Liars & Lobbyists

Following on from the Dispatches programme yesterday evening and the news that Hoon, Hewitt and Byers have been suspended by the Labour Party (Moran was suspended some time ago), here are a few more notes:

Sir John Butterfill, Con, MP for Bournemouth & Chairman of MPs' Pensions Scheme.  Has repaid £17,000 of expenses claimed for his servants' quarters.  Will receive a golden parachute of almost £39k when he stands down at the GE plus his MP's pension.  "I could organise a meeting with a Minister in his office or possibly, if the Minister were interested in getting more briefing, they might come to you...  Can I tell you something very much in confidence?  Well it is quite likely that I will go to the Lords...nothing is certain in this world but ...  that would be nice and it also gives me another string to my bow as far as you're concerned.  Because quite often the right mover and shaker happens to be in the Lords... ..." 6 meetings a year - £30,000+ pa.

Baroness Sally Morgan, Blair Babe, outside earnings of £135k pa  including work for Lloyds Pharmacies.  "As a Peer you've got to be careful that you are not lobbying so there's a kind of,  there's Codes that you have to... ... I can have conversations with people without pushing my client necessarily but I can push a direction of travel on policy... My view is that I'll do anything so long as I'm transparent, reasonably transparent about it..."  Diabetes connection, NHS primary care trusts.

Margaret Moran, Lab, Luton.  Claimed £22k for dry rot repairs on a 2nd home more than 100 miles from her constituency - has repaid £6k.  Golden parachute of almost £55k, plus pension.  "I'm reasonably flexible really I mean particularly if it's something that's sort of you can tell that certain things I go woomph." [sic]  Claimed to have contact with SpAds & Select Committees.  Said she was free to 'work now'.  Has not voted in Parliament since May and not seen her Luton constituents because of "ill health".  Half an hour after the London meeting the investigative reporter telephoned her constituency office and was told she was still too ill to see anyone.

Stephen Byers, former Transport Secretary, former Business Secretary.  "Keep it confidential".  Consolidated Contractors International; National Express; Tesco; Rio Tinto.  Would want between £3k & £5k a day plus expenses.  Blairite.  Says he sees TB 'about once a month' and offered access.  "Depending on how quickly you can get things moving, there's a very good opportunity actually, which is that when the election is called, and this is very soon, we all run off and start campaigning, if we're trying to get re-elected.  The civil servants then spend that month working through all the sort of policy options and it's a great time, if there's an issue where your clients actually want to, to get a regulation changed or some law amended, that's the time to get in to see the civil servants.  Because there's no Ministers around, they've got more time and no one really thinks about that and it's a missed opportunity and I, you know, if I, well I'm giving you this advice now but, is to get in and see them.."  Also said he helped National Express get out of the East Coast Mainline franchise and avoid paying a penalty of £500million to the public purse and boasted of changing labelling legislation to favour Tesco, in concert with Lords Mandelson and Adonis.

Patricia Hewitt, another Blairite, former Health Sec.  Outside earnings of £180k pa from BT, Boots, Barclays and Cinven, the company which owns BUPA (which alone pays her £60k pa for 18 days' work), plus ministerial pension and golden parachute of almost £55k.  "I'm interested in taking on another major Board position ... 2/3 days a month"  Spoke of "subtleties" in working the system (ie loopholes), think tanks and seminars.  Outlined ways to gain access to ministers "without getting trapped by the officials".  Boasted of influencing the Bradley Report on behalf of private healthcare providers.

