MinDonner Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Cos the old thread is approaching 400 posts, here's a brand new one where we can try and interpret all the spoiler warnings that the politicians have stuck into their expenses claims... [paragraph redacted for Data Protection purposes]Watching Newsnight last night (I don't normally as it's past my bedtime but it was on right after Psychoville), it was sort-of-not-really amusing to see the Commons' spokesman try to weasel out of any responsibility. No-one's fault, apparently, he tried to do his job, obviously, but somehow in a faultless way this terrible unattributable accident happened to all the documents... :rolleyes:Edit: here's a link showing some of the redactions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 It takes a very special talent, just when you think things couldn't get any worse, to put in a solution that does just that. I applaud their creativity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeric Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 The independent have quite a clever daily cartoon over the blacked out images which took me a moment to figure out was going onThe daily cartoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 The focus has (understandably) been on what's not there, but there is a lot of stuff that is that's interesting. Tony Blair's claim for £7,000 for roof repairs just days before he stepped down is the biggest one, but here's a few from my morning newspaper:- Michael Connarty (Labour, Linlithgow and Falkirk East) must be a hell of a heavy sleeper, since apparently he needs an alarm clock costing £245.- Angus Robertson (SNP, Moray) is another one who apparently likes a nap, spending £2324 on a sofa bed. - Eric Joyce (Lab, Falkirk), whose air fares were already known but can't be mentioned enough. £21,459 in one year. - George Osborne claiming £47 for two DVDs of himself making a speech. On Value for Taxpayer's Money. - We almost had a major scandal when it was noted that Alex Salmond's expenses appeared to include a claim for a child to attend nursery in Portsmouth. Was he claiming for a secret lovechild on taxpayers' money?!? Alas, no, someone had mixed the receipt from another MP in by accident. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galactus Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 - Angus Robertson (SNP, Moray) is another one who apparently likes a nap, spending £2324 on a sofa bed.That's... Expensive, but doesen't seem to be entirely out of the range for such products. I was shocked to notice that a good sofa can easily cost as much as a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liffguard Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 MPs (despite evidence to the contrary) aren't stupid. They must have known how unpopular the censoring of their expenses would be. Which leads me to conclude that the information being censored would have been considered even more damaging than the act of censorship. Just what is going on with these people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoë Sumra Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 - We almost had a major scandal when it was noted that Alex Salmond's expenses appeared to include a claim for a child to attend nursery in Portsmouth. Was he claiming for a secret lovechild on taxpayers' money?!? Alas, no, someone had mixed the receipt from another MP in by accident. :P:rofl: That would have been sooooo good if it had been real.MPs (despite evidence to the contrary) aren't stupid. They must have known how unpopular the censoring of their expenses would be. Which leads me to conclude that the information being censored would have been considered even more damaging than the act of censorship. Just what is going on with these people?There was an MP on the breakfast news (Alan Mann? I'd never heard of him before at any rate) who was saying that he'd wanted his expenses to be published without all this blacking-out, and that the only blacking-out he supported was that relating to precise details of MPs' employees (revealing which would have been against the data protection act relating to those employees). Maybe it's that the MPs realise it's unpopular but the Commons fees office (or whoever published them) hasn't twigged yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilgamesh Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Seems like a rather good thing that the Telegraph found/bought and decided to run the story. As for prosecuting the guy who leaked it... I don't think they'd dare to justify it.I think some MPs are surprisingly thick.On a completely (well, mostly) unrelated note, did anyone hear the radio programme talking about the number of trade unionists/ important members of the Labour party who were paid agents of Moscow in the run up to the 1979 election? If they'd won, things would be very different indeed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestrit Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 - George Osborne claiming £47 for two DVDs of himself making a speech. On Value for Taxpayer's Money. :lol: That is so awesome it almost transcends awesomeness itself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Seems like a rather good thing that the Telegraph found/bought and decided to run the story. As for prosecuting the guy who leaked it... I don't think they'd dare to justify it.I think some MPs are surprisingly thick.On a completely (well, mostly) unrelated note, did anyone hear the radio programme talking about the number of trade unionists/ important members of the Labour party who were paid agents of Moscow in the run up to the 1979 election? If they'd won, things would be very different indeed...Indeed. Instead we got, and still have, a Parliament full of unpaid agents of Washington. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usotsuki Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Don't be silly Hereward, they get paid once they leave office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Roses Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 That's... Expensive, but doesen't seem to be entirely out of the range for such products. I was shocked to notice that a good sofa can easily cost as much as a car.Bah..... I had clients in the past who would spend at least 10-15k on one sofa. Mind you I had one client who spent 250k on their curtains so the sofa bed looks quite cheap if you ask me :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoë Sumra Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Hazel Blears is still an MP. Anyone taking bets on how long she'll stay an MP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 The Conservative party have made a complaint to the BBC Trust about Alan Sugar continuing in The Apprentice after being appointed Enterprise Tsar.Now, I don't like Alan Sugar, and I don't watch The Apprentice, and I think that his appointment by Brown was an attempt at populism, but I also think the Conservatives are reaching here.I've seen enough of The Apprentice that I don't believe it is "about the same set of issues his position relates to". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horza Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 The Conservative party have made a complaint to the BBC Trust about Alan Sugar continuing in The Apprentice after being appointed Enterprise Tsar.Now, I don't like Alan Sugar, and I don't watch The Apprentice, and I think that his appointment by Brown was an attempt at populism, but I also think the Conservatives are reaching here.I've seen enough of The Apprentice that I don't believe it is "about the same set of issues his position relates to".David Mitchell had a fine rant about this a few days back, all parties involved got the serving they deserve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaldanya Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 taken from linkWhat is even more depressing than Brown thinking that this might impress people is that the Tories, the only plausible alternative government, agree. That's how to survive in politics: don't focus on the country's problems - get someone shouty from the telly to talk stridently about them. And then go on GMTV and say you're personally concerned about Susan Boyle's health "because she's a really, really nice person".Does Brown honestly believe that's how to get people to respect him? To make them think that, in the middle of the greatest crisis in his career, he's still taking a personal interest in the health of a random middle-aged woman he hardly knows? Does that kind of prioritisation play well with voters? What is still more depressing is that it might.I don't have an opinion one way or the other on Alan Sugar being an adviser to the PM (altho' a less wanky title might have been nice). But I truly was rolling my eyes as hard as possible when reading on the front page of various papers that the PM was sending his best wishes to Susan Boyle. Why? and more importantly Who. Cares?N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinDonner Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 David Mitchell had a fine rant about this a few days back, all parties involved got the serving they deserve.:lol: That's brilliant! Shame he can't write like that for the Mitchell & Webb show. Fewer crappy snooker commentators, more satire please... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 I see that all three main party leaders are now angrily denouncing the redaction of the expenses claims.Anyone want to bet that all three of them voted for it in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeric Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Thats a bet I'd probably take even if it involved losing it being chucked into a live Volcano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annelise Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Think it's good to wait until next year for an election, or would you prefer one ASAP? Or you don't think it matters either way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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