Oh...I wish I was a fly on the wall.....

[RogerS]

....It is then leaked to the media that a cabinet minister is, quite literally, screwing the tax payer for every penny she can get by "claiming 88p for a bath plug".

Well, she is, isn't she?

 

[Karl]

Not if it is within the rules of PM's expenses. At what point do you draw a line? "That t-towel only cost 1.99 from Sainsburys - don't put it through the books". I'm pretty sure that most of us on Self Assessment returns would put the smallest of legitimate expense receipts through our books in order to minimise our tax liability.

Cheers

Karl

 

[newt]

Not if it is within the rules of PM's expenses. At what point do you draw a line? "That t-towel only cost 1.99 from Sainsburys - don't put it through the books". I'm pretty sure that most of us on Self Assessment returns would put the smallest of legitimate expense receipts through our books in order to minimise our tax liability.

Cheers

Karl

Karl perfectly put

 

[Peter T]

So let me get this straight. Here's a couple who, between them, earn over £150K pa, plus a whole bunch of expenses that's probably as much again, and they are putting in claims for a few quid for porn movies at a time when MPs expenses are hot media topic.

Just how STUPID are these people, who are, by the way, supposed to be running the country.

On the other hand, maybe they just don't care. They know that, no matter how badly they are caught with their hands in the till, nothing will be done and the whole thing will be swept under the carpet so, what the hell. Let's just screw the taxpayer for every penny!

 

[newt]

I think they are stupid

 

[Digit]

On the basis that a swing to the Tories of about next to nothing will see her at the local job centre at the next general election there's probably something in that Peter. Her majority is under three thousand.

Roy.

 

[Ironballs]

To keep Roger happy "Poling the electorate"

I do think they claim for too much in general on their expenses, but this was a minor error/misdemeanour and the embarrassment suffered by them for admitting to watching a couple of grumble vids is more than enough punishment

 

[BMac]

If Ms Smith was diligent enough to record and claim 88p for a plug then she should be diligent enough to actually read the receipts for what she is claiming.

The bottom line is that she is claiming expenses from public money so has to be aware of what she is claiming for and be able to justify it. I am treasurer for a branch of a large charity here and I must account for every penny that comes in and goes out. Each count is witnessed by two people and signed off. Each cheque written is signed by two people and when the receipt for a cheque comes in the same two people who signed the cheque must also sign the receipt. At the end of each year my returns must match the income and expenditure exactly or they won't be accepted by head office until they do and if a discrepancy is discovered in my returns an investigation will be carried out.

It looks like her complacency has highlighted a culture of greed.

 

[Rich]

If Ms Smith was diligent enough to record and claim 88p for a plug then she should be diligent enough to actually read the receipts for what she is claiming.

The bottom line is that she is claiming expenses from public money so has to be aware of what she is claiming for and be able to justify it. I am treasurer for a branch of a large charity here and I must account for every penny that comes in and goes out. Each count is witnessed by two people and signed off. Each cheque written is signed by two people and when the receipt for a cheque comes in the same two people who signed the cheque must also sign the receipt. At the end of each year my returns must match the income and expenditure exactly or they won't be accepted by head office until they do and if a discrepancy is discovered in my returns an investigation will be carried out.

It looks like her complacency has highlighted a culture of greed.

IT's not Greed but stupidity, what she is in fact doing is taking the pee out of you and I and thinking that we are too stupid to notice, THAT is the sin she is guilty of, Mcnulty too, as well as a lot of others who have not yet come to light, I can understand someone trying to get as much as they can out of the system, but assuming that we are to dim to notice is unforgiveable.

Rich.

 

[BMac]

Rich,

That's a good point and I have to agree with you.

Brendan

 

[StevieB]

There are two separate issues here, the inclusion of *ahem* film packages on expenses, and the issue of expenses in general. Somehow I cannot imagine the home secretary nipping into B&Q for a bath plug and making sure she gets a receipt. What I can imagine is hubby, or son, or plumber etc gets whatever is required, who then hands any receipts to a secretary, who files them all as household expenses because that is what she is supposed to do, then sends the whole lot in for expenses. Should the MP check them - probably (although by no means certainly in exhaustive detail, this is what the secretaries are for surely). If you consider this model then it is entirely plausible that anything can slip into expenses that either shouldnt be there, or, like the 80p plug, wouldnt have been put through as an individual item if anyone had asked specifically in advance about it. As to the films, they were not listed as 'adult films' on the receipt but something nebulous such as other related items on the sky bill. The home secretary submitted it, the commons paid it, and it was only a leak to the media (presumably from the commons) that revealed it for what it actually was.

