MPs hit by angry public backlash
Labour MP faces criminal investigation into £13,000 claim for mortgage already paid off
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Independent Minds
Politicians suffered a public backlash over the MPs' expenses scandal yesterday as they went back to their constituencies after Parliament's blackest week in modern times.
Ministers, backbenchers, local councillors and party workers reported a rising tide of voter anger over the damaging revelations about how MPs had milked the system.
Another parliamentary career hung in the balance last night after a second MP admitted claiming money on a mortgage that had been repaid years ago. David Chaytor, the Labour MP for Bury North, said he had made an "unforgivable error" in claiming almost £13,000 between September 2005, and August 2006, for interest on a mortgage that had been paid off in 2004.
Mr Chaytor faces a criminal investigation into the expenses claims and almost certain suspension from the Parliamentary Labour Party. The former environment minister, Elliot Morley, was suspended from the party for an almost identical offence on Thursday. Mr Chaytor said he apologised "unreservedly" and promised to repay the money. A Downing Street source said it was a "very serious matter".
After a surge in the number of complaints from the public, the Metropolitan Police announced that a panel of senior Scotland Yard officers and prosecutors will meet next week to decide what action to take over claims that MPs misused parliamentary expenses.
Yesterday, the Justice minister Shahid Malik became the first minister to lose his job since the controversy began. Although he denies any wrongdoing, Gordon Brown ordered him to step down pending an inquiry into whether he had breached the ministerial code by benefiting from a subsidised rent on his home.
A ComRes survey for the BBC found that two thirds of people believe that MPs who have been "named and shamed" over their expenses should be forced to quit parliament. Some 34 per cent disagreed.
Sadiq Khan, the minister responsible for Community Cohesion, admitted: "I am feeling bruised and battered by all of this but it is as nothing compared to the hurt, anger and betrayal the public rightly feels at the moment."
Diane Abbott, the Labour MP, raised fears over public anger. "Saying sorry isn't enough. Giving money isn't enough. The public ... want to see dead MPs hanging from lamp-posts," she said.
Don't Panic magazine editor Heydon Prowse, an eco activist, dug a flower bed in the shape of a pound sign in the lawn of the shadow Leader of the Commons Alan Duncan in protest at his claims for gardening. Last night Mr Duncan pulled out of BBC Radio 4's Any Questions to address a meeting in his Rutland and Melton constituency.
A window was smashed at the Tory office in Bromsgrove, constituency of Julie Kirkbride whose MP husband Andrew MacKay quit as an aide to David Cameron after admitting they had "double claimed" the second homes allowance. The Shadow Cabinet and several backbenchers are publishing expenses online to try to beat the backlash. William Hague, the shadow Foreign Secretary, will quit directorships and after-dinner speaking, which brought in £95,000 in the final two months of last year.
A survey by the ConservativeHome website found seven out of 10 party members believe Douglas Hogg, the ex-minister who used expenses to clean his moat, should no longer be a Tory MP.
Some MPs have gone into hiding. Mr Morley, criticised for claiming £16,000 for a 'phantom' mortgage, told friends he had "gone away for a few days".
Meanwhile, other MPs have been drawn in to the row. Nadine Dorries, the Tory MP for Mid Bedfordshire, has been accused of claiming an allowance for a second home when she has only one. Ms Dorries claimed expenses on rented premises in her constituency on the basis that it was her second home.
Labour and the Tories denied they would halt campaigns for the 4 June county council and European elections. George Lord, the Tory Worcestershire County Council leader, said after canvassing in Bromsgrove, he faced hostility on the doorstep. "They think we are all crooks," he said. Louise Bag-shawe, Tory candidate in Corby and East Northants, where the MP, Health minister Phil Hope, will return £41,709 in expenses, said her team faced anger.
"The feeling is incendiary. It hits people where they live, as they can't afford these things in one of the worst recessions we've seen. It's obscene," she said.
MPs' expenses The latest revelations
*David Chaytor, Labour MP for Bury North, claimed £13,000 on a mortgage that was already paid off. He said it was an "unforgivable error" and he will repay the sum.