Geoff Hoon, Blairite, resigned last year, former Defence Secretary.  Claimed expenses for constituency home while renting out his London home and living in a Grace & Favour flat in Whitehall.  Golden parachute of almost £65k plus ministerial pension.  Now reviews NATO strategy (unpaid).  Has added another word to our dictionary: Hoon-Work, which means tracking down lucrative positions in Defence Finance industries.  "I went to see a private equity fund this morning...one of the things they do want me to do is come back and maybe talk in strategic terms about the relationship, if you like between NATO at the higher level and national defence policy, which is the strategic defence review, one down, and how it all fits together so I would be quite happy to do that for your clients.  In a sense I'm devising, I'm developing this policy so [your clients] would get a fairly accurate account of what's going on.  There will be opportunities for American companies in particular to look around at some vulnerable European companies because those companies will become vulnerable as their own governments cut back on defence spending.  I foresee, it's one reason why I'm talking to American private equity firms, I foresee a period where we may well see American companies in effect buying market share in Europe because they will buy up the national champions who are not getting the support they need to continue...  After April, I'm yours."  Daily rate = £3k.

Gordon Brown's spokesman said the PM was "satisfied" that there had been no impropriety on the part of ministers in the Transport and Business departments. "The Prime Minister has seen the statements from the departments and is satisfied that there is no impropriety."   Expect further 'clarification' soon.  Brown may have initially preened himself at the downfall of the Blairite Byers, Hewitt and Hoon but they were Labour Ministers and he is tainted by this, as are Adonis and Mandelson.

Many adjectives could be used to describe this small sample of MPs, Lords and Ladies but this morning further news emerges of yet more MPs breaking Parliamentary rules. Andrew Dismore (Lab, Hendon) has broken the rules more than 90 times, according to the report.

While our Parliamentary representatives squeal all the way home a group of MPs warned that the Ministry of Defence faces a funding black hole of up to £80 billion over the next decade because of poor budgeting and it has emerged that up to 500 soldiers would lose their jobs under a plan to modernise the Army.

With this venal government in charge of defence equipment procurement, any who lose their jobs are the 'lucky' ones.

Liars & Lobbyists

Constitutional Reform Bill

Another snappy, attention-grabbing title - I don't know how I come up with them!

The House has been debating Conservative amendments to the Constitutional Reform Bill which is now in Committee Stage.  When I say 'the House' I mean a draggle of thugs on the Labour benches (including the mouthy Denis MacShane) - maybe six or eight plus Chris Bryant, Min for Europe, on the frontbench plus fewer than that for the LibDems and rather more for the Conservatives.  You might have reasonably expected more to turn out to listen to the debates given that the amendments are a belated effort to curb the power of the European Union.  Many more are, of course, sitting out in the subsidised bars, cafes and restaurants of the House.

At the moment they're voting on an amendment which would require a referendum on further treaties transferring powers from Parliament to the EU.  There's little chance of it being passed - the last vote on ensuring any further transfer be debated and passed by both Houses failed by 45 votes - but Mark Francois, Shadow Minister for Europe has said that should this amendment fail, it will form part of the Conservative Party's manifesto.  There were great cheers from the Conservative benches.  I suspect they've got a vote-winner with this one.

The nitty-gritty of any such referenda still has to be worked out and it's going to be much harder than the Cons are letting on given the self-ratcheting nature of Lisbon, the full effects of which we still haven't seen.  But we will - this year is the year of confrontation as more people realise exactly what the European Union is and how this country has been sold out. 84% of our laws are now handed down from a committee of 27 unelected eurograndees in Brussels who have no interest in our national wellbeing.

Ayes: 183
Noes: 383 - majority: 120
PS: The LibDems were pasted by the Cons as was Chris Bryant who was dismissive, rude (he was asked to withdraw a remark) and shouty.

Constitutional Reform Bill

Dan Hannan: Video

Prompted by this post from Dan Hannan on Withdrawal & Expulsion from the EU (more detail here) I thought I'd check out his latest videos.

