly legitimate under the current system. Yes, the people claiming are the ones who put the system in place, but the information that it existed has been available to us all for years and only now has it become a big fuss. I bet there's not many people who've had expenses accounts who haven't made full use of them at some point or other....every one of them calling for the sacking of MP's is a hypocrite.

Part of the problem is that your average man/woman in the street doesn't fully understand what's happened to send the world economy off the rails and they are looking for someone to blame....so what we have is people who think the country is in financial strife because MP's have generous expenses packages. The media are feeding off that with their "lists" and although they are careful when it comes to mentioning Fraud, they haven't done anything to correct those making such claims.

It smacks a bit of the situation around 9/11 and using it, indirectly, as a way to justify going in to Iraq. Nobody ever blamed Saddam for 9/11 (rightfully so), but they never exactly went out of their way to explain to the hard of thinking that the two were unrelated.

Sometimes it's just as important to think about what the press don't say as what they do say. Think for yourself people and stop being media puppets.

I trust you don't include me as a media puppet you condescending ****. I am more that capable of thinking for myself and the fact of the matter is that if it was not for "freedom of information" we would never have found out the extent that those morons have ripped the tax payer off.

[CaleyD]

The Freedom of Information Act has been in place since 2000....why has it taken so many people 9 years to start getting all upset?

If you read what I typed again you'll see that I was saying it's those people who buy into the idea that MP expenses are in any way related to the economic crisis are the media puppets. Like Iraq and 9/11 the two things are totally unrelated but the press were happy enough to use the hype from one to feed the other.

[Johnboy]

Why then CD, has the government launched a police inquiry in an attempt to discover who leaked details of these expense claims to the Telegraph if they were about to be placed in the public domain?

Wouldn't you accept they've been caught with their pants down here, as they milk the public purse for all its worth?

Also, Bush, backed up by his puppet Blair was the one who suggested a link between Iraq and 9/11... the media may have reported that but large chunks of it were highly sceptical of that claim.

[Joonya]

I mean, there are polish in this country who are menipulating the system and get away with it, yet Joe Bloggs who doesn't pay his TV license for 2 months so he can feed his kid is done for fraud.

Why do you single out the Poles?

This was just an example, and nothing aimed directly at poles. The same could be said for any foreigner who decides to settle on these shores for a better lifestyle. It strikes me as strange that most of these foreigners seem to know more about menipulating our own system that what any of us brits even know of the system.

maybe i'm going off topic and digging up a seperate issue?...

I am not begrudging anyone having expences allowances, but lets be real about this - would any of us really have given a toss about what they spend unless media sources showed them for what they really account for.

I find it shocking to see one particular MP claim expences for a 5p carrier bag from ikea, yet earns in excess of ?100k per year salary. What the hell is all that about? 5p for god sake. Fair enough claiming for a new PC so you can have files saved from MI5, or fuel costs to get to a meeting or chartiy event, but for things that dont even apply to their jobs... unreal, no matter the cost.

My ?6 per day lunch allowance is just for that - something to eat and drink for my lunch. Not for magazines, games or to put towards payments for flights, but for my lunch. If i were to claim money back for anything else, I would be investigated, sacked and put up before a jury!!!

These B******s created a system where they could menipulate tax-payers money - such as the flipping houses thingy - so they can bleed us all dry and live like kings, which to me, is nothing short of criminal in pricipal

[CaleyD]

Why then CD, has the government launched a police inquiry in an attempt to discover who leaked details of these expense claims to the Telegraph if they were about to be placed in the public domain?

Again, it's all down to interpretation of what's been said in the press. The investigation is not about the information or the accuracy of the information, it's into the source of the unofficial leak. Again this is what makes certain people hypocritical....they cause an uproar when information about them falls into public hands, yet when information about MP's falls into public hands then it is deemed perfectly acceptable.

Wouldn't you accept they've been caught with their pants down here, as they milk the public purse for all its worth?