*Nadine Dorries, Tory MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, denied claiming a second home allowance while having only one home.
*Liberal Democrat MP Richard Younger-Ross claimed £1,200 for four mirrors. He said he will pay back £4,000.
*Anthony Steen, Conservative MP for Totnes, claimed tens of thousands of pounds for his country mansion.
*Chris Bryant, deputy leader of the House of Commons, "flipped" his second home twice in two years, claiming almost £20,000. He said the allegations were 'unfounding and inaccurate'.
*Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the shadow minister for international development, claims for a mortgage on a £2.75 million Cotswolds house.
*Sir Gerald Kaufman, former Labour environment minister, put in a claim for £28,834 for improvements to his London flat.
*Tam Dalyell, former father of the House of Commons, tried to claim £18,000 for bookcases.
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Comments
That sounds like the best solution, though a month in stocks having rotten fruit thrown at them might be more acceptable to those who shun capital punishment for the criminals who not only wreck the nation but also manage profit from doing so.
hypocrites!
bliars and cheayters - parliament is full of them!
See David Chaytor - You're nicked!
Perhaps he had weighty affairs of state on his mind.
Maybe he was so concerned about the welfare of his constituents that he simply didn't notice the extra funds in his bank account & was astounded when he found he had more money than he thought. Indeed, I have frequently found small change down the side of the settee & been amazed at how much had accumulated.
OR (applying Occams Razor) could it be that he's nothing more than an unpleasant, cheap swindler who's not fit to muck out stables let alone hold public office?
I'll let you decide but I know which version my moneys riding on.
No Diane, it is not enough but not because the public want to see dead MP's. The public want to see MP's treated exactly as they are treated, not "One rule for them, another rule for us." The public want to see the rule of law applied equally and fairly.
If a member of the public commits fraud, obtains money under false pretences or commits benefit fraud, they are prosecuted and, if convicted, fined or sent to prison. They are NOT allowed to say sorry and offer to return the money to escape prosecution.
There is no personal element involved here, no vendetta, no desire for revenge just a simple wish to see justice done. Why should MP's be allowed to behave in this way and not be held to the same standards as the rest of the population?
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/co
It is time we as a people put paid to this stinking mess of decades of self-seeking and power-hungry arrogance! To hell with being treated like criminals just for walking along our paid-for streets!
To hell with the PanoptiCON system: we are innocent until proven guilty, under due process of law. Their databases are unwieldy, corrupt, and despotic.
Let's see a party step up to *that* task! Then (maybe) I'll back them.
http://news.independentminds.livejourna
Our country has turned into second rate island, we need a very strong leader not a follower.
Plus it is known that No Lab have commission a independent inquiry, but will this into another Dr Kelly affair?
WHO CAN WE TRUST
http://news.independentminds.livejourna
I am seeing too that other 'authoritarian figures of our democracy' - bankers (all), police chiefs (G20), mayors (Doncaster) unelected but state sponsored quangos bosses (Ofcom, ofgen, of(ten wrong)), doctors (baby Peter), even our local council CEO's (huge salaries) - all these 'heads of..' are losing their authority through this revelation of greed. arrogance and incompetence. Only recently, we the public, were being 'abused and chided' for being homeopathic - and that is from an unelected body that has also falied to listen to the people.
Truly a revolution is in its infancy here - we need to nurture its roots to ensure it grows so that we can take control of our own country once again. I don't mean vote BNP or UKIP or such I mean that when we do eventually get to next May (because I fear that Gordie will hang on for that long) we can at least ask our prospective MP candidates some serious questions - about morals, about honesty, about integrity, about how they will deliver what we want as a nation - and not how he/she will comply with some party driven idealogy (which is simply a single man's driven desire - even despotic desire). Sure we need a theme to follow but lets follow a theme that we all vote for and not just for 'more of the same. The danger however is that we end up with so many 'independant MPs' and the UK may end up with as many political parties as Italy (sorry Italy) and then we be on their road to poltical stagnation. Or we could do as the Mexicans do - keep the same party in power for 80+ years - they says its beeter the devil you know....em - no thanks.
