Friday 29 January 2010

The Fraudsters' Parliament - 15

I have just checked the updates from the blogs I follow. Heather Brooke has finished her latest book  The Silent State which is due for publication in April of this year. Check out her updates on;-

http://www.yrtk.org/

I have pre-ordered a copy. It should make rather interesting reading during this election year! You can order through the YRTK website or from Amazon.

Sunday 24 January 2010

The Fraudsters' Parliament -14

I checked my email this morning. Someone had commented on my comment on the online edition of The Independent. The article was about another ......... yes......yet another....... MP who had been caught with his fingers in the till!

Someone had taken the time to comment on my comment! Thank you, 'maalliii', whoever and wherever you are, for taking the time to read and comment on my musings!

The article can be found at the link below. You will need to scroll down the list of comments below the article;-

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-mps-breach-of-rules-costs-him-16365000-1876407.html

There was an earlier article in the same newspaper where one reader came up with a fantastic tagline which, I would imagine, just about sums  up many taxpaying citizen voters' views at the moment;-


'Corruption runs through Westminster like the lettering in Blackpool rock!'

Nice one, notsonobleserf, whoever and wherever you are!

You can read this article and the comments made about it at:-

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/expenses-breach-mp-harry-cohen-to-forfeit-resettlement-grant-1875940.html

If you have time, feel free to comment on their article. You will need to signup first but the process is an easy one.

And, of course, feel free to comment on any post on this blog!

Friday 22 January 2010

The Fraudsters' Parliament - 13

Friday 22nd  January 2009

I have just put down the telephone! A young and very earnest party worker is obviously phoning around the constituency  prior to the removal of large numbers of MPs in the next election.

Note: to local party managers of all the major political parties!

1). Whose idea was it to train your party activists to phone around at the end of a long working week....... on a Friday evening? ...... at 8:00p.m?

 Only in that Cloud Cuckoo Land that is this Fraudsters' Parliament would that seem a good way of contacting would-be electors!

2). Whose idea was it to then ask the important question :-

"And what do you think is the most important question in British Politics today?"

"It's funny you should ask me that........!" was my initial reply........followed by;

"My particular concern is, and has been since the Conway Case hit the headlines, the fact that something well in excess of fifty MPs in what has become known as 'This Fraudster's Parliament', have fallen foul of Sections 2-4 of The Fraud Act 2006!......... should be serving time in gaol of between 1 and 10 years......... fulfils several of the factors for prosecution outlined in the current Crown Prosecution Service Manual of Prosecution........... etc..... etc.... etc!"

(nervous silence from the other end of the phone.....!)

"Yes....!.   Yes!......." is the tentative response when I pause for breath! "The problem with expenses has been a concern!...."

"Problem with expenses!"  I interrupt, "Do you mean the wide-scale theft of public monies by those in this Fraudster's Parliament?!"

At which point I am asked,  "So you will not be voting in the next general election?"

"You misunderstand!" I immediately reply....."I will MOST certainly be voting! I am a taxpaying citizen voter of the UK!.......... I just won't be voting for anyone in the Labour or Conservative Parties! The jury is still out re: the Lib Dems..... Although it is safe to assume, at this stage, that I will be voting for an independent!"


At which point we wished each other mutual best wishes and hung up!

I am sitting here by the telephone,.... like a hungry cat next to a mouse hole..... waiting for a similar call from the other major parties!!!!!!      Watch this space!


COMPETITION TIME!

This is not really the 'best' picture to go with this article!! For one thing the cat does not have a beard!........ or spectacles..... and there is no sign of a mouse residence!!
If you would like to 'edit' the picture to include these features and email me your 'improved' version for the blog, I will replace the above picture with yours! If there is more than one entry (I have always been an optimistic person!) I will choose the best one and send off a copy of one of the books pictured on the site?
Blog Editor's decision will be final! (I've always wanted to write that!)
The competition closes at midnight (GMT) on Friday 29th January 2010.

Monday 18 January 2010

This Fraudsters' Parliament -12

There is hope for the future of parliamentary democracy in the UK! I have just read an article in the Coventry Telegraph which reported on a 14 year old querying Estelle Morris on her expenses claims!


Surely I cannot be the only taxpaying citizen voter in the UK who wonders why a 14 year old citizen is asking such necessary questions when the parliamentary authorities charged with protecting us from fraudulent MPs appear to prefer to adopt the role of the traditional three wise monkeys;-


Hearing no talk of fraud by MPs!
Seeing no fraud by MPs!
Speaking of no fraud be MPS!


