Reply to: Ex-MP Gets Eighteen Months For Dodgy Expense Claims

[Green Mango]

I think 18 months for fiddling £18k in expenses is a bit steep in comparison to other sentences handed out. He should go down but not for that long.

Wasn't THATCHER responsible for encouraging the "keep a lid on politician's salaries but nudge nudge, wink wink you can make it up eithe expenses" behaviour?

Wasn't BLAIR and BROWN doing the "keep a lid on politician's salaries but nudge nudge, wink wink you can make it up eithe expenses" behaviour?

[Alf W]

I think 18 months for fiddling £18k in expenses is a bit steep in comparison to other sentences handed out. He should go down but not for that long.

Wasn't THATCHER responsible for encouraging the "keep a lid on politician's salaries but nudge nudge, wink wink you can make it up eithe expenses" behaviour?

[Green Mango]

You mean like Aitken & Hamilton did?

The fact is power corrupts or enables you more easily to make money corruptly.

There certainly were corrupt Tory MPs in the 80s and 90s and Labour made a big thing
about those rotten apples ...

However, the last Labour admin had plenty of dodgy deals from Mandelson and his dogy
deal with Robinson, Blunket and his dogy deals to make cash from muscling in on Biotech float apart
from his other corrupt use of power. Blair and his corrupt fund raising with the Motor racing tycoon and
the creation of the Lords for cash.

Apart from the four Labour MPs no being prosecuted. They are no more honest than any other party...

[Pondlife]

Can't be bothered to check it out but have the impression that Tories, not unsurprisingly given the partys' philosophies and members' origins, are rather better at making money outside of parliament.

You mean like Aitken & Hamilton did?

[Green Mango]

Can't be bothered to check it out but have the impression that Tories, not unsurprisingly given the partys' philosophies and members' origins, are rather better at making money outside of parliament. A defect of socialism is that adherence to the ideology is a more important factor in progress than raw money making ability but, like anyone else, they still want to make money.

Real socialist governments concentrate more power in the state, reducing any independent sanction. Under real socialism you still get the rich and privileged but instead of being bankers, CEOs etc they are the party Apparatchiks.

There plenty of privilaged backgrounds in Labour Hariet Harman, Tony Blair, Shaun Woodward and may others are ex public school and doubtless stand to inherit a pile.....

[xoggoth]

Can't be bothered to check it out but have the impression that Tories, not unsurprisingly given the partys' philosophies and members' origins, are rather better at making money outside of parliament. A defect of socialism is that adherence to the ideology is a more important factor in progress than raw money making ability but, like anyone else, they still want to make money.

Real socialist governments concentrate more power in the state, reducing any independent sanction. Under real socialism you still get the rich and privileged but instead of being bankers, CEOs etc they are the party Apparatchiks.

[Doggy Styles]

Unfotunately being an ex-MP probably means you get a light sentence.

Morley was an MP when he was charged, and only stood down at the 2010 election. He was charged with something like false accounting.

He was one of the four politicians who tried to get off by claiming that "Parliamentary Privilege" allowed them to break the law.

[Sysman]

I don't think it's anything to do with what party he belongs to, but is more to do with the sort of person that would want to become an MP. Corruption in elected officials seems to be an inevitable consequence of democracy. It's true that running for office is more than any honest man could afford.

Except that when the last Tory government was under accusations of sleaze, those who were caught had the decency to resign. The Labour lot didn't have that decency and carried on regardless.

18 months does seem harsh for a relatively minor fraud, but I'm sure the judge rightly took into account his position of responsibility, and the public anger over MP's expenses. When I read "ex-MP gets 18 months" I was expecting to read "suspended sentence", followed by a lot of moaning that he "got away with it". Bravo to the legal system for once.

Agreed on the position of responsibility thing. The electorate's and tax payers' trust was abused.

[minestrone]

Bollocks, not only was he robbing the tax payer blind (like all MP's do) but he was taking it to such an excess that even the Parliament authorities thought he'd gone too far.

18 years would have done for starters.

MPs

Hendon man jailed in one of Barnet's biggest ever benefit fraud cases (From Times Series)

2 and a half times the amount, many more points of fraudulent activity, half the sentence. In fact you could probably be expected to get about 3 months for 20 grands worth of benefit fraud.

Man jailed today for 2 years for fraud and theft of £270,000 from a pensioner

Justice on individual cases should not be swayed by public and media opinion, it should be consistent.

I have no problem with him being given 18 months as long as we use that to gauge what other fraudsters get but we can't do that because our jails are not big enough. So the legal system goes after him with a massive sentence to make the public think we are tough on fraudsters when in 99.99% of cases we let them off very lightly, but the public never see them.

I used to work for the courts so I think I know what I am on about here TitMerc.

[Sysman]

Eighteen months or eighteen minutes, it doesn't really matter. What troubles me is the fact that he was a MP. Actually, perhaps he should 'swing' for a bit longer because of it.

If a lawyer gets convicted they get struck off, don't they? I.e. they lose their ability to practice their profession. The logic is that they are supposed to uphold the law etc...

The same should apply to MPs, so I would think that a hefty sentence is in order.

[Green Mango]

I don't think it's anything to do with what party he belongs to, but is more to do with the sort of person that would want to become an MP. Corruption in elected officials seems to be an inevitable consequence of democracy. It's true that running for office is more than any honest man could afford.

18 months does seem harsh for a relatively minor fraud, but I'm sure the judge rightly took into account his position of responsibility, and the public anger over MP's expenses. When I read "ex-MP gets 18 months" I was expecting to read "suspended sentence", followed by a lot of moaning that he "got away with it". Bravo to the legal system for once.

Unfortunately we can all be tempted when we have a poorly regulated expense system.

Still all the MPs they are trying are Labour ...

[VectraMan]

Why did Labour become the party of sleaze ?

I don't think it's anything to do with what party he belongs to, but is more to do with the sort of person that would want to become an MP. Corruption in elected officials seems to be an inevitable consequence of democracy. It's true that running for office is more than any honest man could afford.

18 months does seem harsh for a relatively minor fraud, but I'm sure the judge rightly took into account his position of responsibility, and the public anger over MP's expenses. When I read "ex-MP gets 18 months" I was expecting to read "suspended sentence", followed by a lot of moaning that he "got away with it". Bravo to the legal system for once.

[The_Equalizer]

Eighteen months or eighteen minutes, it doesn't really matter. What troubles me is the fact that he was a MP. Actually, perhaps he should 'swing' for a bit longer because of it.

[TykeMerc]

18 months is too long for that amount, if it was benefit fraud he might only get a few months. I expect an appeal to get it down substantially.

Bollocks, not only was he robbing the tax payer blind (like all MP's do) but he was taking it to such an excess that even the Parliament authorities thought he'd gone too far.

18 years would have done for starters.

[EternalOptimist]

I expect with his appeal he'll be getting it up substantially.

FTFY

heh heh

v good