Whatever we do we must take our country back and when we get it back it must have leadership and not a leader who will do anything to stay in power - we have had enough of those recently - are you listening Cameron, you are in danger of follwing suit here. We deserve as a great leader to make our nation a great nation once again, we want to be a world leader again in technology, science, justice and fairness. We want our country back.
We want an election now.
If the word is pig then we nominated them and we are the pig lings. Let us first
Get the money back
Call the Police
Get the judge
Get them locked
Publish the name in the Daily Telegraph as they bribed some one to get these names out
The independent to publish the CV so they get no jobs in the cleaning rooms as they have already cleaned us.
The Sun as the papers has nudes and plenty. I like this paper in the night somehow. My doctor is always near me. He says BP. I wonder what that is.
The Financial Times as the fiancé is low and they go not get the jobs there as accountant.
The Legal Blab(to talk indiscreetly about something that is supposed to be secret, to chatter in a mildly incoherent way, Tell tales,Spread rumours, Tell secrets, Leak, Sneak ) al Bah, for legal bargains. Used spectacles
EBay for IT and elephant tusks, and then we talk.
I thank you
Firozali A.Mulla
That next question is what else have they been doing, if they'll lie cheat and steal a dam expense account, then maybe all departments should be looked at and the expenditure of money traced and accounted for.
This stuff has been going on for years and years. You chose not to see it, but it has gone on and on.
Remember the flotation of BT ? Tebbit became a director of BT after getting the privatisation bill through.
Thats not the same though, is it?
OK what about things that are tax deductible ?
Who pays for Richard Branson to fly around the world in his balloon? The UK tax payer. Why? Its tax deductible.
The tax payer actually pays for all the advertising and energy use by large companies - its tax deductible.
So top moaning - either Revolt, Leave (as I did) or Shut Up.
Trouble is, he has probably left it too long now. When it started he could have acted but back then they all thought all they had to do was say "I've done nothing wrong", blame the rules and us suckers would all say "OK, sorry to have read these allegations" and back to business as usual. Which shows yet again how they regard their position and their atttude to those they are meant to represent.
Wich is a shame as I can see problems getting worse. Action will almost certainly help but I suspect it is too late to undo the damage that has been done.
Have the despicable dishonourable members forgotten that principal that no one should be above the law? e.g.I can apologise if caught speeding but I will still have to pay the fine - because this is the law and I am a poor, but law abiding citizen.
Get rid of these outlaws and let them face the law as we do every day of our CCTV controlled lives.
Didn't that happen with Poll tax?
Didn't that happen with Poll tax?
2. Everyone saw how dame Shirley Porter took very expensive legal advice (some paid by taxpayers - some paid by her) and it cost her well over 12 million quid, and-
3.Aside from OUTRAGEOUS LAWYER'S 'EXPENSES' and COSTS plus billing for a full partner(s) fee - though a lowly clerk attends court, and-
4. Some senior civil servants make more than the PM, and-
5. Others in the 'Fees Office' obviously advised and misled some of the MPs, and-
6. Just imagine, the unbounded joy of 'The Great and The Good':
A. Arrested,
B. dragged to jail,
C. mug shot,
D. fingerprinted,
E. DNA sampled (actually theft of their/our PERSONAL porperty), and-
F. drug tested -
ON SUSPICION OR MERE ACCUSATIONS, BEFORE CONVICTION, UNDER THE LAWS THEY PASSED, AND-
8. The list does not stop there. and-
9. Don't get me started about 'His Thickness' the Speaker.
It is not indifferent that the attack has been lead by Murdoch through his News Corporation and by David and Frederick Barclay.
We may guess that the connections of Mr Murdoch with the banking industry are not slack either.
Some who have lost hundreds of billions through mismanagement now display their anger and answer at loosing power to the state and the democratic institutions by picking at MPs for what looks like trifles compared to their scandalous sky reaching swindle.
It seems nobody wants to see through that. The all encompassing "mediacraty" plays the tune and we all dance, MPs and government included. Sad times indeed.