They are there to solve the UK’s pressing problems, but it seems MPs need some help too. The recent arrest of a Labour MP after a late-night brawl in the House of Commons bar, is just the latest in a string of alcohol fuelled scandals. RT’s Laura Smith reports on how some Parliamentarians are said to be drinking their way through life at Westminster.
ABOVE: Cllr. Judith Best and her alleged victim, Neil Potter.
Lambeth’s deputy mayor and her son have been arrested after an early morning attack that left a man with a broken jaw, broken ribs and requiring 27 stitches.
Councillor Judith Best was arrested after 41-year-old Neil Potter, of Fullsbrook Road, Streatham, was assaulted in Madeira Road in the early hours of Friday morning.
Coun Best, 51, was detained after attending a police station on Saturday.
Her son, Scott Richards, 31, was captured on Sunday following a police chase, and police are still looking for others in connection with the incident.
Lambeth police attended the scene shortly after 3.20am and an ambulance took Mr Potter to a south London hospital, where he needed 27 stitches for his injuries.
He had an operation on his jaw the next day.
His father, Steve Potter, said he would be forced to eat soft food for at least eight weeks, adding “he is lucky to be alive”.
Police charged Mr Richards with grievous bodily harm. He remains in custody at a south London police station.
Coun Best, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Streatham Wells ward, was arrested for actual bodily harm with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and has been bailed to return to a south London police station in September.
Read on: http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/9171543.EXCLUSIVE__Deputy_mayor_and_son_arrested_over_alleged_attack/
Denis Bennett, 50, a married father of two who had served on St Austell Town Council, was yesterday convicted of stood in the dock at Truro Crown Court yesterday (thursday) to hear the verdict. The jury took an hour and fifteen minutes to find the supermarket worker guilty of one count of indecently assaulting the 18-year-old man.
Bennett had denied the allegation at Truro Crown Court, insisting he had merely been fooling around with the teenager, admitting only that he might have gone “over the top a bit”.
Judge Christopher Elwen adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports and released Bennett on bail to reappear in four weeks’ time for sentence.
During the one-day trial the court heard the victim had been visiting Bennett’s family home on Market Hill, St Austell, when the attack took place. The defendant has since moved out of the house.
Read on: http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Married-Cornwall-ex-councillor-guilty-sex-attack/story-13033548-detail/story.html
Nathan Brett Bale, 31, resigned from Cornwall Council about three months ago citing ill health reasons.
Married Bale, of Penfound Gardens, Bude, attended Bodmin Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to plead guilty to ten counts of making indecent photographs of children.
The charges he admits relate to between April 2003 to June 2011 and range from level one to level four on a scale of severity – level five is the most serious. Following the brief hearing, Bale was released on unconditional bail to return to Bodmin Magistrates on December 7.
Bale had served as shadow spokesman for adult care for the Liberal Democrat group on the council.
Until recently, he held the Bude North and Stratton seat for the Liberal Democrats for three years.
He took the seat in the June 2009 election securing 72 per cent of the vote – the largest on the council.
Before the new unitary authority came into force in April 2009 Bale was a councillor on North Cornwall District Council.
At the time of Bale’s resignation, councillor Jeremy Rowe, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, said he was very sorry he had stepped down.
He said: “He was a dedicated councillor who was very proud to represent his home town of Bude both on North Cornwall and Cornwall Council.”
Last night a spokesman for Cornwall Council confirmed Bale had appeared in court charged with the offences
Read on: http://www.budepeople.co.uk/Ex-councillor-admits-child-porn-charges/story-13808705-detail/story.html
A PORTCHESTER councillor has resigned from Fareham Borough Council after failing to attend any council meetings in the last six months.
Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Brown, pictured, who represents Portchester East, has not attended a meeting since August 5. In that time he has received £3,230 which councillors are paid through their members’ allowances.
Yesterday the council confirmed that Cllr Brown, who had been a ward councillor since May 2010, had handed in a letter of resignation. A by-election will now take place.
Conservative councillor Sean Woodward, leader of Fareham Borough Council, said: ‘He has failed to attend a council meeting for six months. The people of Portchester East have a right to be represented.
Chris Huhne has been charged with perverting the course of justice and will almost certainly have to step down from his position as energy and climate change secretary.
The matter dates back to allegations that he forced his now ex-wife Vicky Pryce to accept penalty points for a speeding offence on his behalf to dodge a ban in 2003.
Both Huhne and Pryce will face charges, the Crown Prosecution Service announced this morning, and will appear in court on 16 February.
“All the available evidence… has now been carefully considered by the CPS and we have concluded there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Mr Huhne and Ms Pryce for perverting the course of justice,” said Keir Starmer QC, director of Public Prosecutions.
Discussions between David Cameron and Nick Clegg are thought to have concluded, with both men agreeing Huhne cannot remain in his job while fighting a legal battle to clear his name. Huhne has also said he would step down from his position to concentrate on fighting the case.
Read on: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2143732/breaking-chris-huhne-step-speeding-charges-confirmed
The names of the four Cornwall councillors taken to court for failing to pay their council tax have finally been revealed.
