Sunday, May 03, 2009

Lady Uddin's £100K For Home Which is Empty

Reading the Sunday Times story about Baroness Uddin's second home expenses claim this morning, it seems to be the most open and shut case so far of abusing the tax payer. I'd go so far as to say that on the evidence given so far, it is a fraud on the taxpayer. I don't think that could be said of most of the other recent cases, which although may have stunk to high heaven, were within the existing rules. Quite how claiming your main residence is a flat you have never lived in and was empty until the Sunday Times began their enquiries is beyond most normal people's belief.

For those who haven't read the story, she bought a flat in Maidstone several years ago and classes it as her main home, despite the fact that she and her family live in Wapping in East London. Her neighbours in maidstone say the flat has never been lived in and was empty until last Sunday when Lady Uddin arrived in her BMW 4X4 and put some curtains up and put a mat outside the front door. Coincidentally, this was the day after she got a phone call from the Sunday Times asking why she claims £30,000 a year on her second home in London, when it is clearly her main home.

One thing the Sunday Times doesn't make enough of is that the house Lady Uddin lives in in Wapping is a Housing Association property, and she pays a highly subsidised rent. That she has the nerve to live in a Housing Association Home built for low income residents in the East End of London whilst milking the taxpayer will leave most decent Labour Party members with a sense of disgust.

She is presumably therefore stopping a homeless family from having a roof over their heads - ain't socialism grand! There are 20,000 people in Tower Hamlets waiting to be housed who will no doubt be delighted that she is getting a double subsidy. She'd be well aware of that as she used to be leader of Tower Hamlets Council.

What is it about Labour politicians who delight in doing this? Why does Frank Dobson still live in a council property when he could easily afford not to, and free it up for a deserving case?

UPDATE: Via Tim Worstall. From Lady Uddin's website...
I have a great sense of belonging to the East End which has been my home for over thirty years. This historical part of London can always acclaim the highest moral ground for embracing the richness of our cultural, social and religious diversity. The tenacity of our people continue to amaze me every day, the Champion of yesteryears have moved on to acquire social and political status leaving grand legacies which has been taken on and continued by the successful Bangladeshi communities in the true honour bound tradition of the east enders.

Tower Hamlets has not only been my home, it is where my professional and political career has taken shape, where my children have grown up, and also where I served as a local councillor for 8 years.
So, what would you say is her main home, then? Yup, me too.

82 comments:

Anonymous said...

As she been let out on bail yet ?

Craig said...

The Uddin thing is really sickening. But I don't think it's quite fair to drag old Frank Dobson into it, unless he's claiming on a second home too.

Anonymous said...

According to the Mail Brown threw a series of wobblers after everyone of his interviews about the expenses debacle on Thursday. This may have accounted for the circumspect way the SKY reporter behaved.

Comments like 'your impugning my integrity' show that he is on a different planet. The answer of course should have been 'of course I bloody well am'

Gordon said...

If Maidstone is actually her main home (doubtful, I know), then isn't she defrauding the Housing Association? I'm sure they only let you have the house if it is your main property.

wonderfulforhisage said...

That's what happens when tokenism rules the roost.

Note to Dave: Beware that the 'A' list and 1/3 women in your cabinet are not accompanied by some unintended consequences. My advice would be to select on merit - Hannon and Carswell have a cunning Plan.

Bryan Dunleavy said...

Hmmm! Why indeed? I suppose it's because they can get away with it. And I read this morning that any questionable receipts are going to be blacked out before they are released to public scrutiny so that we will not be able to show them up. I just hope that whoever has got the CDs with the original receipts will have the courage to reveal all when the time comes.
It is a cess pool and we really need the equivlent of thee 1832 Reform Act to clean it up.

bewick said...

Frank Dobson? Well HE is living by his fundamental OLD LABOUR principles so he will see nothing wrong with that. MORE years ago than I care to remember I knew a (theoretically) highly paid Local Government official who chose to stay living a Council House. His ROOTS you see.

"Lady" Uddin. Living in HA property on subsidised rent, driving a BMW 4x4 (£56000 ish new) , buying "investment property". I can't say too much but just let's say I see very similar every day and I KNOW what I think of it - DISGUSTING manipulation and likely of the lax tax system. WHERE does "Lady" Uddin get her money I wonder - apart from the taxpayer

Angry Angry angry of England

IanW said...

It stinks.

But on a minor point - why should m'Lady's use of a housing association property in Maidstone deprive a family in the East End of London of a home? Is there another story here, of local interest to homeless Maidstone families? Or are you perhaps young enough to be a victim of the decline in our knowledge of British geography?

Anonymous said...

Every week brings another tale of labour sleaze if it isn't tales of 100k empty homes, private jets for ministers its Gordon Brown looking freakishly weird in YouTube videos.

It says a lot about your premiership when you are bested by the lib dem leader in PMQ'S, your own cabinet members turn on you and nearly 50 thousand people on your own website want you gone.

46545 now.

RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN

Anonymous said...

Fraud? I am with my mate who an ex DC: you call I fraud I will call it stealing.

Plato said...

Frank lives in a council house!??!!?

WTF?

Anonymous said...

Try reading the story more closely, IanW. The HA property is in the Eaqst End. The empty flat is in Maidstone. Got it now?

Peter Harrison said...

IanW - I suggest you read the story again. Iain says the house in Wapping is a Housing Association property, NOT the flat in Maidstone, and Wapping is very definitely in the East End of London.

Paul Halsall said...

This case seems (as usual) indefensible.

What is also the problem is that only low income people should live in social housing.

I live on a council estate in Radcliffe. It's very nicely located, and some people have bought their houses. It's now effectively a middle / low income mixed residential area.

As far as I can see that really helps stabilise the community, and we have no signs of being a sink estate.

Anonymous said...

Lady Uddin is not much of a "Lady" now is she? Firstly, she needs to resign and charged for fraud.

It is inevitable that these cretins will take advantage. The whole system is wrong and this "Lady" could not control her temptation which was with intent. She's no different to a sponging immigrant.

The Military Wing Of The BBC said...

We have ensured that our political wing is pretty much ignoring this story today.

They will not be asking this question:

Does she or any other MP use two properties to vote twice?
(If peers of the whelm are now allowed to vote?)

Will said...

@IanW - I think the point was that Lady Uddin could happily afford a house outright in Wapping, whereas the property in Maidstone was empty. You never know, the empty flat in Maidstone couldv'e housed these two: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8020944.stm

Grumpy Old Man said...

An excerpt from the Baroness' blog. entitled "My Backyard".

My Backyard
I have a great sense of belonging to the East End which has been my home for over thirty years. This historical part of London can always acclaim the highest moral ground for embracing the richness of our cultural, social and religious diversity. The tenacity of our people continue to amaze me every day, the Champion of yesteryears have moved on to acquire social and political status leaving grand legacies which has been taken on and continued by the successful Bangladeshi communities in the true honour bound tradition of the east enders.

Tower Hamlets has not only been my home, it is where my professional and political career has taken shape, where my children have grown up, and also where I served as a local councillor for 8 years.

Polite enquiries can be made at dewanj@parliament.uk

Anonymous said...

Labour people really have no shame do they?

She should have to forfeit the housing association property and pay back the money for the flat she claimed! She can then live in the flat as it is her "main home" as she still owns it!

Labour are rotten to the core - this goes beyond moral corruption!

Vronsky said...

will leave most decent Labour Party members with a sense of disgustWot? Both of them?

Anonymous said...

Looks like she also claimed £2,000 a month for the Wapping house, which is rented to her at £500 a month, allegedly.

The reason she can stay in the Wapping house is that she will have got a protected tenancy when she first moved in and she cannot be removed, or her rent increased to market rent, irrespective of how her circumstances change, (same with Dobson), because we do housing welfare by funding house-builders to build homes, then demanding they rent homes - for life - to tenants at below market rents.