DH was recently in New Zealand and gave a wide-ranging speech to the Auckland Business Round Table.  The first video is of the introduction given by Auckland's Mayor, John 'Banksy' Banks, in which he cracks a few jokes and takes a sideswipe at Al Gore as well as addressing New Zealand's financial problems.  The second is the first of seven parts in which DH discusses the level of British debt, parliamentary democracy, the concept of freedom in Europe, the erosion of sovereignty and the state machine.  He also throws in some wonderful anecdotes - the boy in a smoking jacket; Attlee/Churchill in the Gents at the HoC.  A Q&A session kicks in during the first part of Video 4 and we learn more from that. Taken all round it's another cracking speech from Hannan.




Part 2 Speech
Part 3
Part 4 Questions & Answers
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Each part is roughly 9-10 minutes long but well worth viewing.
Quoting Hannan quoting Burke: "Because half a dozen grasshoppers, concealed under a fern, make the field ring with their importunate chink while thousands of great cattle take their repose in the shade of the great British Oak and are silent, pray do not imagine that those who make all the noise are the only inhabitants of the field."

Dan Hannan: Video

Albion Alliance Progress Report

 We are pleased to  announce the Albion Alliance 2010  Candidate Database, correspondence and response page.

As MP’s and Prospective Parliamentary Candidates are  written to, and responses are received, we will be making available to the  public via our database the details of that correspondence as and when they are  received. In order to view that correspondence, you may enter the searchable  database here, (initially arranged  in constituency order), scroll down or use the search facility to find the  candidate or constituency of your choice, and then scroll across the page to the  correspondence columns. The highlighted link (if there is one) will take you to  all the correspondence sent and received for that candidate.

If you have written to your MP or Parliamentary  Candidate concerning the Albion Alliance pledge, or received a reply from them,  please forward it on to us by email, or as a scanned attachment if it is a hard  copy letter, so that we may include that correspondence into the  database.
But don’t stop there, write another letter, to  another candidate, or get your friends to write as well. The more letters that  are written to Parliamentary Candidates the more pressure that this campaign can  exert.

The Albion Alliance would wish to place on record  their appreciation and thanks to both existing MPs standing for re-election, and  Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, who have already responded to e-mails and  letters.

Parliamentary Protocol:
Please remember that the Albion Alliance campaign is  a National matter, not a Constituency matter. It has come to our attention that  MPs – and some PPCs – have resorted to not responding to letters and e-mails  from members of the public, who live outside their constituency, on the basis  that ‘Parliamentary Protocol’ prohibits an MP from providing an opinion on  matters that do not affect his/her constituency. This ‘defence’ is nothing but  obfuscation on the part of MPs who are standing for re-election, and  Parliamentary Candidates, from passing an opinion on ‘national’ matters. They  need to be reminded that, all too often, they are only too happy to pass comment  on ‘national’ matters in the hope that it provides publicity for them, together  with a ’soundbite’. The Albion Alliance would remind everyone that whilst such a  ‘protocol’ may exist for purely constituency matters, it does not apply for  matters of National interest. The Albion Alliance hope that those writing and  e-mailing candidates will press for a reply on the basic question that is being  asked and in this respect please refer to ‘Draft Letters‘ where a suggested  response has been posted.


Updates:
The Candidate Database has been compiled from  publicly available information and is as complete as we are able at this time to  make it. There are still political parties to declare candidates for many  constituencies, or to make their lists of candidates publicly available, and  these will be added to the database as and when the information becomes  available. 

If you are aware of any omissions or errors, we would  be pleased if you could let us know by using the ‘Report any Data Errors’ button  inside the database.

To Enter the Albion Alliance Database of  Parliamentary Candidates please click here.

Albion Alliance Progress Report

Parliament In Flames

I thought a change of pace might be nice, and as such here is some wonderful British Art from Turner.

Parliament In Flames

The Queen's Speech: Summary

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a kingdom, a nation which is shortly to disappear from maps leaving barely a trace and an echoing squeak. By many it was regarded as a beautiful, romantic land, with castles, palaces, a place of forests & fairy-tales; myths & legends. Words like honour & integrity, work ethic & self-respect were held in deep regard.