Five months after the Packet first revealed the number of members missing payments, a succession of Freedom of Information requests and a trawl through magistrates courts records have brought the names into the public domain.
They are; *Councillor Chris Pascoe (Lib Dem, Threemilestone and Gloweth), taken to court in July 2011 for arrears of £1,805.31 *Councillor Sasha Gillard-Loft (Lib Dem, Launceston South), taken to court in March 2010 for arrears of £210 *Councillor Jan Powell (Lib Dem, Liskeard North), taken to court in August 2010 for arrears of £833.85.
*Councillor Alex Folkes (Lib Dem, Launceston Central), taken to court three times, the final time in July 2011 for arrears of £811.07.
Despite each being approached by the Packet in October and directly asked if they had ever faced legal action against them for council tax arrears, all four chose to offer no reply at the time.
A LAUNCESTON councillor and front-bench member of the Liberal Democrats at County Hall has apologised for failing to pay his council tax – TWICE.
Alex Folkes, deputy leader of the Lib Dem group and councillor for Launceston Central, was sent reminders and eventually a court summons after failing to pay his council tax.
The non-payment was revealed in court records which showed that Mr Folkes received a summons for non-payment and costs totalling £793.62.
It dated back to March 2010 when he failed to pay his council tax bill and led to two reminders and a final warning before he received the court summons. It was the second year running that the councillor – who during the 2010 general election campaign followed Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg as an official photographer – had missed a tax payment.
Two more Liberal Democrat councillors have admitted being taken to court after failing to pay council tax on time.
Sasha Gillard-Loft and Jan Powell admitted this week that they had not made the payments at certain points over the last two years.
The news has sparked criticism from the county’s opposition Conservative group and also the TaxPayers’ Alliance, who said councillors should be setting an example to others. It comes a week after Launceston councillor Alex Folkes admitted he had also failed to pay his council tax.
A TRURO area councillor had to be taken to court after failing to pay his council tax, it has been revealed.
Councillor Chris Pascoe is one of four Liberal Democrat members of Cornwall Council who have been forced to come clean over non-payment of council tax bills.
Failure to pay the tax that they help to set has left politicians red-faced and campaign groups furious.
Scott Mann, deputy leader of the Conservative group, said it did not inspire financial confidence in the Lib Dems, who want to control a billion pound budget, if they couldn’t run their personal finances.
“It’s for the public to decide whether it’s a big issue,” he said. “The taxpayer has to have confidence in the people making decisions at County Hall.”
Mr Pascoe, who represents Threemilestone and Gloweth, said problems regarding the payment of council tax began after the death of his father in July, 2010.
He said: “I’ve been in turmoil ever since. It came as a shock financially and obviously emotionally.
“That was the reason for getting behind with the payment of council tax. At the time it was chaotic.
“I knew I was behind but was making payments to keep up. I didn’t know about the court order until recently.”
Mr Pascoe, who is a self-employed electrician, said he has now paid all outstanding bills.
He said: “You struggle as much as the next person with financial problems.”
The councillor said the issue does not affect his capacity to represent his constituents but may have a bearing on his decision of whether or not to stand for re-election in 2013.
The former Liberal Democrat leader of Liverpool City Council has been summonsed to appear in court to face a charge of perjury.
Warren Bradley, 45, of Woodsorrell Road, Wavertree, stepped down as leader of the city’s Liberal Democrat party last April over electoral fraud claims.
He will be charged under Section 5 of the Perjury Act which relates to false statutory declarations.
He is due to appear at Liverpool City Magistrates’ Court on 9 March.
If convicted he could face up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.
A Merseyside Police spokesman said: “The summons follows a police investigation into a complaint referred to the force in April 2011.
“Following that investigation, a file of evidence was passed to the CPS, which took the decision to prosecute.”
Read on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-16849609
The Bullying of wind farm protesters could cost Government dear. Chris Huhne is facing a £1.25 Million legal claim from an anti-wind farm protester, who claims to have caught the ConDem regime’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change authorising an illegal police investigation in to his private life.
George Watson, Legal Advisor to the European Platform Against Windfarms (EPAW), says that he discovered by accident that he was being investigated by the UK government under special powers which are only to apply to criminal/terrorist activities.
A letter, reproduced below, has been sent to Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, denouncing this improper use of the legislation, and announcing legal proceedings against the UK government. A formal complaint has also been made to the Metropolitan Police.
Mr. Watson has announced his intention to claim £2.5 Million in compensation, on a split 50/50 basis from the Government and from Mr. Huhne personally.
Criminal proceedings?
The move will add to pressure on Chris Huhne, who is also facing likely criminal proceedings at the end of a long-running police investigation into allegations by his ex-wife that he got her to accept points on her licence when in fact it was him who was speeding.
According to EPAW, Mr Watson was also harassed by a police officer who visited his home in a Scottish rural area on Christmas Eve!
