Let the squirming begin

Mps received a letter yesterday detailing the overpayments of expenses claimed, and asking to either repay, or say why they should not have to.

For a change, the sounds of politicians rushing to microphones is deafening - by its absence.

Yo can almost hear the squirming of bottoms on seats, as some, reportedly, face repayments of anything up to £200,000.

Some are threatening legal action (so it is rumoured), saying that the expenses were all claimed within the rules.

Some are saying that the rules were so complicated, how were they supposed to understand them. Just a note to your good selves - you created them (duh!), and even if you couldn't understand them, what right did you have to take blatant and flagrant advantage of them.

Some are saying that the letter's not in fact a demand for repayment, its only for information, and that there could be no basis for enforcement.

They just don't get it do they. This has nothing to do with whether these 'expenses' were within the rules or not - its all about sticking fat snouts in the trough, and taking the electorate of this country for a ride. The whole system was corrupt (whether it stilll is or not remains to be seen), and any politician taking advantage to line their own pockets should be summarily booted out, with no end of term compensation packages or anything, and be forced to repay ALL expenses.

That would clean up politics faster than you could say Jack Flash.

Footnote - praise for Gordy and Cameron (for a change) - at least they will be returning any inappropriate expenses, Gordy £12,000 odd and Cameron has said to Conservative Mps 'Pay up, or you won't be standing at the next election'

Harriet Harman crash

Harriet Harman faces a police investigation for allegedly driving off after hitting a parked car as she chatted on her mobile.

The deputy Labour leader is said to have wound down her window, telling a witness, "I'm Harriet Harman - you know where you can get hold of me," before leaving the scene.

According to one person who claims to have seen the prang, she did not give her insurance details or registration to anyone.

No one was injured.

She was reported to ave been still on the phone after the accident.

Now, its a criminal offence to leave an accident scene with leaving personal and insurance details. Yet again, its one rule for them, and another for the rest of us. This is waht it sounds like to me.

"I'm Harriet Harman - you know where you can get hold ofme, I don't need to wait because I'm more important than you."

The police are said to be investigating this. Lets see what happens. One rule for you, another for you........

Policewomen childcare

Yet another groan I don't believe it moment.

" policewomen have been told they can't reciprocally look after each others children while they work, because the childcare they receive from the other parent consitutes 'reward', unless they register as child minders

The rules also state that you have to be a registered child minder if you look after somone elses child for more than 2 hours, or if its after 2.00 in the morning. No more sleep overs then.

For crying out loud. On the one hand they want to try to get mothers working again, on the other hand they they put as many barriers as possible in the way of doing so.

Oh, I wonder what the fee for registration is?

Some Labour conference ideas

So, every old age pensioner in the country is to get free home care.

How? Who's going to pay for it? It won't really be free will it?

Crackpot idea from a dieing government.

Snubby Brown

Oh dear. Gordy's been clamouring to get a a chat with Barack, about stuff, and got 15 minutes in the kitchen, on a 'walk and talk'. But Downing Street officials failed in their frantic attempts to get 'face time' with the US President.

Perhaps the stink of Lockerbie and the 'compassionate' release of the convicted Libyan terrorist has something to do with it.

Or perhaps its because Obama doesn't want to be associated with the weakest excuse for a UK cling-on PM in the last 100 years thats about to oversee the downfall of the current labour government. And boring too.

The picture says it all

Middle class familioes to pay more for students

In a move of incredible blind stupidity, and groping to claw back mobey from the banking fiasco, the CBI's higher education task force has come up with a plan to make the middle class pay more, yet again,

Essentially :

• The £3,100-a-year cap on fees should be lifted, suggesting that a rise to £5,000-a-year would deliver £1.25 billion more for universities;
• Student loans, which are subsidised by the Government at present, should be charged at commercial interest rates – significantly increasing the amount graduates will repay;
• The threshold for grants should be lowered. At the moment, students from families earning less than £60,000 are eligible for a partial grant, but the CBI says that this should be lowered to £38,000. Only students from families earning less than £17,910 should receive a full grant – instead of the present £25,000.

The latter would hit middle class families the hardest.

The utterly ridiculous goal of getting 50% of school leavers in universities (most of which are mickey mouse nedia studies courses), will leave the universities filled with children of rich people (ie politicians), and the children of single parent, ethnic minority, lesbian and gay parents.

The rest of us (the silent majority) will still struggle to send our children to universities, where they will be saddled with £30,000 of debt on graduation, in the hope that they will be able to make a decent living and contribute to the coffers of the country.

Frankly, whats the point. This countries higher education system is going down the pan, no matter what any think tank comes up with. The only reason for the crackpot 50% goal was to reduce the number of school leavers hitting the streets, and reduce the unemployment statistics. Oh yes, this recession has been building for a lot longer than anyone thinks!

Gordon Brown - action man!

It's getting close to election time. We know because strange things are happening.

Gordy (et al) sent in special forces to get out a kidnapped journalist Stephen Farrell, and it was made damn sure that we all knew about it.

Never mind the fact that 2 people died ( a spec ops, and a translator), but our boys got him out.

As far as I know this doesn't usually happen like this. Normal there's days or weeks of intense hostage negotiations to try and resolve the situation before armed intervention is required.

But that doesn't really make the news does it?