Fast forward and, like so many actors in a presentation of 'Ruritania Resurrected', members of the Houses of Commons and Lords donned their finest attitudes and turned out en masse for a walk-on part in today's pageantry. Thumbed-up noses, to the right, quick march.

It really was an unbelievable spectacle, one which I've enjoyed over the years, but this year there was a poignancy and more than a touch of regret. The preening hypocrisy on display was tear-jerking. There was no pride, except in self, no honesty, no integrity.

The Queen read out the government's statement with half-swallowed gulps, sighs and hesitation. Will we ever know if she put up a fight against giving the Royal Assent to Lisbon? It's hard to believe she didn't know what was going on or hasn't been complicit but I really wish she'd been able to simply tear up the speech, spit in their eyes and process back to the Palace, leaving the pompous Brown and his government of the not-so-Righteous in disarray.

The  speech itself was very short in comparison with previous years and the main points were:

'Enhancing' governance of the financial sector
Legislation to halve the budget deficit
Widening the provision of free personal care for those in highest need
Legislation guaranteeing to raise educational standards
'Protecting' communities by making parents take responsibility for their children's behaviour
Amending the communications infrastructure to 'make it fit for the digital age'
Supporting carbon capture and storage and helping 'vulnerable households with energy bills'
Protecting communities from flooding and protecting water supplies
Addressing differences in pay between men and women
Ensuring agency workers are treated equally
Pushing on with constitutional reform
Strengthening the bribery law
Banning cluster bombs

Two draft bills were also announced:

To reform the House of Lords and make it substantially or wholly elected
To make binding the commitment for 0.7% of government spending from 2013 to be on International Development.

To all intent and purposes, it was an enormous waste of money.  Sound & fury signifying nothing - well, not even that really, there is plenty of sound but no fury, no guts in this dying government.  It was a worthless, graceless speech and there is very little chance of any legislation being enacted before the next GE - for which we can give thanks for small mercies.  After all, how scorched does the earth have to be before it's acknowledged as being well and truly scorched?  Or, perhaps, the government is just salting the ground behind them?
Cross-posted from Calling England

The Queen's Speech: Summary

Pictures From Westminster

These are not the best pictures you will see of the day, but none the less here's what I took.

A good day was had by all.  To the surprise of some there, we were as a group allowed up into the public gallery, though not before it was checked with Parliamentary security what the rules were for entering with masks on... eventually we were waived through into the airport style scanners, were photographed and then queued up where you have to provide your name and address on an official looking form whereby you promise not to disrupt proceedings from the gallery.  All masks and costumes had to be removed.  Truth is,  after only a few minutes of listening to a climate change debate was needed for Old Holborn and the rest of us to fancy heading back to the pub; so we left.

My attendance on the day was in part because I dislike our government and what they are doing, and I am angry with what is going on in Parliament.  I do not feel represented, and I like to get up to Parliament a few times a year to join in with various protests and marches.  Old Holborn would probably point out that this was not a protest, and that would be true, which was my second reasoning.  I wanted to see if a group of individuals who are openly critical of Government could still access Parliament and get in slapping range of our elected and unelected politicians.  With laws being passed that will not allow for unapproved protesting around Parliament, and that prevent people from taking photographs in the street all in the name of protecting us from terrorism, but really enabling MP's and the state to be more and more removed from people; my fear was that a group of people with dissenting opinions may be stonewalled under anti-terrorism laws.  In the grandest traditions of British protest and eccentricity, the land where a person will roll a penny for miles to raise money for charity, walk the marathon in a submariners suit and where magicians will live in a perspex box over the river for a few months, what level of fear, if any would a group of people in plastic masks attempting to watch our government function first hand generate?

From the pub where I met the group who had already been to Downing Street it would seem we were under what I assume was police surveillance. We walked from the Westminster Arms to St Stephens Gate at the front of Parliament.  I found out later that on the way there some of the costumed attendees had met with remarks in the street from people who assumed, well, I am not sure what they assumed, but they felt free enough to let off some disparaging remarks.    At Parliament the main players were denied access initially in their costumes but eventually, when security was satisfied (and after Tory Bear had conducted an Interview for Guy News) we were ushered in and very subtly broken into smaller groups.  Firstly by allowing only a few through the initial security barriers, then by making us queue before heading up to the gallery.  During this time additional groups, including school children were allowed through so as to separate us out.  They needn't have worried, everyone I spoke with was polite and in no way hostile; and quite possibly there out out the same kind of curiosity as I.  It is also worth mentioning that the Police, and uniformed "Police Staff" were again as with my previous visits exceptionally polite, and as with before they seem to enjoy seeing people turn up who will give politicians something to think about.  From previous visits and this one it is clear that the resentment the public feels leads right up to Parliament and is felt by those who protect the fantastic building and those who work there.

On the way out from the gallery, Old Holborn and some others were sidelined by security, though I did not get to hear why.  I was told third-hand that they wanted to know why we were all there, and identified him as the group leader.  Given the reaction from other staff, this may well have been from genuine curiosity and support, though my guess is that OH would have not given them any more info than he wanted to.

And that was that, which lead then to my third and in truth the biggest motivator for going and that was a chance to go have a drink with some fellow bloggers which is always good fun.  Before heading home, The Boiling Frog and I nipped back to the St Stephens Tavern for a quick pint of Badger Beer which has been living in the memory since the May jolly organised by Steve Green.

So it was a good day and a good experience.  Having had a read around everyone seems to have attended and taken away something different from the day.  They do this kind of thing more justice than I do in their writings, so here are a few recommended links to get some different perspectives (and some much better pictures).

Old Holborn - Hogwarts

Anonymong - Thoughts on a second walk

Snowolf - The one that had a good time...

Billy Blofeld - Old Holborns walk

Dick Puddlecote - Stroll On

Guthrum - In the words of Max Boyce - I was there

And this from Dungeekin, who did not make it but it sounds like he will do next year.

This post has been cross-posted from my blog.

Pictures From Westminster

37 Days Later

After coming back from the recess on the 16th October following the longest summer break ever (82 days), the formal State Opening of Parliament will be on the 18th November.

Harriet Harman has announced the earliest Christmas recess ever of three weeks from 16th December to 5th January 2010.  At 128 days, the current Parliamentary session is the shortest for 30 years.

And we pay them how much?

Our intrepid reporter managed to smuggle out this photo of Gordon Brown in the kitchen of No.10, busying himself with Christmas preparations:

PS Just a reminder of how much we really need 646 'representatives' in Westminster:

37 Days Later

Clive Betts Nailed

This opportunistic, money-grabbing scuzz-bucket passionately promoted a change to the system of MPs' expenses in his own favour and then milked it for all it was worth.

In 2003 Betts was suspended from the Commons for 7 days [yes, a whole week off work] after it was revealed that his new 'research assistant' was a Brazilian rent boy more than 30 years his junior. The MP helped him with a doctored document for use in support of his visa application and applied for him to have a security pass. On those grounds alone, how on earth could this man have been re-elected as an MP (Lab, Sheffield Attercliffe)?

Type	2007/08 (ranking out of 645)	2006/07 (ranking out of 645)	2005/06	2004/05 (ranking out of 659)	2003/04 (ranking out of 658)	2002/03 (ranking out of 657)	2001/02 (ranking out of 657)
Additional Costs Allowance	£23,081 (joint 148th)	£22,110 (joint 1st)	£21,634	£20,902 (joint 1st)	£20,333 (joint 3rd)	£19,722 (joint 1st)	£15,609 (joint 275th)

His voting record:
Voted moderately against a transparent Parliament.
Voted strongly for introducing a smoking ban.
Voted very strongly for introducing ID cards.
Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals.
Voted strongly for introducing student top-up fees.
Voted strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
Voted very strongly for the Iraq war.
Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war.
Voted very strongly for replacing Trident
Voted very strongly for the hunting ban.
Voted strongly for equal gay rights.
Voted moderately for laws to stop climate change.