I think those on the left call it "investment". I call it bonkers!

john in cheshire said...

I wonder why there is a higher proportion of ethnics amongst the most corrupt and deceitful in our society? It makes you think that the so-called colonialists were only acting according to how they found them.
I think most third world 'people' are inherently dishonest. once you accept that, perhaps it is possible to interact on a civilised basis. Otherwise, they'll run rings around you.

Shinsei said...

I recall Ken Livingstone's aide, Lee Jasper, living in a 4 bedroomed Clapham council house despite earning £117,000 pa.

ranger1640 said...

It is now more important than ever, in fact it is of moral imperative that the press expose as many of these MP and members Lord’s thieves as soon as possible. MP’s and members of the Lord’s are again setting themselves above the People! It seems


MP’s are reported to be censoring expenses clams and members of the Lord’s run in and sign in to clam their attendance allowance and then disappear. Do these peole not realise that every revelation about their sharp practices is another nail in the coffin of trust between the People and MP’s and members of the Lord’s. MP’s and members of the Lord’s can burn in Hell.

Long Live the People.


Porky Porky Pig Swine Bastards at Parliament!

Oldrightie said...

A really awful woman. blackmailed her way into the Lords. Loathe them.

Martin said...

I see the BBC is running this as their No1 story!!!!!

Only kidding, the BBC ignores yet more Liebour sleaze.

Freddy said...

Back when Donald Dewar died, I remember noticing that he left an estate valued at more than £ 2 million. I wondered at the time how such an apparently Laboury Labour politician could have accumulated that much. I'm beginning to understand, now ...

Anonymous said...

john in cheshire

Oh come now, this Lady Uddin is the first of the expense fiddling story targets that is ethnic and probably proportionately representative in the wider count of the gen-pop.

Granted this dodgy peer's case looks like the most open and shut case in recent months and I hope she gets banged up.

But lets not jump on the racist card and start calling "third worlders" as you label them, more corrupt than you average white brit. What statistics lead you to such an outlandish claim?

Anonymous said...

>>I think most third world 'people' are inherently dishonest<<

And most of the 'johns' in Cheshire may be inherently racist ?

Plenty said...

They all stink to high heaven. By the way, I'm trying to click on to your link for the Galloway story, and keep getting a blank page, is there any reason for this?

Iain Dale said...

Plenty, Wait for the sound file to load. it may take a minute or two depending on the speed of your computer.

Anonymous said...

roll on summer when we see what ALL the little piggies have been troughing.hopefully partisan blog coverage prevails

Anonymous said...

Wicked old Frank Dobson's abode is almost near Central London which e would have decorated with Council funds of course paying a pitiful rent
(I suppose he is not owning the property, thanks to Thatcher). Pne day we will read that wicked lefty old Frank has left £2 million to his next of kins. This is Labour.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Tories should put in their 2010 GE manefesto a pledge to release all information for the 2005-2010 parliament in terms of expenses claimed so the guilty cannot be protected from the searchlight of truth?

Censoring information just shows how the rotten Labour party have milked the English Taxpayer to feather their own nests.

Anonymous said...

Didn't Two Jags Prezza have 4 or even 5 homes at one point, including a grace and favour flat and a house for life from his union, which he let out?

talwin said...

Iain,
You say that this appears to be a fraud on the taxpayer, and from what I can see that is about right. But I hope you will appreciate that it is up to you and others having some influence to make sure that this and similar episodes are pursued in the public interest to a satisfactory conclusion.

It is one thing for me and, I suspect, many like me to be depressed and outraged in equal measure over sleazy, criminal behaviour; but our protests at a distance are unheard. The reality is we count for little in these matters and are largely powerless. The same can not be said about you. For all our sakes you must keep the pot boiling.

howard thomas said...