The issue of expenses is rather more difficult to justify. She also claimed £1000 for an antique fireplace. Not sure I can see the logic in it needing to be an antique, but if someone says 'you can spend up to 20k on your house' you dont go and get a £59-99 coal effect jobbie from Argos I guess. you spend close to 20k because thats what you are allowed.

One question that does occur however - if they get almost all of what I would spend my salary on as perks and expenses (travel, decorating, food, mortgage etc) what on earth does she spend her actual salary on?!

Steve.

 

[andycktm]

I don't believe their stupid,its the same mentality that drives people to put
more money on the lottery because its a roll over :!: no more chance of winning but a bigger prize.

I'd be shocked if the top 20 from the two major partys are not millionaires.(+ property)

 

[CNC Paul]

what on earth does she spend her actual salary on?!

Steve.

Maybe a shopping trip to Ann Summers 8)

 

[sliver]

Quoting StevieB
One question that does occur however - if they get almost all of what I would spend my salary on as perks and expenses (travel, decorating, food, mortgage etc) what on earth does she spend her actual salary on?!

Oh, that's it!!! THAT'S the 'disposable income' that politicians keep mentioning. Thanks for clearing up that little mystery for me Steve, been bugging me for years. Wondered why my money kept running out after household bills & food shopping. I've been spending the wrong money on it........i.e. my own. :roll:

Man, you're such a diamond. :lol:

Cheers, sliver. :wink:

 

[RogerS]

The thing that sticks in my craw about this, SteveB, is not the films or the expenses but the fact that she is actually claiming her MAIN home as her secondary home which is clearly not the case. That is an abuse and total lack of integrity.

 

[BMac]

So, the hunt is on for the mole! We can't have our politicians being humiliated because the public see what they spend our money on.

 

[StevieB]

The thing that sticks in my craw about this, SteveB, is not the films or the expenses but the fact that she is actually claiming her MAIN home as her secondary home which is clearly not the case. That is an abuse and total lack of integrity.

Agreed! although they stated on Newsnight that she had documentary evidence to prove she spent more nights in London at her Sisters in the last year than in her own family home. Thus on a technical point she is correct, it was her main residence. On a moral or public perception point however she is indeed screwing the taxpayer for every penny she can, and nor is she alone in doing so.

Steve.

 

[Jenx]

When I go down to work in Glasgow / Edinburgh .. I stay with my sister just outside Perth.

She's an old-fashioned soul, and doesn't charge me a penny.
I even get tea & biscuits. :wink:


This whole 'expenses / government ministers' thing is a total farce. :shock:
"Second Home".... what ? .... get yourselves into a travelodge for £40, like the rest of us have to.
You are servants of the people, not bloody celebrity popstars.

It was on the news this morning.. a statement actually made.... " Its well known that an MP needs to supplement their income via their expense claims ".

oh is it indeed. ?

I know what would would happen to me, if I 'supplemented my income via my expenses claims'.

What planet are these people on, and the same question should be RAMMED at anyone who sees this bol**cks as being acceptable.

I've to put up with my overflowing bin being collected once a fortnight, potholes in the road knocking hell out of my car, woeful public transport links, and all the vast array of other ridiculous nonsense that IS Britain in the 21st Century ..... and these Frauds claim big sums for stopping off at their sisters, and the like ?

Jeeze.. catch yerselves on, here :evil: :shock: :evil:

 

[Digit]

And that of course Jenx is why such things as the 88p plug is important. Not for the 88p but for what it is symptomatic of. Greed!
I live on less than they claim as 'expenses'.

Roy.

 

[Jenx]

Farcical, isn't it. :?
These people , regardless of what foot the camp is in, seem to be beyond reproach.

Every one of them's 'at it' ... the whole lot should be kicked to the kerb.

Problem is i guess.. replaced with what ?


Thats mine & your taxes, furnishing that 'second home' , or buying skin-flicks or bath plugs or god knows what else these utter charlatans decide to avail themselves of.

Communism doesn't work.
Capitalism is showing not to work..
How do we find an alternative though ?

But for sure.. these crooks need dealt with somehow.
:wink: