Fitaloon at MicroShaft

Whilst the Tory Peer Lord Hanningfied resigns the 3 Labour cheating bastards say in an immediate statement they will defend themselves ‘robustly’.

I assume Gordon Brown will be directing them as to where they can apply for the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Manor of Northstead as soon as he can find his mind to make it up.

Lord Hanningfield resigns as frontbench Tory peer – reports | PoliticsHome | Breaking News.

Cheating Bastards: 3 MP’s and One Lord so far. The bonfire has started.

Three MPs and one peer will face criminal charges over their expenses, the director of public prosecutions has announced.

Keir Starmer said Labour MPs Elliot Morley, Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Lord Hanningfield will face charges under the Theft Act.

Each faces charges of false accounting he said.

He also said Labour peer Lord Clarke of Hampstead would not be charged but a sixth case remains under investigation.

Police have investigated a handful of cases since expenses revelations were published last May.

BBC News – Three MPs and one peer to be charged over expenses.

Michael Martin, the former speaker who resigned after losing the backing of MPs over his stumbling response to the expenses scandal, was elevated to the Lords

Maybe be you missed it but on the 25th August  Michael Martin who resigned as speaker quietly became Baron Martin of Springburn and of Port Dundas in the City of Glasgow and should take his place in the Lords on October 13th. The move was announced the week before this but attracted little attention and was barely reported.

Now however there might be a threat to him taking his place in the Lords as the Telegraph reports:

Lord Jay, chairman of the Lords Appointment Committee, has taken the unusual step of writing to the leaders of the main political parties urging them to ensure that only candidates of “probity and integrity” are put forward for elevation to the second chamber.

A peerage is a traditional reward for retiring MPs, particularly those with long years of service in the House of Commons.

As far as I can see that should exclude 99% of all known MP’s!

MPs with questionable expenses claims may be barred from Lords – Telegraph.

Alex Salmond Posturing

I see that Parliament’s standards commissioner has asked Alex Salmond to explain why he claimed £790 towards the legal costs of trying to impeach then PM Tony Blair.

In 2004 Scottish and Welsh nationalist MPs tried to impeach Mr Blair accusing him of misleading Parliament over Iraq.

Labour MSP Lord Foulkes complained to John Lyon that public money should not be used for “party political” purposes. This is what I said back on the 19th June:

I see that the nice Mr Salmond and his SNP party has been stealing from us, the taxpayers of this country, by trying to have that nice Mr Blair impeached. Whilst this might have been a “good cause” at the time, I don’t see why the taxpayer should fund this sort of party political posturing. I assume that this money will be repaid.

Apparently  a spokesman for Mr Salmond – Scotland’s first minister – said he and other MPs involved had been

“Extremely proud of the action they took  and that the vast majority” of people believed the war to be “illegal and immoral”.

Well once you have a majority government Mr Salmond then you can do this, until then stop the party politics on OUR money.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Salmond queried over legal fees.

Alex Salmond Posturing

I see that the nice Mr Salmond and his SNP party has been stealing from us, the taxpayers of this country, by trying to have that nice Mr Blair impeached. Whilst this might have been a “good cause” at the time, I don’t see why the taxpayer should fund this sort of party political posturing. I assume that this money will be repaid. According to the Telegraph

The Blair impeachment campaign, led by Mr Salmond, was charged at 150 per hour for 35 hours of work, and £6,750 of other costs. With VAT, the total came to £14,100.According to the invoice, Matrix charged the Nationalist MPs for “taking instructions regarding a case to answer against the Prime Minister for impeachment, and reading two lever arch files of documents” they had sent.

They also paid for barristers Rabinder Singh and Professor Conor Gearty to advise him on various matters, and liaise with his office and the media.

But further details of Mr Salmond’s expenses claims, released on Thursday included an invoice totalling £14,100 from Matrix chambers.

His share of the bill, shared out among all the Nationalist MPs involved, was £790. He signs this as being “wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred on parliamentary duties” which is just plain wrong.  I assume all the SNP and Plaid Cymru MP’s will be doing the necessary to repay this to the ever growing fund of MP’s repaid expenses, which now totals somewhat over £500,000.

Salmond Signs

Alex Salmond billed taxpayer £14,100 to try and impeach Tony Blair – Telegraph.