Hague warns against rewriting expenses reforms
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Independent Minds
William Hague today warned the new parliamentary watchdog not to try to re-write plans to clean-up the system of MPs expenses.
The shadow foreign secretary became the most senior politician to speak out after Professor Sir Ian Kennedy let it be known that he was thinking of dropping key elements of the blueprint for reform.
The plan, published last week, was drawn up by Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the Committee for Standards in Public Life, after an extensive consultation.
However Sir Ian, the £100,000-a-year, three-day-a-week head of the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), has made clear he has no obligation to accept Sir Christopher's recommendations and is planning to run his own consultation.
In particular he was said to be preparing to drop plans to require MPs to hand back any profits they make on the sale of homes bought with mortgages subsidised by the taxpayer and the ban on MPs employing family members.
However, Mr Hague warned that it would to nothing to restore public confidence if Sir Ian tried to reopen the matter now.
"I think it would be wrong to re-write what has now been produced," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.
"The public are pleased with what Sir Christopher Kelly has said and we have to accept it, not quibble about it, and we don't really want somebody else to come in and quibble about it either.
"That would be unwise and unnecessary."
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Comments
It matters not to me what he comes up with, nothing would surprise me, nor do I care, I'm past that now, let this hideous bunch do what they like - they will anyway - since nothing could bring them down any further, nothing...
Marcusoralias.
This is doing the rounds elsewhere ...... [quote]With the "leaders" of the three main parties in Opposition to Good Mutually Beneficial and Agreeable Governance, Messrs Clegg, Cameron and Brown.......[ a most disagreeable adversarial opposition arrangement, which will always Guarantees that there can never be a Positively Reinforcing Constructive Consensus in such as would be Pimped as Parliamentary Democracy] ...... all being on record as having advised their troops to accept Sir Christopher Kelly's long overdue, root and branch review and move on, it will be interesting to see whether they have any power to lead and govern the 646 MPs in the House of Commons, let alone a nation of approaching 70 million restless and angry souls.
What of course is needed, and quite probably stealthily on its way, given the fantastic abilities which cutting edge communications technology can now deliver, totally unsuspected from Space, is a Post Modern Pride's Purge* to sweep this Rump of a Parliament into the Trash Can of History and Extraordinarily Render it a Bad and Corrupted Memory.
Pussyfooting around like Fairies is just not going to cut it, is it, and HM is most displeased and is not amused.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rump_Parl
Hence an urgent message to his own party, who are the most likely to be howling for Kelly to be watered down. The anti-Europe revolt is one front he will have trouble enough with as it is wholly an internal matter. Now the weakness he displayed months ago in not coming down hard on his party's fraudsters is going to come back to haunt him with a vengeance (exemplified by his blind eye towards Osborne the Flipper).
Kirkbride is the tip of the iceberg in the way of Totrytitanic.
Sending Hague to deliver a feeble 'be careful' warning through the public media again shows how Cameron can't upset the applecart face-to-face.
We do not need this person, appointed by MPs to look after the interests of MPs!
In what other area of the management of justice in this country, are the judges and juries involved in the management of fraud and similar abuses drawn from the ranks of the fraudsters themselves or their cronies?
This level of stupidity only appears to be considered a viable option in the Cloud Cuckoo Land inhabited by those exposed to this Fraudsters' Parliament!
No MP, or anyone tainted by association with an MP, should be allowed anywhere near IPSA!
Recall Elizabeth Filkin (she who was railroaded out of Westminster because she was trying TOO hard to identify, and get rid of, fraud by MPs). Recall Legg to help ensure that his findings are put into place!
Let MPs have a vote, WITH THE REST OF THE TAXPAYING CITIZEN VOTERS OF THE UK in a referendum on whether Legg's proposals are adopted - not fidlled about with- adopted! (We don't exactly get a surfeit of referanda, do we?)
Let's pay for this from the repayments and repossessions of property reclaimed following prosecutions under Sections 2-4 of The Fraud Act 2006! (Did I not mention that some MPs will be prosecuted?)
Of course..... a cheaper and probably quicker solution would be achieved by calling a disinfecting General Election now!
Think about it! Crooked MPs gone! Nespotism funded by the taxpaying citizen voters gone! Future MPs knowing that their every action (who listens to their weasel words now, anyway?) supervised by the general body of taxpaying citizens! No voter ever having to listen to a whining MP/family member again!
Talk about a 'Win-Win' situation!
All in favour of an immediate General Election... we can get to the prosecutions immediately after... raise your hand now........(Quick count)
Ayes ----- almost everyone in the country!
Nayes ....... 646 plus a few family members! (Funny that tallies with the number of MPs!)
Let's do it!....NOW!
Yet no-one is calling for a referendum, no-one is calling for ordinary people to have a say!!
The General Election is another thing entirely and will be fought on the bogus myths of Party dogma. What we need is the British people to have their say on the Kelly recommendations.