I don't know why this arrogance surprises me.

[Grumpmeister]

Just how the hell can they justify taking a 4.4% pay rise with inflation the way it is and the fact thet they have been happily claiming left right and centre for to say the elast 'dubious' expenses.

MPs could defy Gordon Brown and vote themselves an above inflation pay rise in a Commons debate later.

The prime minister has urged them to vote for a below inflation rise as an example to public sector workers.

But a series of amendments has been tabled proposing pay restraint this year but above-inflation top-ups in years to come.

The Baker Review on pay recommends stripping MPs of the power to set their own rates - a plan backed by ministers.

The MPs behind calls for an above-inflation rise say that is in line with the recommendations of an independent review, which says they should have a 4.4% rise.

'Wages spiral'

Ministers are urging them to reject the hike, offering them instead a package worth around 2.2%.

Speaking to the House of Commons Liaison Committee, Mr Brown said: "I hope that MPs today will recognise that the settlements in the public sector for key workers have been around 2.3%, 2.4%, 2.5% when they vote on this year's pay in the House of Commons."

  At the top of British business, people have got to accept their responsibilities as well. In the interests of the country we have got to keep inflation low

Gordon Brown

He said there also had to be "restraint" in the private sector over pay and warned against a "wages spiral" that would fuel inflation.

"At the top of British business, people have got to accept their responsibilities as well. In the interests of the country we have got to keep inflation low."

"It is very much in the interests of everybody in the country that we avoid what is an internationally-generated problem of inflation - and everybody knows it comes from oil and food prices around the world - becoming a wages problem in the future."

Overnight allowance

MPs may also vote to reject proposed reforms of the rules on expenses, including an audit of all MPs' allowances, sources have told BBC News.

Those leading the rebellion say this would be a costly waste of money as a result of paying outside consultants.

They say the Speaker's Members' Estimates Committee is proposing reforms where none are necessary.

The committee wants tighter checks on expenses and an end to the so-called "John Lewis list", used by Commons officials to determine whether an expenditure claim submitted by an MP is reasonable.

The Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) would be replaced by an overnight expenses allowance of £19,600 a year for accommodation.

MPs would also be given a £30-a-day subsistence allowance without receipts, up to a maximum of £4,600 every year.

MPs will also have to provide receipts for all other expenses from 1 April next year. At the moment they can claim for items up to £25 without receipts.

The conclusions came in a long-awaited report from the Members Estimates Committee, which has been considering how to restore public trust in MPs' expenses following the Derek Conway case.

At least one in five MPs would face "spot-checks" on their expenses claims to be carried out by the National Audit Office and a full external audit on all expenses once per Parliament.

Changes 'needed urgently'

However, the committee received a "mauling" and a "roasting" when its members explained their proposals to senior MPs on, a source told the BBC.

The MPs said the plans were unworkable and had not been properly thought through, it is understood.

Earlier Lib Dem MP Norman Baker said he had been arguing "for a long time" that MPs should produce receipts for every item they wanted to claim on expenses.

"The idea of buying goldfish tanks, oil paintings, top-of-the-range televisions, the 'John Lewis list' - that's all going to go," he told GMTV.

Last week, the prime minister's spokesman welcomed the report as a "move towards greater transparency" and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said the recommendations would "tighten up a system in desperate need of improvement".

Shadow Commons leader Theresa May said there were "good elements" in the report saying: "This report delivers stronger audit measures, brings the receipt threshold down to zero and, crucially, brings in independent auditors."

[Snoopy]

Ever read Animal Farm?

[Grumpmeister]

Not since I was a kid so I'm a little hazy on it.

[Snoopy]

Well it all started with the Pigs persuading all the other animals that they were all equal. Once they had sold that idea the pigs decided that although all animals were equal they (the pigs) were really more equal than any other animal and so it went on.
Pretty much the same as our Members of Parliament ........ "We are all in this together but because we can we are going to look after ourselves first and the rest of you will just have to manage as best you can on the crumbs we allow you."

[Grumpmeister]

And surprise surprise, in the current economic climate the self serving bastards have voted to keep the John Lewis list 

[Nick]

http://www.order-order.com/2008/07/watching-pigs.html

Actually, reading the comments on that thread I found this

Anonymous said...

Old Holborn - bitter and twisted said...
"Two Chemists, aged 23, found dead in a Sarf Lahndon bedsit.
My. They must have pissed off their Yardie drug dealing bosses big time."

What a disgusting suggestion. You are a sad old git.

July 4, 2008 8:45 AM

Do you 'ave a more rational explanation? If not, shut the fuck up, and piss-off to LabourHome. CUNT!

You are the afterbirth of that tart Jacqui Smith, and I claim my five-pounds.

CUNT! Just in case you missed the message.

July 4, 2008 9:41 AM 

 

[Snoopy]

He still doesn't understand that over use of abuse renders it pointless 

[Nick]

And I merely quote the language!