So the “honourable” members are back to their subsidised bars restaurants and hard days of submitting fraudulent expenses claims. So how’s that first day gone? Well Jacqui Smith has read out a grudging apology for being caught claiming that a room at her sisters was her main home, and not the house family live at. But as she’s apologised it’s now all ok, no further action will be taken, not even for claiming for her husbands porn, and no she doesn’t have to give the money back. Which is perfectly reasonable you see, as claiming for an entire house obviously costs just as much as claiming for a room so it doesn’t really matter which she claimed for. So all just a terrible misunderstanding and can we all move on please.
Someone who has at least been asked to pay back the odd 12 grand is former iron chancellor gurning Gordon, along with quite a few others. Though it is to be noted that so far they’ve only been asked, as it seems the person asking exceeded their remit in actually applying the existing rule of expenses having to be actually due to costs incurred doing their job, and not just because they want to build up a property portfolio. Terribly terribly mean of Sir Thomas, after all a grand a year for a gardener hardly goes any where these days.
But it’s all ok as they’ve passed a new law (they’re terribly fond of those) putting an independent government funded body (or qango if you will) in charge of approving authorising their expenses. Fret not though it won’t impact the troughing too much the Lords are utterly exempt from it. There is actually good news in that bill, they managed to not scrap parliamentary privilege. Nor did they (as far as I can tell) get to make new laws covering these accounting errors, as opposed to say existing laws such as those covering fraud.
Alas however whilst parliamentary privilege may still be intact. So that our representatives can safely speak freely and ask awkward questions for their lobbyists constituents, it seems that thanks to the auspices of those bastions of free speech at carter-fuck, we may no longer have the chance to hear about it. In the mean time in case you haven’t heard (and you probably won’t have) it turns out that the way the police dealt with Damian Green MP the other year was not proportionate. The Met have a slightly different take on things.
So what a start to the new troughing season, so time for another walk. One day if we’re really really lucky and all wish very very hard they might take a hint.
(Feel free to steal the crap graphic, I’m working on a better version)
