leginten Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 It seems that the people's party thinks the best way to serve its constiyints is to cream off taxpayers' money and aid criminals in disposing of their assets. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/uk/Speaker-on-brink-over-expenses.3809945.jp Michael Martin is attracting attention over more than ?17000 he claimed in expenses in connection with a second home in Glasgow on which there is no mortgage, as well as over ?4000 claimed on behalf of his wife for taxi-fares. This is, of course, the same Michael Martin whose appointment as Speaker reportedly netted tens of thousands of pounds for a range of Central Belt Labour MPs from the bookies. Meanwhile, the Sunday Herald today leads (no link available) with the story that deputy presiding officer Trish Godman MSP aided her son Gary Mulgrew, one of the convicted NatWest Three fraudsters, in dispersing his assets by purchasing a flat from him for ?250000. No illegality there, but a huge embarrassment for Labour as one of Westminster's top law and order priorities has been seizing the assets of criminals. I wonder when the voters of the Central Belt are going to wake up to the fact that Labour in Scotland is about as clean as the Camorra in Naples. I should add that I hold no particular brief for politicians of any persuasion, but I think this lot stink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemclaren Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 They were in power for far too long and basically thought Scotland was a fiefdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leginten Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 They were in power for far too long and basically thought Scotland was a fiefdom. I think "fiefdom" just about sums it up. The proverbial pig's bladder on a stick could be elected for Labour in most parts of the Central Belt, no matter how the party has performed locally or nationally. I don't think that applies to the rest of the country - there may be seats that Labour is unlikely to win, but there is at least the notion of competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Busby ! Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Aye ..it's still "the peoples party" right enough... And what a party Gorbals Mick and his family are having ! "The Speaker’s bill ?137,000 Salary; he also gets a grace-and-favour apartment ?17,346 Expenses he claimed for a second home last year ?7,595 Expenses he claimed last year for running costs for using his Scottish home as an office, a practice from which MPs are discouraged ?50,000 Amount of public money he spent on air travel for his wife, Mary. She also spent more than ?4,000 on taxis ?2,820 Amount of public money spent on legal challenges by Mr Martin to newspapers, including The Times ?3,000 Value of Air Miles used by Mr Martin to fund flights between Scotland and London for his family. Guidelines stipulate that Air Miles should be used to reduce the cost of travel paid for by the taxpayer ?15,201 He also claimed ?3,138 in car allowances, ?10,587 in flights and ?1,476 on stationery and postage" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToadKiller Dog Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Our own Lord Foulkes was on the telly defending his mate,by saying poor mps were hard done by and not paid enough when compaired with jeremy paxman. A word george,how many MPS have other jobs like seats on boards,colums in papers,freebees etc ,for 4 years work they get a lifes pension workers like me could never dream of obtaining. Parliament should not be a career it should be a service to ones country. The fact it to many politicans are the look at me love the lime light types easily corupted by greed . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Busby ! Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Our own Lord Foulkes was on the telly defending his mate,by saying poor mps were hard done by and not paid enough when compaired with jeremy paxman.A word george,how many MPS have other jobs like seats on boards,colums in papers,freebees etc ,for 4 years work they get a lifes pension workers like me could never dream of obtaining. Parliament should not be a career it should be a service to ones country. The fact it to many politicans are the look at me love the lime light types easily corupted by greed . Foulkes was truly (unintentionally on his part) hilarious. So many examples out there, this was one of the more recent ones: "Jack Cunningham, now in the House of Lords, is paid ?36,000 a year - for an estimated three hours' work a week - by the City of London Corporation to give political advice. The corporation said that as part of his consultancy, he calls ministers to arrange meetings with the authority when it is having difficulty securing one. " I make that ?240 per hour. Nice work if you can get it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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