I don't accept this at all. I think it's a situation which is fast turning into a witch hunt...if it hasn't already. Whether you agree with the system or not, the fact of the matter is that the bulk of these claims did not break any rules/laws. People's annoyance/frustration should be directed at that fact and not the specifics of each MP's individual claim. If we continue to be distracted by the individual items being mentioned then how can we expect to better understand and put right the faults in the system which has created the discontent?

As I've said, I don't agree with the nature of some of the claims, but you can't change the rules and then apply them retrospectively. How would you feel if they changed the local speed limits to 20mph and then sent you hundreds of speeding tickets for all the years you spent driving around at 30mph?

Also, Bush, backed up by his puppet Blair was the one who suggested a link between Iraq and 9/11... the media may have reported that but large chunks of it were highly sceptical of that claim.

Again, the press only became sceptical after the fact when no WMD's were found and they needed a new angle.....the various leaders/gevernments then became the easy target.

[SMEE]

ALL MPS expenses should be done away with. Its an insult to tax payers. If MPs have a leaky roof, Dry rot, or decide they want to buy a new pc or watever, let them pay for it with their VERY generous wage they earn, like the majority have to.

The ONLY allowance i would give them, is a travel allowance....but ONLY when travel is directly linked to the job.

[EWS]

Just to point out.

There is a criminal investigation into the leaked receipts because they were leaked in full and the government are accusing someone of stealing them. The receipts that they were going to release were to have been censored to prevent the public from knowing what the money was paid out for.

Obviously someone thought that the MPs should have to be responsible for what they paid out and who to.

Further, some of the Scottish Media have been hot on the trail of expenses for a while. Was Henry McLeish not forced to resign over Expenses? Same with the leader of the Scottish Conservatives?

[absent friend]

Just for the record, the system and the rules within the system, were not made by all the current MPs - so to infer that they made the rules to take advantage of them is nonsense.

Is it orchestrated? A wee thought. Why start with the Labour party members expenses? The reason? By now folks you will have heard so much about a bath-plug/video cost, that the small matter of ?300000 profit on the sale of a house and the change of status of the house from 2nd to 1st home, to save a further ?18000 of Capital Gains Tax, will be of little consequence and will not even make a headline. Oh, the bathplug/video value, maybe ?15.

Oh wait, I forgot the 5p carrier bag, now that will really cripple the country and also deserves headlines.

I really feel that right now all efforts should be made to get this country of ours back onto its economic feet, party politics should be put on the back burner. the best brains in the House should be united in the common desire to help and not hinder our recovery.

Losing the likes of EWS to another country when we need him here for our future, should be a target for ALL parties to address as he is not an isolated case.

Getting jobs back so that people have an income, is a priority as money is required by us all, to allow us to stand tall.

MP expenses - that is for another day - the people we all know that have lost their job (and often their self esteem) and therefore do not take home an income....... Now that is the priority!!

.

[Yngwie]

Why start with the Labour party members expenses?

Erm, because they're the Government? Starting off with members of the Cabinet, to be precise, was a pretty good way of drawing maximum attention to just how widespread the expense abuse has been.

[Johnboy]

MP expenses - that is for another day - the people we all know that have lost their job (and often their self esteem) and therefore do not take home an income....... Now that is the priority!!

Great idea Absent Friend - you're really on the ball this morning!

So who should we engage to tackle the problem of those who have lost their jobs?

What about the Employment Minister?

[absent friend]

Why start with the Labour party members expenses?

Erm, because they're the Government? Starting off with members of the Cabinet, to be precise, was a pretty good way of drawing maximum attention to just how widespread the expense abuse has been.

I suppose I made a distinction between widespread (5p bags and bathplugs) and amounts (?300,000) making the news headlines.

MP expenses - that is for another day - the people we all know that have lost their job (and often their self esteem) and therefore do not take home an income....... Now that is the priority!!

Great idea Absent Friend - you're really on the ball this morning!

So who should we engage to tackle the problem of those who have lost their jobs?What about the Employment Minister?

I used the 'best brains in the House' as a requirement and whither he has the best brains or not I don't know. I fail to see how claiming/not claiming expenses indicates mental ability, perhaps the press are doing a good job on you.

.

[Canada Bob]

Harold Wilson must be turning in his grave...

When the Image is more importand than the man...