Mark Duchamp, Executive Director of EPAW, is asking UK government Ministers if they intend to investigate and harass other members of the public who oppose the destruction of the British landscape, the killing of protected bird and bat species, and the deterioration of the health of wind farm neighbours. Mr Watson’s only crime, he said, is to have found legal flaws in the way the UK government’s energy policy is being applied.
EPAW claims that wind farms are ineffective, immensely expensive, and destroy jobs in the rest of the economy; that they are also seriously harming human health, and finally that they are killing protected wildlife. In the circumstances, concludes Duchamp, the 514 associations from 23 countries represented by EPAW would like to know why their members in Britain are being investigated and harassed by the authorities, using special powers supposedly reserved for criminals and terrorists.
Mr. Watson’s letter is reproduced below. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Mr Huhne:
Reference: Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA)
I contact you in relation to the above-mentioned legislation.
It was brought to my attention by another Government Department, quite by accident, that you authorised an investigation into my background/private life under the provisions of RIPA. I require you to provide me with the following information:
a) It should be noted that it would be negligent administration and an abuse of your position, if you did not have evidence that I was involved in criminal/terrorist activity before authorising such action. Taking this fact into consideration, I require details and copies of ALL instances where I was involved in criminal or terrorist activity. However, I freely admit I have been in constant touch with your office in relation to the idiotic policy of IWT’s and the danger to Human Health;
b) I advise you that I require a ‘true copy’ of any warrant granted and details of the issuing court. In addition, I require a ‘true copy’ of ALL additional material presented to the court in order to attain any warrant;
c) I require details/copies of ALL documentary information that was attained by your office through the illegal intrusion into my private life. In addition, I require written confirmation that the documentation provided is a full disclosure of information attained/held;
d) A ‘true copy’ of the authority signed by yourself for the illegal intrusion into my background/private life.
I advise you that I have instructed Senior Counsel to begin legal proceedings against the UK Government and you personally as an individual. I further advise you that as you have abused your position, this is actionable. A Petition will be lodged against the UK Government and yourself in the coming weeks, in which I will seek ‘Punitive Damages (Exemplary Damages) at the amount of £2.5 million (pounds sterling) on a 50/50 split between the UK Government and a personal liability by yourself. An apology is not sufficient in this case.
Yours sincerely
GEORGE WATSON
Thomas Docherty said he was asking Scotland Yard to mount a criminal investigation after Mr Laws was found guilty of six breaches of parliamentary rules by the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee.
“If this matter was not referred to the police the public would rightly ask is there one law for David Laws, and another for them,” Mr Docherty said.
“If anyone else had fraudulently obtained £50,000 and their defence was that they had done it to protect their privacy, then they would rightfully have had the book thrown at them.”
Mr Laws now faces a seven-day suspension from the Commons after the Standards and Privileges Committee found yesterday that he committed “a series of serious breaches of rules”.
In a personal statement to the Commons, Mr Laws apologised for deliberately concealing the fact that he was using allowances to pay rent to his partner James Lundie. But he insisted his only motive had been to avoid being outed as gay, rather than financial profit.
Former candidate, who speaks out on crime and policing, imprisoned for 16 weeks
A PROSPECTIVE Liberal Democrat MP was jailed yesterday for bludgeoning his family cat to death with a walking stick.
Mike Dixon, 53, who has spoken out on crime and policing in the past, yelled: ‘I’m going to kill this cat’ while brandishing the stick and chasing it upstairs into a bedroom.
He then repeatedly struck black-and-white Tipsy in a ‘prolonged and awful attack’ while his family begged him to stop.
The animal, which had lived with the family for five years, died in agony after suffering for more than half an hour with ten broken bones and a skull fracture.
Kidderminster magistrates heard the prospective parliamentary candidate – who came third in Birmingham Northfield at the general election – ‘lost his temper’ after the cat apparently scratched one of his grandchildren last May.
Some time later, in what RSPCA officers described as a ‘calculated’ attack, he chased it into a bedroom and locked the door behind him before beating it with the stick.
Dixon, of Kidderminster, contacted the police to tell them what he had done and they passed the case on to the RSPCA, which brought the prosecution.
The following is taken from Guido Fawkes blog:
Portsmouth City Council has been left reeling at the arrest and questioning of Mike Hancock for indecent assault. Inter-party email exchanges through the night have left the LibDems spinning “move along people, nothing to see here”. The grandly named Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the LibDem Council Leader said in the early hours:
“When I knock on doors in Portsmouth I find someone on almost every street who tells me how Mike Hancock has help make their lives better. Mike is by far the best MP this city has had for many years. I continue to think that Mike should continue to be allowed to continue his work for local people.”
Perhaps not the wisest choice of words. It was his attempts “to make their lives better” that got Hancock into this mess in the first place.
UPDATE: Surprisingly LibDemVoice fail to omit the key detail that Hancock was arrested and bailed. Compare and contrast the two statements. Firstly from Hancock:
“I can confirm that I was questioned on Tuesday 12 October by officers of the Hampshire Police in relation to allegations made against me by one individual. I attended the police station voluntarily, cooperated fully and answered all questions that were asked. ”
And the law:
“Hampshire Constabulary spokesman Ian Sainsbury said in a statement: ‘A man has been arrested on suspicion of indecent assault following a complaint from a woman in Portsmouth.”