Could 'swine' flu mutate with 'bird' flu and form 'flying pig flu'---If this were to happen it just might kill off those with their snouts in the trough--but then there is probably more chance of spotting a flying pig than MPs becoming honest

Freddy said...

> Oldrightie said...

> A really awful woman.
> blackmailed her way into the Lords.

Any details ?

Macheath said...

Good point about the Wapping property being HA - reminds one of the delightful Kristine Reeves of Norwich - remember her? http://newgatenews.blogspot.com/search/label/Kristine%20Reeves

The Baroness has simply carried the cultural practices and values of the self-righteous council functionary up the greasy pole.

ranger1640 said...

I apologize for my previous rant.

Are the members in both houses of parliament unaware how much the vast majority of the populous of the UK despise their expenses and their very existence.

I would suggest they take a walk down any High Street in their constituency or area where they live, and ask members of the public what they think of parliamentary expenses.

I think they will not get very far before they are calling the police to come and rescue them from the angry mob that is besieging them.

I would suggest that if they are so out of touch with the people that they should leave parliament as soon as possible. Because if they are so out of touch how can they clam to be representing us the people.

We have here in Northern Ireland MP’s who are MLA’s some also hold ministerial posts in our assembly and some are local councillors.

How in hells name can they do 3 jobs and get over 100k a year for doing 3 full time jobs?

Then we have 5 Sinn Fein MP’s who don’t take their seat in parliament yet they can clam 100’s of thousands in expenses. This is perverse in the extreme.

This is just greed on a parliamentary scale it is no different to the vast bonuses and pensions paid to the disgraced bankers.

This post is for all MP’s form every party and to any genuine MP out there it is your duty to the people of the UK to expose this expenses robbery and stop any censoring of receipts!

Prodicus said...

I believe the Labour Conference is to drop "The Red Flag" in favour of the other well-loved anthem of Socialism (to the same tune, if you'd all like to join in):

"The working class
Can kiss my arse.
I've got the foreman's
Job at last."

WV: vollox

Wrinkled Weasel said...

Baroness Uddin recently asked the following question in the House of Lords:

“My Lords, does my noble friend accept that our policy on homeless families impacts greatly on those who are waiting on the list? Is she aware that about 25,000 families are on the waiting list in east London? What does her department intend to do about the new housing to be built on the Olympic site to address the need for family housing?”



Given the recent revelation that she has defrauded the taxpayer of £100,000 by pretending that an EMPTY flat was her main residence, she could have at least not been a hypocrite and let her flat to one of the deserving 25,000.

Of course, she should be arrested for fraud, but it wouldn't end in much of a conviction - the Government has a way of fixing things

http://wrinkledweasel.blogspot.com/2009/03/judge-in-ahmed-case-is-former-political.html

Wrinkled Weasel said...

Yes, and a disproportionately high number of convicted vote riggers are Asian.

And mysteriously, other law breakers - particularly those associated with the Labour Party, tend also to get off light.

It not racist to tell the facts.

Unknown said...

Another Champagne Socialist.

Like I always say, its champagne for them and socialism for you

yellowbelly said...

Hi Iain, any comment on this over at Craig Murray's blog?

"Iain Dale and Racism

This blog has a notoriously liberal attitude to free speech. It is also, notoriously, not politically correct. Comments are virtually never censored. Only two commenters have ever been banned, in both cases for persistently publishing sentiments that were not anti-Zionist (OK), but anti-Jewish (not OK).

Iain Dale currently has comment moderation on. He is pre-screening comments. He has an excellent post about the corrupt New Labour Baroness Uddin.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6214838&postID=3181377803578187025

But I am really surprised that Iain has approved these comments for publication:

"It is inevitable that these cretins will take advantage. The whole system is wrong and this "Lady" could not control her temptation which was with intent. She's no different to a sponging immigrant."
(My emphasis).
and

I wonder why there is a higher proportion of ethnics amongst the most corrupt and deceitful in our society? It makes you think that the so-called colonialists were only acting according to how they found them. I think most third world 'people' are inherently dishonest. Once you accept that, perhaps it is possible to interact on a civilised basis. Otherwise, they'll run rings around you.
Am I alone on finding the inverted commas in that last one particularly sinister?

Now I quite accept that Iain Dale is no racist. And I accept that a comment on a blog in no way implies that the blog author agrees with the comment. But I would have removed those two, and can't understand why Iain approved them - or at least did not add a comment of his own to challenge these racist attitudes, as I do in publishing them here.

I tend to the view that this proves that, if you move in Tory circles, you get inured to comments that make ordinary people's toes curl."

wv: grotspat, which seems somehow appropriate!

Iain Dale said...

Yellowbelly, I have commented on Craig's blog. This is the third anti Iain Dale post he has posted in the last week. Seems he is looking for any excuse to have a go at me. And this is a very weak one.

Catosays said...

Seems very strange that the totally innocent Baroness toddled off hotfoot to Carter-Ruck after the ST buttonholed her.

Nothing to hide then!

Anonymous said...

Clearly a ploy by a new age nondescript to leverage some attention. No one has heard of him, he has little of merit to say, so let's leave it that way and not feed him.

davidc said...

prodicus -'"The working class
Can kiss my arse.
I've got the foreman's
Job at last."

in at least one version this goes on
'we'll rob the rich
we'll rob the poor
we'll make the working girl a whore'

Philipa said...

This reminds me of PH's argument against Cameron (or one of them) as Cameron takes a precious place in a good state school when he could easily afford to pay for his child.

It's not the same and your post exposes a real stinky fraud. But I think there are improvements that could be made on both sides of the house.

Who will do away with the trough when they all enjoy putting their noses in it?

Paul Halsall said...

Iain,

I accept that you are not responsible for comments. But the "sponging immigrants" post is close to the wire. But immigrants can come from anywhere.

John of Cheshire, is frankly, racist.

"I wonder why there is a higher proportion of ethnics amongst the most corrupt and deceitful in our society? It makes you think that the so-called colonialists were only acting according to how they found them.
I think most third world 'people' are inherently dishonest. once you accept that, perhaps it is possible to interact on a civilised basis. Otherwise, they'll run rings around you."

Here's our Dishonour Roll so far (forgive spelling errors)

Jacqui Smith
Caroline Spelman
Nicholas Winterton
Mrs Winterton
James Purnell

Who else - let' s add up the list?

And then work out what percentage are (ethnic).

The problem has nothing to do with ethnicity - it is to do with position, other people around you it's OK, and it seems to be cross party.

In this case, she *seems* to be playing the system, but as a politician is no worst or better than the rest of them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroness_Uddin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiWjQCuNFKo

Anonymous said...

Still hasn't appeared anywhere on the BBC as at five o'clock this afternoon. I wonder why not?

Paul Halsall said...

And who are the "them" that people despise? Bengali immigrants?

stuart said...

This makes my blood boil. If the facts as presented are correct and are the full picture then I want to see this person put on trial. From what I have read, this looks - or should be - criminal.

The Military Wing Of The BBC said...

Anonymous @4.59 said
"Still hasn't appeared anywhere on the BBC as at five o'clock this afternoon. I wonder why not?"

At weekends we find we don't have to take much action to ensure such censorship. Similarly the staff at the BBC won't be mentioning the Economic Genocide going on in Egypt as this has the Christian minority as the victims, and we can't have ever report news of them as the victim. The other way round of course is headline news.

The makeup of the weekend staff at the BBC newsroom means that we seldom have to intervean to ensure pc censorship.

M'learned friend said...

Perhaps a well known firm of libel lawyers has been in touch with the Beeb?

Plato said...

This interweb malarkey is toxic stuff isn't it?

Wonder when HMG will try to regulate it...

Err, oh come to think of it...

HoL Fees Office said...

How much is it costing the Baroness to employ Carter Ruck over the Bank Holiday weekend to deal with all the awkward questions?

There must be cheaper libel lawyers about.

Some must be reading this blog...

roman said...

I've a 50yr old cousin (Jack) who is a far-Leftie. He lives with his partner (Jill who is even further Left) and their teenage son, in a Housing Association flat.

Jack has a BSc, an MSc and a PhD in a serious science, and Jill has a good degree. Because Jack is a Leftie, he has never believed in working in a money-making environment, so has spent the last 32 years earning scraps and and milking his average-earning working-class parents for every last penny.

Jill (who naturally doesn't go to work) comes from a wealthy background, so when she inherited a considerable sum from her dad, she invested it in a City flat, which she rents out.

Jack and Jill still live in their Housing Assoc flat however, still sponge off now-widowed Granny without shame, and have as little to do with me as possible - purely because I am a Conservative!

Don't you just love people who stick to their principles?

Unsworth said...

@ HoL Fees Office

So, who's picking up the tab for Messrs Carter Ruck's exorbitant costs?

50 Calibre said...

One day we might see a headline telling us that an MP or a peer of the realm is not fiddling their expenses.

Nah. Dream on. They are all at it...

Anonymous said...

Iain, you say "I don't think that could be said of most of the other recent cases, which although may have stunk to high heaven, were within the existing rules."

Have you actually read the rules? There is no way that most of those, that have come to light so far, could be considered to be within the rules.

First test of the "Green Book" is to ask whether the expenses are above reproach. None, so far, could be said to be above reproach - there wouldn't be all the discussion (on blogs such as this, for example) if they were.

Second test is whether they provide value for money to the taxpayer. None have managed to pass this test either.

Relatives may not benefit from MPs expenses. In the case of Jackboots, both her sister and her family benefit. In the case of Tony McNulty, his parents benefitted. Both failed this test, too.

Why don't you list all the clauses of the Green Book and see whether any of the gravy trainers fulfill even one of the conditions for ACA.

McNulty further failed the test for the 20-mile rule, which says that, if you overnight within 20 miles of your constituency boundary, you are deemed to have slept in the constituency. McNulty's "first home" is within 11 miles of his constituency boundary - he has no right to a second home, as, every night he spends in his first home, he sleeps every night "within his constituency".

how can you say that they were "within the rules"?

john miller said...

There appear to be several frauds going on here.

My guess is that none of the offended parties (us, in the end) will object to this coloured lady Muslim, because it will breach one of their equality laws.

She will probably share the same fate as Lords Taylor and Truscott. A slap across the face with a Kleenex and an order to say I may sort of be sorry, in a contemptuous sort of way, like.

john miller said...

I waqs a bit teed off anyway.

Then I read about this woman.

Then I read Iain's post.

Then I read the comments and, full of bile and venom and spite I rushed over to Paul thingy's blog to leave some beefy comments...

And d'you know what? Reading his blog calmed me down. Artless, naive, boring, it really has all the effects of a couple of paracetamol and is about as tasteful.

Anonymous said...

prodicus -'"The working class
Can kiss my arse.
I've got the foreman's
Job at last."

davidc - in at least one version this goes on
'we'll rob the rich
we'll rob the poor
we'll make the working girl a whore'

There's another (rather topical) verse:
'I'm out of work
And on the dole
You can stuff the RedFlag up your hole!'

David Hughes said...

Fair makes Jacqui - "Jacqui" ? - Smith look straight, doesn't it ?

Anonymous said...

Let me get this right, a member of the 'House of Lords' is living in a 'Housing Association' property ??

If nothing else, I'm glad that this at least confuses those snobs who still believe in a 'class system'..

Un-bloody-believable...

Anonymous said...

Don't know if anyone else has made this point, but a Housing Association property will cost a lot less than £30,000 to rent!

Anonymous said...

Iain, are you sure this is right ??

There is nothing about this on the BBC - are you sure you have your facts straight on this ??

I mean, one cannot always believe everything one reads in the papers..