Check out the article yourself  by clicking on the link below;


http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2010/01/18/baroness-estelle-morris-quizzed-over-expenses-by-coventry-kids-92746-25625883/2/#sitelife-commentsWidget-bottom


The young person concerned may well enter politics in the future! Let us hope that by then we, as taxpaying citizen voters, have taught ALL our politicians, irrespective of political party or seniority, that their role is to work for the benefit of the taxpaying citizen voters of this country and not for the benefit of their personal bank accounts. It will be a necessary lesson - long overdue!

I thought you would be interested in the 'Seven Principles of Public Life' which, believe it or not, applies to ALL MPs in this parliament. I found the text on the parliamentary standards website!!!


'THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC LIFE




SELFLESSNESS


Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends.






INTEGRITY


Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties.






OBJECTIVITY


In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit.






ACCOUNTABILITY


Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.






OPENNESS


Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.






HONESTY


Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.






LEADERSHIP


Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.






These principles apply to all aspects of public life. The Committee(Standards -my note!) has set them out here for the benefit of all who serve the public in any way.'

My question is:

Has anyone told MPs about these principles? Can any of those MPs now claim that their fiddles, scams and frauds were 'within the rules'?

Feel free to comment!

Sunday 17 January 2010

Fraudsters' Parliament -11

I met a couple of nice people at a party last evening...... discussion got round to politics... as it does!

This morning I checked  out my blog and noticed that it was lacking a little culture! Searched the web... as you do.... and found a lovely little song on YouTube .... yes it is dedicated to the MPs' expenses scandal!

Check it out on the link below;


Enjoy!


Also have a look at this gag reel of MPs' expenses excuses.... also found on Youtube;


Now for some more serious stuff! I had a look at Wikipaedia and found this information on The Fraud Act 2006. Look particularly at Sections 2-4 ('Fraud by false representation', 'Fraud by failing to disclose information' and 'Fraud by abuse of position');-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraud_Act_2006

The link on the explanatory notes relating to the Act is rather interesting. I am no legal expert, but could not these notes have been written specifically to deal with MPs who make fraudulent expenses and other claims?

Check it out:-

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/en/ukpgaen_20060035_en_1

I ask the question that does not appear to have been asked anywhere in the corridors of power;


Why have we, the taxpaying citizen voters of the UK, not heard the slamming of cell doors behind a not inconsiderable number of MPs in this Fraudsters' Parliament?

Monday 11 January 2010

The Fraudsters' Parliament - 10

Now that we are pre-occupied with political events in Northern Ireland, the bad weather at home, temporary school closures, ungritted roads, etc., etc., etc., has anyone noticed that the public consultation  deadline details for the attempted 'watering down' of the Kelly Report on MPs' expenses have been announced with all the noise, pomp and razzamataz of a solitary ant tiptoeing past a mechanical digger at full throttle!!

You haven't? ..... Don't worry! We are getting used, in our so called democracy, to having bad news (for politicians) being slipped out or buried at a time of bad news!

The deadline for public consultation is approaching rapidly!

We the taxpaying citizen voters of  the UK have a number of choices;

a). Do nothing and allow those in this parliament who have merrily trousered taxpayers' cash  to continue to do so  ( I call this the 'politicians preferred option'!).

b). Register our feelings (and demand appropriate action against those guilty of misappropriation of public monies with an insistence that the fiddling stops) online at the IPSA consultaion site where the 'powers that be' (The 'crooks' to you and me!) have allowed us, the 'sheeple', to view an 'edited' version of the proposals with a restricted comment facility!

c). Register our feelings by commenting on the full proposals in writing, demanding that the Fraud Act 2006 be used against those who have misappropriated taxpayers' monies and demanding that all self enrichment be stopped!

Or am I just growing cynical in my advancing years!!

The address of the IPSA consultation site is;

http://mpexpensesconsultation.org.uk/

Is it just my old eyes but do the 'new' proposals seem to be a sseveral steps backward  from the Kelly proposals?

Sunday 10 January 2010

The Fraudsters' Parliament -9

As promised, please find below the text of my comment to the The Herald/Sunday Herald website;


Dear heraldscotland,



Unlike Mr Darling, and many of those in what has become more widely known as the Westminster Fraudsters' Parliament, I am not a lawyer. As a taxpaying, voting citizen of the UK, I have read the Fraud Act 2006 which came into force in England in January 2007 and have come to the conclusion that it COULD have been written to deal specifically with those in this parliament who have been trousering taxpayers' monies!
The following text from the Act may cover the situation;


'1 Fraud
(1) A person is guilty of fraud if he is in breach of any of the sections listed in subsection (2) (which provide for different ways of committing the offence).