The Guardian, PA and the Telegraph also buy Hancock’s voluntary questioning spin hook, line and sinker. They may not have kicked the veteran Member’s door down but he was certainly nicked.
These are the messages he sent to the alleged victim. Hancock claims he was just trying to cheer her up. You decide.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mike’s Previous:
1) (Oct. 12, 2010) “Handycock” Faces probing: http://order-order.com/2010/10/12/handycock-faces-probing/
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2) (Oct. 7, 2010) “Handycock” Loses Injuction Battle: http://order-order.com/2010/10/07/handycock-loses-injunction-battle/
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3) (Sept. 28) “Handycock” in Court Next week: http://order-order.com/2010/09/28/exclusive-handycock-in-court-next-week/
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4) (Sept. 27) Hancock’s Half Hour (with the Police): http://order-order.com/2010/08/03/exclusive-hancocks-half-hour-with-the-police/
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5) Third Time Unlucky for Hancock: http://order-order.com/2010/09/27/third-time-unlucky-for-hancock/
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Not forgetting the three other posts on this site where the name of this reprobate is included: http://eotp.org/?s=mike+Hancock
[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGJYQOZ4kjg&feature=player_embedded]
Taken from the Taxpayers’ Alliance Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TaxpayersallianceUK
Above: M.P.s are not so tolerant of interlopers (those appointed to give the taxpayer justice) muscling in on their patch.
A senior official tasked with cleaning up the Westminster’s expenses system, has said he left the post “for the sake of my health and sanity” amid a backlash from some MPs.
Nigel Gooding has left his job as operations director of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) following a series of rows with MPs, some of whom have been left up to £20,000 worse off under new stricter rules.
The 46-year-old civil servant was employed on a six-month contract to launch IPSA and implement cuts including an end to public subsidies on lavish second homes and first-class train trips
However, he has stood down from his role, telling the Mail on Sunday: “I have left the job for the sake of my health and sanity.”
IPSA was forced to erect a sign at its Commons offices warning MPs: ‘We will not tolerate abuse of staff.’
Many MPs have complained about IPSA’s handling of their expenses and the implementation of the new rules.
Paul Farrelly, a Labour MP, sent a complaint to Mr Gooding and said the new system was “prehistoric, amateurish, self-defeating and bureaucracy gone mad”.
He wrote: “I have been asked for a copy of my passport or birth certificate to prove my date of birth. Why that is necessary, I do not know. More importantly, as I have used my overdraft limit, my mortgage payment will bounce, causing me embarrassment and further charges You could easily have saved us all this aggravation.”
Mr Gooding’s previous jobs included launching the National Rail Enquiries service and the flu pandemic hot line.
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STEPHEN Sharp has stood down from public life with immediate effect — five months after being convicted of fraud.
In a letter dated March 3, Mr Sharp resigned as a councillor on New Mills Town Council and High Peak Borough Council.
The trainee train driver has quit the roles because of work commitments.
He said: “I have decided, with great regret, to stand down as the councillor for New Mills West, on both High Peak Borough and New Mills Town Councils, with immediate effect.
Hundreds of breaches of parliamentary rules by MPs who accepted free overseas trips from foreign governments have been uncovered by a BBC investigation.
More than 20 MPs broke rules on declaring hospitality in questions or debates after visiting locations such as the Maldives, Cyprus and Gibraltar.
The MPs – from Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems – breached parliamentary regulations on more than 400 occasions.
One former standards watchdog says it shows MPs cannot regulate themselves.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8580183.stm
The Conservative Party MPs named by the BBC are: David Amess (Southend West), Crispin Blunt (Reigate), Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West), David Burrowes (Enfield Southgate), Alan Duncan (Rutland and Melton), Liam Fox (Woodspring), Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead), Andrew Rosindell (Romford), Richard Spring (West Suffolk) and Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet).
The Liberal Democrat MPs named by the BBC are: Norman Baker (Lewes), Colin Breed (South East Cornwall), Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South) and Paul Keetch (Hereford).
The Labour MPs named by the BBC are: Andrew Dismore (Hendon), Jim Dobbin (Heywood and Middleton), Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley), Bob Laxton (Derby North), David Lepper (Brighton Pavilion), Andrew Love (Edmonton), Madeleine Moon (Bridgend) and Rudi Vis (Finchley and Golders Green).
A London mayor has been suspended from his post after being arrested on suspicion of benefit fraud.
Camden Mayor Omar Faruque Ansari, 55, was led from the north London borough’s town hall by police on Monday.
He was questioned at Holborn police station over claims that he was falsely claiming disability benefits.
The Liberal Democrats have launched an investigation into the incident after learning about it earlier today.
A spokesperson said: “We were first alerted to this email exchange earlier today. David Jack is no longer a parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats and we have launched an immediate investigation.”
Channel 4 News Political Correspondent Cathy Newman has spoken to Mr Jack, who denies sending the email, which contains sexually offensive and racist language – although he admits it did come from his official email account. Mr Jack said he had been drinking in Stoke last Friday night when the email was sent at 10.24pm but he was nowhere near his home computer in Cheshire.
The email contains the following sentences (we have removed any reference to the recipient to protect their identity, but Channel 4 News can confirm it was sent to someone with a name of Asian extraction).
Warning: you may find the language used extremely offensive.
“…if I was you I would f*** back off to the hills of tora borro (sic), I have your home address, you are f***** sunshine, we shall see who has got balls now you two faced lying f****** paki… your cards f*****… prison awaits you b** boy. Think your (sic) brave, you don’t know the line you have crossed you f*** witt (sic) – keep looking over you shoulder theif! (sic)”
1) Chris Huhne for the “Liberal” “Democrats” (oxymoron) thinks that opium, LSD and Speed are an “accepted facet of our society”.
2) Chris was banned from driving for three months for dangerous driving by using a hand held phone.
3) Chris has dubious share dealings and was investigated for more dealings with our money that is sponged by the E.U. Perhaps this where he managed to raise the money to buy the seven houses that he owns.
4) He is also a parasite on the back of the innocent worker: he charged YOU, THE HARD-WORKING TAXPAYER, for the price of his trouser-press.
A FRONTBENCH Liberal Democrat peer is refusing to reveal the location of her main home, which she used to claim more than £70,000 in expenses from the House of Lords.
Baroness Barker, 48, a spokeswoman on health, has lived in London for the past 20 years but four years ago began claiming allowances for peers living outside the capital.
While continuing to live and work in London, Barker claimed up to £19,000 a year by saying her main address was in the “southeast”.
When approached by The Sunday Times, she volunteered the home was in Sussex but would not even name the nearest town nor say whether she owned the property.
A FORMER Stockport mayor facing court over after being involved in a fatal car crash has been suspended from the Liberal Democrat Party.
Councillor Shan Alexander, 65, who was appointed as Stockport’s first Aisan mayor in 2005, has also been suspended from her position as a Stockport magistrate.
Her automatic suspension from the Lib Dems means she won’t be allowed to vote on party decisions or serve as Stockport’s executive member for finance until her court case has been dealt with.
Coun Alexander, of Hawk Green, was behind the wheel of her Mercedes when she was involved in a crash in Nether Alderley on May 10 this year.
But Mallory Perry, 66, from Stockport – a back-seat passenger in Mrs Alexander’s car – suffered fatal injuries in the crash and Coun Alexander has been asked to appear at Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court on October 21.
MPs are required by Parliamentary rules to be “above reproach” when claiming expenses. But many found a way round the system, leading to widespread abuse.
Below we look at what they can legitimately claim and how some managed to maximise their income at the taxpayer’s expense.
What they can legitimately claim:
Under the additional costs allowance (ACA), MPs can claim expenses for the cost of running a second home for the purpose of fulfilling their parliamentary duties. In 2007/8, the last year for which complete figures are available, this stood at a maximum of £23,083.
The money can be spent on rent or mortgage interest payments. MPs who do not have a second home can claim for hotel rooms, for which they must submit a receipt.
Within the maximum ACA, MPs are allowed to claim up to £400 per month for food without the need for receipts and, until last year, up to £250 per claim in other categories without receipts.
This has since been lowered to £25. MPs can claim for utility bills, council tax, telephone bills, decorating, employing a cleaner, and even the purchase of furniture and electrical and household goods for their second homes.
The amount which MPs can claim for individual items is governed by the so-called ‘John Lewis List’. Personal items, such as toiletries and electric razors, cannot be claimed for.
The rules state that all ACA claims must be “above reproach” and there must be “no suggestion of misuse of public money”.
How they exploited the system:
A number of MPs used the allowance to pay for furniture and refurbishments for one property, before ‘flipping’ their second home designation to another property and claiming for improvements on that one.
Having used their taxpayer-funded expenses for renovations and repairs, some MPs then sold their homes at a profit. Some with constituencies in outer London bought second homes just a few miles from their main residence.
Others avoided paying Capital Gains Tax on the profit of the sale of their second home by telling the taxman it was their main residence.
A few MPs continued to claim expenses for mortgage interest on their second home even when the mortgage had been paid off.
Many MPs regularly claimed the maximum allowed for food. Others put in claims for utility bills, cleaning and repairs whilst avoiding the need to submit receipts by ensuring that the sums claimed were just below the £250 limit.
Others went on spending sprees towards the end of the financial year on order to reach their maximum ACA. Some bought furniture for their second homes but had it delivered to their main residence.
Among the frivolous and arguably unnecessary items claimed by MPs were radiator covers, pet food, manure and a duck house.
![pigs[1]](http://eotp.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/pigs12.jpg?w=549 "pigs[1]")
MPs whose controversial claims for accommodation costs, food and furniture were exposed during the expenses scandal are claiming the status of victims instead of offenders.
Members of Parliament whose controversial claims for accommodation costs, food and furniture were exposed during the expenses scandal are using an official inquiry to claim they were victims rather than offenders.
Several politicians revealed by The Telegraph to be taking advantage of their parliamentary remuneration have attempted to justify their behaviour to the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
Welcome to the sick joke that is Parliamentary “democracy”. How much longer can the People have trust in crooked, corrupt and EVIDENTLY CRIMINAL system?
Here is a selection of edited submissions made by MPs to the Committee on Standards in Public Life on the issue of the employment of family members.
A hearing has found the former deputy council leader of Somerset County Council guilty of two counts of breaching codes of conduct.
The two-year investigation looked into dozens of complaints about the behaviour of Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Buchanan.
Mr Buchanan has been disqualified from being a councillor for two years.
The tribunal heard he made written allegations of serious misconduct against chief executive Alan Jones.
‘Act of revenge’
On Wednesday the panel ruled Mr Buchanan had “brought the office of [the] member into disrepute” and “used his position as a member to confer a disadvantage on Mr Jones”. He was disqualified from local government for two years.
Panel chairman David Laverick said the respondent “was motivated by a desire to cause harm to the chief executive”.
At least 20 other MPs have been caught in the ‘McNulty Triangle’ by claiming allowances for running second homes within easy commuting distance of the House of Commons.
The ‘name and shame’ list of MPs with outer-London seats who have claimed thousands of pounds in allowances has provoked outrage among their colleagues, particularly those with inner-city London seats who are barred under the rules from making similar claims.
The list of 20 shows that Tony McNulty is nowhere near the worst expenses claimer, coming a mere 16th in the list. McNulty, the MP for Harrow East, has claimed £52,598 in additional cost allowances on his parents’ house in Harrow, even though he lives with his wife Christine Gilbert in Hammersmith.
A small number of MPs and peers will face criminal investigations into allegations they misused their expenses.
Scotland Yard said a joint assessment panel of senior detectives and prosecutors had decided full inquiries were necessary.
The police inquiries were expected to focus on politicians accused of deliberately misleading the authorities or claiming “phantom mortgages”.
The investigation will be conducted by officers from the Met’s Economic and Specialist Crime Command, overseen by Temporary Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams. It is understood the joint panel of experts will continue to consider a small number of other individuals.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “After consideration by the joint Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service assessment panel the Met has decided to launch an investigation into the alleged misuse of expenses by a small number of MPs and peers.”
Quad bikes, window cleaning, beds, life insurance and mock Tudor fireplaces – these are just some of the things that the criminal pirates masquerading as Tory, Labour and Lib-Dem MPs at Westminster have claimed from your tax money as “benefits.”
Tory MP David Maclean claimed £3,300 for a quad bike which he claimed was necessary to get around his constituency in Cumbria. Not too surprisingly, Mr Maclean was also behind a failed bid to exempt MPs and peers from Freedom of Information laws that require public figures to reveal their expenses.
His fellow Tory MEP Giles Chichester sucked £500,000 into “office services” for a business – staffed by his own family and of which he was director. At the time, Mr Chichester had been appointed by Conservative leader David Cameron to ensure that Tory MEPs did not swindle the taxpayers.
Tory MP Derek Conway paid his sons, Henry and Freddie, £80,000 for being his “researchers.” Mr Conway was then exposed by the BNP’s spokesman on law and order, Mr Michael Barnbrook. Mr Conway was ordered to pay back a mere £13,160 after an enquiry found no evidence that Freddie did any research work for his father. He was ordered to cough up around £3,700 for Henry. Further investigations showed that the Conservative MP had spent more than £260,000 of taxpayer’s money in “salaries” to members of his immediate family over a six-year period.
Labour Party MP and former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett claimed more than £6,500 in allowances for gardening expenses at her home in Derby. This included bills for pruning shrubs, trimming the hedges and for dismantling and rebuilding a rockery. In 2006 she also tried to claim £600 in costs for her garden plants.
She was joined in this never-ending swindle by fellow Labour MP Barbara Follet who claimed £1,600 for window cleaning. To make matters worse, the invoices for the window cleaning were made out to her husband, well known fiction author Ken Follett.
Possibly the most outrageous swindler yet is Labour Minister Tony McNulty who claimed more than £60,000 for a “second home” which in fact is where his parents live. There is no excuse whatsoever for this blatant theft from the public purses, as Mr McNulty’s actual residence was only nine miles away from his parents’ house. Mr McNulty would have been arrested and charged with fraud under any normal financial regime.
Not to be outdone in the outrageous stakes was Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten. After he was forced to resign over a sex scandal involving male prostitutes, it transpired that he had claimed bedroom furniture and other household items from his Parliamentary allowance.
Labour’s former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott felt the need to redecorate his house in mock Tudor style, putting up reproduction panels and a beautiful fireplace. All very nice one might say — except that the taxpayer paid for all of it.