Anonymous said...

If some poor soul on Housing Benefits had attempted this sort of fraud, the Benefits investigators would have quickly hauled them into court on the grounds of defrauding the public.

But if you are a Labour peer . . . . . .

caroline carter said...

I hope the neighbours of this empty flat have their cameras ready for the furniture that is bound to be arriving any day now.

This foul creature is guilty of pecuniary advantage at the very least.

If these theives are not charged then it is time they were hunted down and arrested by the citizens whom have been defrauded.

Paul Halsall said...

It's not clear why some anon posters are whittering on about non-coverage of this. There are at least 15 stories on the issue today, including in the Mirror and the Guardian. Meanwhile just three on the equally bad activity of James Purnell.

It seems, in fact, that it is the white man who is getting the easy treatment.

Anonymous said...

Paul Halsall - But there is nowt about this on the BBC. Why ?

I Squiggle said...

We’ve had some obscene examples of troughing over the last couple of months, but this one out-snorts them all. The HA angle just beggars belief – anyone know which HA, and who authorised her to have the place? Further enquires there required, regardless of the allowance claim. I had no idea peers could claim 2nd home allowance – they don’t ‘represent’ a constituency and thus a geographical locale. So why the allowance? And if the she is claiming it, presumably originally on guidance, how many others? Where is this published?

Daniel said...

There have been no reports of this on BBC online or off-line. You would have thought that this blatant fraud would merit some mention.

I do find it ironic that on April 7 the BBC had her appearing on Radio 3 talking about ethics. She would clearly know nothing of ethics even if it hit her in the face.

23:00–23:30
BBC Radio 3 Belief
Series 5, Baroness Uddin
2/5. Joan Bakewell discusses belief with Britain's first female Muslim peer Baroness Uddin

Full transcript here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/baroness_uddin_transcript.pdf

Erskine May said...

Grumpy Old Sod said...

"One day we might see a headline telling us that an MP or a peer of the realm is not fiddling their expenses.

Nah. Dream on. They are all at it..."

No they are not, which is why it is not newsworthy to report it.

nick said...

Carter-Ruck seem to be doing rather well out of Labour at the moment. Over the last holiday weekend they were being used to scare people away from looking too closely at Tom Watson's connections to the McBride story. Do they have any financial connections to the Government? To make things worse, are their stratospheric fees being billed to the taxpayer?

Helen said...

I am sure I have read several times left-leaning 'intellectuals' argue along the lines that well-paid professionals must be able to claim their share of goodies from the state/council so that they feel they have a 'stake' in social democratic state expansion and don't vote against it. Prominent left-leaning people thinking they are entitled to subsidised housing doesn't surprise me. After all, they are intent on giving well-paid people child benefit they don't need. It is all part of the same twisted logic.

Craig said...

Iain,

I am not having a go at you at all. My post on your musical taste was entirely good-humoured. The other one was occasioned by your linking t a post attacking me. It was a perfectly civilised disagreement.

But if you are going to allow racist comments - amd I genuinely think a couple were beyond the pale - then I think you ought to post a comment yourself refuting them.

Your original blog post on Baroness Udders is excellent. I think I said that, in my piece you said was "having a go" at you.

Craig

Paul Halsall said...

Iain,

I have to say I think you have to rule out attacks on your musical tastes and tie-tastes as personal!

I have to say the BBC News website's refusal to report the charges against Lady Uddin and James Purnell this late does look odd.

Perhaps everyone important is off for May Day?

Or perhaps the BBC wants Johnson as PM, and so has spent the entire day promoting Harriet Harman saying she does not want to be PM.

Hey, she might be good at it.

Hydrodude said...

Why doesn't somebody look at the old girl's gas and electricity bills for the past three or four years?

Anonymous said...

At the risk of being a touch pedantic, I don't think Baroness Uddin was ever Leader of Tower Hamlets Council. Deputy Leader, perhaps, but not Leader.