MPs' Expenses - Food for Thought
As MPs leave Westminster for a mammoth 82 day summer recess - they've been given some food for thought by Duncan Bannatyne - a fellow Scot and lively host of the BBC's Dragons' Den programme
Mr Bannatyne has made some typically forthright comments about about MPs' expenses - and is reported as saying:
"I'd ask them if they were embarrassed about what had happened. If that was me, I wouldn't be able to show my face. It's despicable that so many of them have ripped off the taxpayer!"
"Absolutely despicable!"
"My advice would be: find a job that actually helps people and do that job for five years without pay. Then you might have made up for what you've done to this country," Duncan told the Radio Times.
Meanwhile the revelations about MPs' outside earnings continue apace.
Jimmy Hood, Labour MP for Lanark and Hamilton East has registered outside earnings as a parliamentary consultant to Scottish Coal - Jimmy is paid £7,500 a year, which is paid in twelve equal monthly installments.
In his latest entry to the register Mr Hood declared one of these installments and added: "Hours worked nil."
Former Labour cabinet ministers declared the cost of trips abroad: John Reid, the ex-home secretary, declared £5,000 for a trip to hold discussions with ministers and officials in Bahrain, and he also declared the £2,500 cost of a visit to Washington, paid for by Eden Intelligence, to take part in a conference on terrorism.
Patricia Hewitt, the former health secretary, declared the £2,209 cost of a trip to Sydney to address the "Digital Technology Summit" – funded by Sydney-based AC Events.
But the real point is that MPs continue to be paid their normal salaries - while they're off abroad on such trips.
Wonder what Duncan Bannatyne thinks about that?
Mr Bannatyne has made some typically forthright comments about about MPs' expenses - and is reported as saying:
"I'd ask them if they were embarrassed about what had happened. If that was me, I wouldn't be able to show my face. It's despicable that so many of them have ripped off the taxpayer!"
"Absolutely despicable!"
"My advice would be: find a job that actually helps people and do that job for five years without pay. Then you might have made up for what you've done to this country," Duncan told the Radio Times.
Meanwhile the revelations about MPs' outside earnings continue apace.
Jimmy Hood, Labour MP for Lanark and Hamilton East has registered outside earnings as a parliamentary consultant to Scottish Coal - Jimmy is paid £7,500 a year, which is paid in twelve equal monthly installments.
In his latest entry to the register Mr Hood declared one of these installments and added: "Hours worked nil."
Former Labour cabinet ministers declared the cost of trips abroad: John Reid, the ex-home secretary, declared £5,000 for a trip to hold discussions with ministers and officials in Bahrain, and he also declared the £2,500 cost of a visit to Washington, paid for by Eden Intelligence, to take part in a conference on terrorism.
Patricia Hewitt, the former health secretary, declared the £2,209 cost of a trip to Sydney to address the "Digital Technology Summit" – funded by Sydney-based AC Events.
But the real point is that MPs continue to be paid their normal salaries - while they're off abroad on such trips.
Wonder what Duncan Bannatyne thinks about that?