Labour husband and wife MP duo Alan and Ann Keen spent a mere £175,000 on a “second home” allowance to buy an apartment on the South Bank of the Thames — despite owning a home in Brentford, West London, which is only 30 minutes away by car. Mrs Keen also took out a joint life insurance policy worth £430,000 and claimed back the £867.57 a month premium on her expenses.
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/4102084.Former_mayor_was_benefits_cheat/
A borough councillor has appeared in court in Northampton, charged with the assault of a former council colleague and community leader.
Prince Sadik Chaudhury, aged 36, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Thorplands, appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court yesterday, accused of assaulting Yousuf Miah, a former Conservative councillor who is the chairman of the Northampton Bangladeshi Association.
A FORMER West Lindsey councillor and Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate appeared in court on Thursday, to deny a charge of sexual assault.
Dr Adrian Heath, a dentist, is alleged to have touched a woman’s breasts during an incident on 13th August last year.
Chief whip Paul Burstow used pre-paid Commons envelopes to send the material attacking a Tory rival to voters in his Sutton and Cheam constituency. But Standards Commissioner John Lyon said the pre-paid service was not meant for party political campaigning.
A leading councillor has urged others to avoid repeating his mistake and becoming a convicted drink driver.
Cllr Simon McDougall, who is a member of Bersted, Bognor, Arun and West Sussex councils, said he deeply embarrassed by the actions which caused him to break the law.
FORMER city council leader Cllr Mike Storey has been found guilty of a breach of the members’ code of conduct by the Standards Board for England. He was found to have breached the code by divulging confidential information about the ill health of former Culture Company boss Jason Harborow. It followed a meeting on November 18, 2007, between Cllr Storey, current leader Cllr Warren Bradley and former events manager Lee Forde in which it was alleged there had been a conspiracy to oust Mr Harborow from his job.
A LEADING Liverpool councillor delivered “disgraceful” leaflets in a bungled attempt to smear political rivals, a judge ruled yesterday. Cllr Steve Hurst, the council’s executive member for corporate performance, was found guilty of breaching election law. Last night Cllr Hurst, a firefighter, was facing calls that he stand down from his position on the council’s ruling executive board and as representative for Liverpool’s Wavertree ward. He delivered a leaflet titled “Walton Scab” attacking sitting Labour councillor Pauline Walton and her firefighter husband Keith. Sentencing, District Judge Richard Clancy said he had “no doubt” Cllr Hurst pushed the flier through letterboxes in Liverpool’s Woodlands Estate in the run-up to local elections in May, 2007.
BAY MP Adrian Sanders launched a ‘shocking and unacceptable’ ‘violent assault’ on fellow Liberal Democrat Mark Littlewood, according to eyewitnesses found by the Herald Express. Mr Sanders is said to have gone for the former Lib Dem press chief’s throat in Monday’s incident, which hit national headlines at the party’s annual conference in Bournemouth. A Lib Dem spokesman told the Herald Express that Mr Sanders ‘pushed’ Mr Littlewood, who then fell over a small wall. The incident was widely reported as ‘a kerfuffle’. Lib Dem officials also issued a brief statement, confirming Mr Sanders had offered a full apology to Mr Littlewood.
THE political career of a North Yorkshire county councillor is over after he tried to have sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Morris Lightfoot continued his perverted online chats with “Tina” despite one chatroom barring him, said Nick Worsley, prosecuting at York Crown Court.
But instead of the 13-year-old girl he believed her to be, “Tina” was Tony Graves, the adult male moderator of chatroom “Zorbie”, who set a trap for the former Harrogate deputy mayor and current county councillor.
“It seems to me that if it hadn’t been for the very responsible activity of Mr Graves, proprietor of this site, you may have got in touch with a real 13-year-old and that may have led to serious sexual offending on your part,” Judge Peter Benson told Lightfoot.
He jailed the 56-year-old sex offender for eight months. The sentence means that Lightfoot will automatically lose his position as county councillor and Harrogate borough councillor in 28 days’ time.
(2008) A COUNCILLOR is being investigated over allegations that he showed pornographic images to a policewoman. Denis Whittle is due to meet Rochdale council chief executive Roger Ellis with his political future hanging in the balance. A female officer made a complaint after going to Cllr. Whittle’s home last month to discuss reports of repeated anti-social behaviour in the area. http://tinyurl.com/55lb9s
A LIBERAL Democrat councillor has been fined after he racially abused a police officer after a six-hour drinking binge.
Christian Walker, 34, was arrested in a 24-hour Tesco in Water Street, Stockport. in the early hours of August 28 this year after using a racial slur to insult PC Patrick Mulhill, who is of Chinese and British ethnicity.
A FORMER North Devon District councillor who swindled his own authority out of £5,200 in benefits while jetting off on luxury foreign holidays faces a prison sentence.
At Exeter Crown Court, Laurence Haydn-Higgins, 52, of Queen Street, Ilfracombe, was today found guilty by a jury of making false representations to obtain housing and council tax benefits.
