expenses

On Laws, Summerskill/Stonewall and Outrage

I've not blogged much recently despite wanting to say quite a bit. Other voices can sometimes say it better than I can and I do try and share those voices on my twitter stream.

David Laws resigned from the cabinet the other week after the Telegraph revealed he had been claiming expenses for rent paid to his partner against the rules. They claim that they weren't intending to reveal that his partner was male and therefore pull Laws out of the closet but it's hard to see how that could work in any meaningful way.

MPs' Expenses

Over the past few weeks there's been a lot of talk of MPs' expenses and just how they're being abused. There's a lovely graphic in Guido's post here showing MPs' salary and expenses compared to average salaries.

We got us some scalps!

So, today we had three announcements: Michael Martin will resign as speaker (and stand down as MP triggering a by-election), Douglas Hogg (he of moat dredging fame) will not be re-standing as an MP and Gordon Brown has decided that MPs who broke the rules (which I believe we'll find to be virtually no-one except perhaps the phantom mortgage claimers) will not be allowed to re-stand as Labour MPs. So, we got some scalps. Are we all warm and content now? FUCK NO!

Political Stuff

I get home today and see a yellowy envelope face down on the floor. I recognise it - I've had two before. Picking it up and turning it over confirms it's from the my concerns over MPs expenses and Freedom of Information sent on 21st January? Or is it my comments on the Digital Britain report sent on Wednesday (10th February)?

Nothing to Hide

My MP is Helen Southworth (Warrington South - Labour). According to her They Work for You page, she voted "strongly" in favour of ID Cards and never rebels against her party.