MPs vote to keep homes expenses

[itsnotoutthere]

MPs vote to keep homes expenses

MPs have voted to keep their £24,000 second home allowances, but have decided not to award themselves above-inflation pay rises.

They rejected tougher auditing and an alternative expenses regime proposed by a Commons review.

The Tories and Lib Dems condemned the decision but MPs who backed keeping the allowances said they were fair

Full story :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7486612.stm

I think i'm gonna go into work tomorrow & vote myself a payrise. If Labour win the next general election, then the british public deserve everything they get.

Edited July 3, 2008 by itsnotoutthere

[stevewinn]

MPs vote to keep homes expenses

MPs have voted to keep their £24,000 second home allowances, but have decided not to award themselves above-inflation pay rises.

They rejected tougher auditing and an alternative expenses regime proposed by a Commons review.

The Tories and Lib Dems condemned the decision but MPs who backed keeping the allowances said they were fair

Full story :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7486612.stm

I think i'm gonna go into work tomorrow & vote myself a payrise. If Labour win the next general election, then the british public deserve everything they get.

so true, trouble is people have short memories, they were the same in the 1960's, i wasnt even born then but if you look at their record then you'll find its just the same has today.

i wish at the next election everyone votes out their MP, no matter who they are send them a message, in the recent London, Henly? election the Labour party finished in 5th place, even the BNP finished above them in fourth, labour is forcing people to vote for a far right party, mainly just to send a message to the government.

[chemical-licker]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...h-expenses.html

MPs keep snouts in the trough: Storm over vote to carry on claiming lavish expenses

Cabinet ministers were among MPs who last night defied public anger and voted to carry on squandering taxpayers' cash on furniture and home improvements.

They rejected moves to tighten the rules on their generous expenses in a Commons vote which sparked astonishing scenes of recrimination.

One Labour MP allegedly told David Cameron to '**** off' for forcing his top team to back the overhaul, while Shadow Chancellor George Osborne was involved in a stand-up row with one of the Prime Minister's aides.

Vote: MPs decided to keep their 'John Lewis list' expense claims

Gordon Brown came under fire for ducking the vote, which came hours after MPs pegged their annual pay rise to 2.25 per cent.

He was also criticised for failing to swing his Cabinet, whose members have a basic salary of £138,000, behind the expenses clean-up.

More...

• More than a quarter of MPs put relatives on the payroll - at the taxpayers' expense

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy, housing minister Caroline Flint and Mr Brown's Commons aides Ian Austin and Angela Smith were among those who voted to keep their 'snouts in the trough'.

They were joined by Ulster Secretary Shaun Woodward whose wife, Camilla Sainsbury, has a reported personal fortune of £100million.

David Cameron: He was allegedly told to '**** off' by a Labour MP for backing the expenses overhaul

The review was spearheaded by Speaker Michael Martin after a series of recent expenses controversies.

Under the planned shake-up, the second homes allowance would have been capped at £19,600 a year to cover accommodation, with a £30 daily subsistence rate.

As a result of the vote, the Additional Costs Allowance, worth £24,006 to cover the costs of living near Parliament and running a second home, stays in place.

A proposed ban on claims under the so-called John Lewis list was also thrown out, so MPs will continue to be free to charge iPods, dishwashers and improvements for their second homes to the public purse.

Instead of a plan for external audits on expenses claims covering up to a quarter of MPs every year, each member will face internal financial checks just once every four years.

Meanwhile, MPs backed a £6million package to improve their constituency offices, more than doubling the cost of their offices outside Westminster from £2.8million.

Inner London MPs will get a £7,500 annual allowance – up from £2,916 – while MPs representing outer London constituencies will still be able to claim the full Additional Costs Allowance, instead of it being halved as proposed.

The 'John Lewis list' is an unofficial guide used by the Parliamentary authorities to determine how much MPs may claim from the taxpayer for kitting out their second homes.

The list of 38 items is based on prices at the department store and allows MPs to claim for items including a £10,000 kitchen and a £750 TV.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'MPs have missed a crucial opportunity to restore faith in Parliament.

Scroll down for more

'By clinging on to the plasma screen TVs and luxury kitchens allowed by the John Lewis list they have shown arrogance and disregard for people's concerns.

'When people come to vote at the next election, they will remember how their local MP voted, because it indicates how concerned they are about how taxpayers' money is spent and whether they understand the pressures faced by ordinary families.'

LibDem Nick Harvey, who helped draw up the reforms, warned that the vote was 'utterly catastrophic' for the public's view of MPs.

The block on the allowances overhaul stands in contrast to the modest salary increase voted yesterday which will take backbenchers' incomes from £61,181 to £62,558.

Ministerial salaries had already been frozen to set an example at a time when inflation is being stoked by big rises in fuel and food costs.

A 3.5 per cent rise and moves to boost MPs' pay packets with 'top-up' payments worth nearly £2,000 over three years were rejected.

However, in a sign that significant numbers of MPs were still ready to defy public anger, 155 did try to force through an above-inflation 4.7 per cent rise for next year.

The vote to keep the Additional Costs Allowance was won by 172 to 144. Some 146 Labour MPs, including 33 Government ministers, voted to keep the allowance and the John Lewis list.

No 10 sources said that Mr Brown was kept away from the expenses vote by a meeting at Downing Street.

'It would have been broken up for him if there was a chance of winning but we'd been told there wasn't,' an insider said. 'He is obviously very disappointed.'

Sources close to the Premier denied there was any deal with backbenchers to allow them to reject the perks overhaul in return for backing curbs on salaries.