(2) The sections are-


(a) section 2 (fraud by false representation),
(b) section 3 (fraud by failing to disclose information), and
(c) section 4 (fraud by abuse of position).


(3) A person who is guilty of fraud is liable-
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or to both);
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to a fine (or to both).


(4) Subsection (3)(a) applies in relation to Northern Ireland as if the reference to 12 months were a reference to 6 months.


2 Fraud by false representation


(1) A person is in breach of this section if he-
(a) dishonestly makes a false representation, and
(b) intends, by making the representation-
(i) to make a gain for himself or another, or
(ii) to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.


(2) A representation is false if-
(a) it is untrue or misleading, and
(b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading.


(3) "Representation" means any representation as to fact or law, including a representation as to the state of mind of-
(a) the person making the representation, or
(b) any other person.


(4) A representation may be express or implied.'




The explanatory notes accompanying the Act include the following text;


'Section 2: Fraud by false representation


10. Section 2 makes it an offence to commit fraud by false representation. Subsection (1)(a) makes clear that the representation must be made dishonestly. This test applies also to sections 3 and 4. The current definition of dishonesty was established in R v Ghosh [1982] Q.B.1053. That judgment sets a two-stage test. The first question is whether a defendant's behaviour would be regarded as dishonest by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people. If answered positively, the second question is whether the defendant was aware that his conduct was dishonest and would be regarded as dishonest by reasonable and honest people.'


I would suggest that the many and various attempts by MPs to change, obscure, conceal and ignore attempts to 'flush out ' these practices must be held as evidence that those concerned were aware that their actions were dishonest and that their behaviour would be regarded by dishonest by reasonable and honest people.

I note that this case fulfills at least two of the common public interest factors contained in Section 5.9 of the current Prosecution Manual which is used to determine whether or not the Crown Prosecution Service will instigate a prosecution namely:-


5.9
a). a conviction is likely to result in a significant sentence;
e). the defendant was in a position of trust;
o.) there are grounds for believing that the offence is likely to be continued or repeated, for example, by a history of recurring conduct;


As I mentioned earlier, I am not a lawyer... just a taxpaying citizen voter of the UK..... but am I the only one who is asking why this law has not been deployed against those MPs in the Westminster  Parliament who have 'misappropriated' public monies, irrespective of their political party or their level of seniority in that political party?


If the law DOES apply to MPs, as it applies to all of us in England (I am not sure of the situation in Scotland), when can I, a taxpaying citizen voter, expect to hear the slamming of cell doors behind the guilty?


Yours faithfully,


John L Bell
http://johnlbell.blogspot.com/

The web address of the website is;

http://www.heraldscotland.com/

The address of the article which prompted the comment is;

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/politics/chancellor-quits-law-body-as-expenses-inquiry-begins-1.997379

Fraudsters' Parliament - 8

I have just read an article on The Herald/Sunday Herald website relating to Alistair Darling resigning from from Scotland’s most prestigious legal body after it started an inquiry into his conduct surrounding his expenses as an MP!

You can read the article on the online version of the newspaper at the link below;

http://www.heraldscotland.com/

The link direct to the article is;

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/politics/chancellor-quits-law-body-as-expenses-inquiry-begins-1.997379

This paper has an online comment facility. It is necessary to register, confirm a regisration e-mail sent to your email box and then login.

I sent a comment in but there does not appear to be a confirmation system so I am not sure if my comment got through! ..... There was nothing new in the comment..... just the same statement followed by the same question! I have had problems including the text of my comment in this post so will try to include it in my next post. The comment is copyright free so feel free to cut and paste it into any bona fide letter.

Saturday 9 January 2010

This Fraudsters' Parliament - 7

No mention of the UK MPs' expenses  scandal can be made without mentioning the role of The Daily Telegraph in dragging the sordid facts into the full glare of public scrutiny. At this point I have to admit that I was not  an avid telegraph reader prior to taking a taxpaying citizen voter's interest in the apparent ease with which MPs appeared to be trousering public funds.... the paper had always appeared right of centre.
 Even today, I prefer to 'graze' the national daily newspapers choosing at random at the newstand and cross referencing  with the online versions of rival papers on the internet.