The jury also convicted him of failing to promptly notify the authority that his working and child credit tax allowances had been increased.
http://tinyurl.com/5h86re
(2008) A councillor is potentially facing political ruin after he was sacked by his party following an arrest for fraud. Cllr Vijay Shah, Wembley Central ward, was arrested at his home in Clayton Avenue, Wembley, on March 8 by officers from Hertfordshire Police. http://tinyurl.com/58ab8o
UPDATE 22 Oct 08
A Brent Councillor has been charged with fraud after a seven month police investigation.
Councillor Vijay Shah was arrsted in March this year in relation to his role as an accountant at EJ Masters delivery company, in Kings Langley, Herfordshire.
He was charged with fraud by Hertfordshire Police on Monday, and has been bailed to appear at West Herts Magistrates Court on November 7.
Mr Shah, of Clayton Avenue, Wembley, sits as an independent councillor after being thrown out of the Liberal Democrat Party shortly after his arrest.
Hussain defrauded dozens of voters during the 2004 local government elections. The men, who were sitting on Burnley Council at the time, collected signed proxy vote forms door-to-door and filled them in themselves. At Preston Crown Court they were each sentenced to 18 months for falsifying postal proxy votes. Both councillors were arrested in October 2004. The judge went on to say the councillors had “exploited a loophole” in which the law did not require proxy vote applicants to complete the form themselves. He urged the Electoral Commission and the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs to close the loophole. Both men were convicted of conspiracy to defraud Burnley Council’s returning officer following a three-week trial at Preston Crown Court. http://tinyurl.com/y6nayv
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Lib-Dem councillor pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife. Peter Wright appeared before Salford Magistrates’ Court charged with assaulting his wife, fellow Audenshaw councillor Karen Wright, on New Year’s Eve ‘05/’06
Peter Wright, a Lib Dem for 10 years in Tameside, was given a 23-week prison sentence yesterday for assaulting his partner of 17 years.
During a previous court hearing, at which Wright admitted his guilt, he was described by his solicitor as having led a `blameless life and devoted himself to the service of others’.
Liberal Democract activist Archibald Wood was exposed as a member of a child abuse ring in which young victims were offered for sex on the Internet. He and others subjected two 12-year-olds to an afternoon of abuse which left the youngsters devastated. http://tinyurl.com/657ooo
(2006) A former Derby City Council leader has been given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for a year for indecently assaulting a seven-year-old boy. Maurice Burgess, 58, pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to assaulting the boy 23 years ago. The court heard the former Liberal Democrat councillor had a similar conviction dating back to 1971. He was leader of the council from 2003 until July 2005 and an Abbey ward councillor until May 2006. http://tinyurl.com/6cdc3c
The gang of Labour/LibDem/Tory crooks who make up the Tweedledee Tweeledum parties in parliament are desperately trying to prevent the publication of figures showing how much taxpayers’ money they have spent on themselves by way of furnishings for second houses.
Taxpayers have already been charged one million pounds for the staff working at Westminster to prepare the expense receipts for publication, but the MPs now look certain to change the law so that the details will not be published at all.
According to one source, Westminster is rife with speculation that several MPs would have been so embarrassed by publication of their receipts that they would have been forced to leave parliament.
Commons authorities began to edit MPs’ receipts for publication after MPs lost a battle in the High Court to prevent publication. Speaker Michael Martin spent around £150,000 of public money unsuccessfully fighting the case.
Commons leader Harriet Harman has revealed that the Government intends to change the law to exempt MPs from freedom of information laws.
The proposals are backdated to 2005, so would nullify rulings that the public has a right to know exactly how MPs are spending allowances for second homes.
Instead, individual MPs’ expenses are merely to be split into more categories than before when published.
The announcement that parliament wants to defy the High Court and block publication of receipts for MPs’ expenses was buried on the day news was dominated by Government statements on Heathrow and Equitable Life.
The extraordinary move is in direct response to a High Court judgment upholding an Information Tribunal ruling that receipt-by-receipt breakdowns for how public money is spent by MPs must be published.
MPs’ expenses and allowances last year cost taxpayers £87 million. Their claims are on top of their £63,291 salary.
Information campaigner Heather Brooke, who battled for years to have the receipts released, said the developments showed a “new level of arrogance. Just when you thought MPs had understood the need to regain public trust they do something like this,” she said. “It is what you would expect from a banana republic.”
In a separate development, it emerged that despite promises of an end to the Westminster gravy train, MPs will still be free to use taxpayers’ cash for extravagant items to furnish and upgrade second homes.
Under revised expenses rules MPs will still be entitled to pick items from the so-called “John Lewis list”, the informal guidelines on how much can be spent on home furnishings.
As now, they will be able to charge for white goods, sofas, chairs, tables, beds, cutlery and crockery, security fittings, cleaners and decoration to kit out their second homes.
Mortgage interest payments or rent for the additional residences will also be met by the taxpayer as will utility bills and council tax payments. Receipts will not need to be submitted for any items under £25.
There will also be flat-rate ’subsistence’ payments of £25 per day when a “member spends a night away from his or her main home on Parliamentary business.”
