Shameful Secret Repayments

 The Telegraph reports that John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, has allowed the widespread use of a controversial “rectification procedure” whereby a number of seedy MPs have secretly paid back falsely-claimed expenses without their names or abuses being disclosed to the public.

Sixteen MPs made secret repayments in the 2008/09 financial year and it's thought that dozens more mired in the expenses scandal have agreed similar arrangements.

However, it has now emerged that Mr Lyon is taking advantage of a little-known Parliamentary rule that allows complaints about financial misconduct to be settled behind closed doors.

The deals are made available to MPs who are willing to admit they have broken the rules and offer to make voluntary repayments.

They have to privately apologise to the Committee of Standards and Privileges, the group of MPs overseeing the conduct of politicians - but their misconduct is then not made public.

It is not clear why the identities of those making repayments are not made public in the same way that criminals pleading guilty who do not face a full court trial are named...
...Last night, a spokeswoman for Mr Lyon refused to disclose how many MPs had been privately allowed to repay money or who they were.  She also refused to say how many MPs were being investigated and their identities.

The Metropolitan Police are also understood to be growing frustrated by Mr Lyon’s intervention in cases involving potential fraud.

Lyon has justified using the procedure “where there was no clear evidence that the breach was intentional and it was at the less serious end of the spectrum,”  but it isn't for John Lyon to decide on intent or what constitutes 'serious' in the eyes of the voter and then do secret deals.  It's clear that voters must confront  MPs seeking re-election and question them directly.  If in doubt, kick them out.

The aftermath of the MPs' expenses fiasco has been marked by headless chickens instigating reviews and inquiries:  Sir Thomas Legg; the Kelly Report; John Lyon.  No wonder the Met Police claim to be 'frustrated' in their own enquiries.

Over to Brown, Clegg & Cameron who have all said that the Kelly Report should be implemented in full yet allow this rotten state of affairs to continue.  Name all the MPs who have abused the system and let their constituents decide.

Cross-posted

Shameful Secret Repayments

MP Troughers hope to get off lightly

Voice of the Resistance cites examples of trivial sums paid back to the public purse (I presume) by seriously troughing MPs - many of which might well be guilty of theft or fraud and other common criminal offences.

As well they might.

In my view, Labour, borne of spin, is its own worst enemy. Doubtless, its MPs were wooed by Labour into MPship with riches beyond the reach of the plebs they once were.

These piddling sums the troughers are currently being required to pay back indicate many things, two of which are:

* the simple cases are coming to light first, because they are easier to investigate; the more serious cases will follow;

* the cabinet troughers and/or those with the highest profiles are hoping to fob off the public with trifling 'integrity'- or 'pragmatic'-based payouts, hoping that we will be too bored to bother should the 'media interest' go on for too long;

The latter suggests to me that the powers that be are well aware that some of the most high-profile troughers are guilty of theft or fraud.

By the end of November, should none of the biggest culprits (Jackboot and McNulty, for example) be prosecuted, or at LEAST made to pay back their ill-gotten gains, the thirst for Labour blood will be mighty indeed.

Let the Tories be in no doubt that they will not be spared, should they put party interests before country.

Cross-posted

MP Troughers hope to get off lightly

Drip, Drip, Drip

Harry Cohen MP (Lab, Leyton & Wanstead) and top trougher has announced he'll be standing down at the next GE.

He'll be best remembered for saying: "I am almost certainly the most professional MP Leyton and Wanstead has ever had, and that includes Winston Churchill," thus proving that delusional thinking isn't confined only to the PM. Good riddance - but Go Now, let's have a bye-election instead of you hanging on with all your other mates collecting salaries, perks, allowances, transitioning payments, golden goodbyes and final salary pensions. Just Go.

Drip, Drip, Drip