When the details concerning 'MPs' expenses irregularities'......( Oh, Come on! I mean the frauds that were being carried out!) were being offered in Fleet Street, I expected the Telegraph only to target those Labour MPs who were being dishonest.
 There were already whisperings online that at least one newspaper was interested in acquiring the data but only intended it to be used against one political party! If this is true, there must be one newspaper who is dreading the day when it is identified and the targeted political party is identified.
You never know.... you might read about it on a blog like mine!
I was somewhat surprised (Sorry to the Editorial Team at the Telegraph!) to find that the information appeared to be published in quite an even handed way. Well done!

We now know much more about the dishonest practices which were commonly practised by MPs in parliament thanks to the ongoing series of articles published but the Daily Telegraph....... much more than we would ever have learned from the infamous 'redacted' data which was officially 'published' by parliamentary sources and which would have concealed all the fraudulent claims. I have used the word dishonest relating to many MPs' claims since coming upon the following text which is official advice on the deployment of The Fraud Act 2006 which came into force in January 2007



'Section 2: Fraud by false representation


10. Section 2 (Fraud by false representation) makes it an offence to commit fraud by false representation. Subsection (1)(a) makes clear that the representation must be made dishonestly. This test applies also to sections 3 and 4. The current definition of dishonesty was established in R v Ghosh [1982] Q.B.1053. That judgment sets a two-stage test. The first question is whether a defendant's behaviour would be regarded as dishonest by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people. If answered positively, the second question is whether the defendant was aware that his conduct was dishonest and would be regarded as dishonest by reasonable and honest people.'


I am no legal eagle, but I would suggest that the many and various attempts by MPs to change, obscure, conceal and ignore attempts to 'flush out ' these practices must be held as evidence that those concerned were aware that there actions were dishonest and that their behaviour would be regarded as dishonest by reasonable and honest people.

You can find the online version of The Daily Telegraph by clicking on the link below;

www.telegraph.co.uk/news


The Daily Telegraph online edition has a search facility but do not seem to have the same online comments facility mentioned in my previous post.

Wednesday 6 January 2010

This Fraudsters' Parliament - 6




I decided that I needed to find out a little more information about what appeared to be 'somewhat shady' financial practices going on in parliament! The first thing I did was buy a copy of Heathers Brooke's book Your Right to Know.  This was to be prove invaluable when composing Freedom of Information requests.







I was later to read Martin Bell's book  A Very British Revolution which gave a very comprehensive account of a one time insider's views on the shameful activities of those in this Fraudsters' Parliament! (My words-not Martin Bell's,- who, by the way is no relation!)



Another excellent source of information was to be the account of The Daily Telegraph's exposure of the whole affair in No Expenses Spared by Robert Winnett and Gordon Rayner.




All were available from Amazon or any good bookshop at both new and secondhand prices!

You may want to also have a look at Heather Brooke's forthcoming book which is due out in early 2010. There is also a BBC4 TV drama programme about Ms Brooke's Freedom of Information campaign relating to the MPs' expenses scandal which is due on air in early 2010 and entitled Bringing Down The House
Details can be found on the Your Right To Know website at;


or at;




I also discovered that the main newspapers in the UK have online editions... with online comments capability!

Now I could check out a story from several sources in an attempt get more of an overview of exactly what was happening and attempt to 'filter out' some political bias in individual newspapers when searching for 'facts'.

I was still a beginner at this but I was getting better!

I found that The Times welcomed online comments about its articles on political matters. The Times online edition can be found at;


If you want to check out their articles on the UK MPs' expenses scandal click on the link above and type in MPs' expenses in the SEARCH box. That will take you to their archive with an option to go to the most recent articles. In order to comment you have to login but this is an easy process!

The Daily Mail also has an online edition at;


Click on the above link and type in MPs' expenses in the SEARCH box. That will take you to their archive with an option to go to the most recent articles. In order to comment you have to login but this is an easy process!

The Guardian newspaper has an excellent comments capability and their online edition can be found at;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

It has simple formatting buttons to enable a reader to format the text in their comment including BOLD  and ITALIC for added impact.

Click on the above link and type in MPs' expenses in the SEARCH box. That will take you to their archive with an option to go to the most recent articles. In order to comment you have to login but this is an easy process!

The Daily Express also has an online edition. It can be found at;


The process for commenting is similar to that for the other newspapers shown.

The Independent also has a healthy comments capability. This online edition of this newspaper can be found at;