Suspending Belief


I received a very helpful reply to my recent letter to IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority)  about the payment of MPs' salaries and expenses - while they're off swanning about in the Australian jungle somewhere.

See post dated 22 November 2012 - 'Money For Old Rope'.

The answer is that IPSA is only the administering body when it comes to the MPs' payroll - any decision or instruction to cease payments to an individual 'honourable' member - must come direct from the House of Commons.

In other words MPs just make up the rules to suit themselves - and MPs like 'Mad Nad' Dorries continue to be paid even while suspended - unless the House of Commons instructs otherwise.

Which I imagine would take a vote on the floor of the House of Commons - or a decision from the Speaker of the House that a member should be suspended without pay.

What puzzles me is how an MP can be suspended with pay - if they are clearly unable to do their job?

And in the case of Nadine Dorries that particular point was clearly unarguable - though we may now hear more now that the MP for Mid-Bedfordshire is back in the country.

I heard a Labour MP on the TV the other day gleefully sticking the boot into Nadine Dorries and the Conservative Party - over the 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' debacle.

At one level I have no problem with heaping derision on this particular MP - but what I would like to know from the Peoples' Party is:

'How can Labour make fun of Nadine Dorries and the Tory Party while they turn a blind eye to Gordon Brown's absence abroad for 70 days a year - at the Abu Dhabi Campus of the New York University.

Now that really is the politics of the madhouse - if you ask me.

Popular posts from this blog

Kentucky Fried Seagull

Hugh Fearnley Whitingstall is one of my favourite - and endearingly bonkers - TV chefs. The River Cottage chef has a some imaginative ideas for adding seagulls to the national diet - including a recipe for Kentucky Fried Seagull - would you believe. Here's what HFW has to say on the subjecy -  I think I'll contact Hugh - and ask if he'll join the TAPAS campaign. "Vermin with wings? Chicken of the sea? Or just an opportunity missed?" "First and foremost, before we all go on a mad seagull killing frenzy. In the U.K it is against the law to kill seagulls or interfere with their nests under the countryside and wildlife act. Some Councils are allowed to cull them however, and usually do this by either poisoning or shooting them. How to catch your seagull. Remember this is against the law in the U.K. I don't want the Men in Blue knocking at the door because someone said that Foodimum told them it was okay to catch and eat seagulls. It isn...
Read more

Can Anyone Be A Woman?

Image
"All we ask... is FULL RIGHTS as women" 🤡 The legal lunacy that led to the recent Tickle V Giggle judgement was fought for as far back as the 30s. The Trans Takeover of Womanhood - 100 Years of Madness premieres this eve at UK time 🍿 https://t.co/1nzx8gxNA3 #Womanhood … pic.twitter.com/cZOkBrKPof — MrMenno 🏳️‍🌈🎶 (@MrMennoTweets) October 2, 2024 Mr Menno's response to the absurd 'Trans Takeover of Womanhood' - is intelligent, well researched and hilarious into the bargain. A must watch!    
Read more