The convoluted twists and turns of his troughing are here

Clive Betts Nailed

Back-door Legislation

Philip Johnson has penned a good article about Labour's tendency to re-announce & re-hash policy, constantly tinkering with laws like someone picking at pox scabs. He pays particular attention to how myriad Statutory Instruments are applied and how they affect the NIR and ID card legislation.

"Unknown to many (including, it sometimes seems, to MPs), these statutory instruments (SIs) are now the principal way that law is made. Most Acts contain powers that Ministers can then trigger at some point in the future by way of secondary legislation. They are required to table them in the Commons for approval and this is obtained from a delegated legislation committee that meets about twice a week to consider the various measures.

"What they do, according to an explanatory memorandum accompanying the SI, is to "outline how applications relating to the National Identity Register and the issue of ID cards should be made and the information that must accompany such application when they are being submitted… They introduce a requirement on an ID card holder to update subsequent changes to certain information held about them on the National Identity Register and report a lost, stolen, damaged, tampered with or destroyed ID card. They also establish the validity of an ID card."."

It's worth reading in full for a better understanding of how this damned disgrace of a government has eroded Parliamentary scrutiny and debate in the House and in so doing has undermined and stolen the voice of the people.
Article here

Back-door Legislation

The Queen's Speech: Summary

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a kingdom, a nation which is shortly to disappear from maps leaving barely a trace and an echoing squeak. By many it was regarded as a beautiful, romantic land, with castles, palaces, a place of forests & fairy-tales; myths & legends. Words like honour & integrity, work ethic & self-respect were held in deep regard.

Fast forward and, like so many actors in a presentation of 'Ruritania Resurrected', members of the Houses of Commons and Lords donned their finest attitudes and turned out en masse for a walk-on part in today's pageantry. Thumbed-up noses, to the right, quick march.

It really was an unbelievable spectacle, one which I've enjoyed over the years, but this year there was a poignancy and more than a touch of regret. The preening hypocrisy on display was tear-jerking. There was no pride, except in self, no honesty, no integrity.

The Queen read out the government's statement with half-swallowed gulps, sighs and hesitation. Will we ever know if she put up a fight against giving the Royal Assent to Lisbon? It's hard to believe she didn't know what was going on or hasn't been complicit but I really wish she'd been able to simply tear up the speech, spit in their eyes and process back to the Palace, leaving the pompous Brown and his government of the not-so-Righteous in disarray.

The  speech itself was very short in comparison with previous years and the main points were:

'Enhancing' governance of the financial sector
Legislation to halve the budget deficit
Widening the provision of free personal care for those in highest need
Legislation guaranteeing to raise educational standards
'Protecting' communities by making parents take responsibility for their children's behaviour
Amending the communications infrastructure to 'make it fit for the digital age'
Supporting carbon capture and storage and helping 'vulnerable households with energy bills'
Protecting communities from flooding and protecting water supplies
Addressing differences in pay between men and women
Ensuring agency workers are treated equally
Pushing on with constitutional reform
Strengthening the bribery law
Banning cluster bombs

Two draft bills were also announced:

To reform the House of Lords and make it substantially or wholly elected
To make binding the commitment for 0.7% of government spending from 2013 to be on International Development.

To all intent and purposes, it was an enormous waste of money.  Sound & fury signifying nothing - well, not even that really, there is plenty of sound but no fury, no guts in this dying government.  It was a worthless, graceless speech and there is very little chance of any legislation being enacted before the next GE - for which we can give thanks for small mercies.  After all, how scorched does the earth have to be before it's acknowledged as being well and truly scorched?  Or, perhaps, the government is just salting the ground behind them.

The Queen's Speech: Summary