Blog posts tagged "MPs expenses"

February 8, 2010 11:11 am 41 Comments

Jon Snow blogs on the aftermath of the expense scandal and the call for real reform in the Houses of power.

November 16, 2009 9:10 am No Comments

The disrepute into which parliament has been dragged by the peers' and MPs' expenses scandal continues to dominate politics, over and above party rivalry, writes Jon Snow.

October 13, 2009 6:26 pm No Comments

I have two close friends who happen to be life peers. Upon entering the House of Lords they were button holed by those already there. One had a house in the Hampshire countryside; the other had a place in Scotland. They joined the House in the last twelve years. In both cases their “button holers” [...]

July 22, 2009 9:33 am No Comments

Bye Bye to my member, and a word to Chris, Joe10 and Ken on yesterday’s class war blog. That’s it, they’ve gone! Eighty two days now before we see another MP in the House of Commons chamber on October 12th. And in what a parlous state they seem to be leaving British politics. Tomorrow, The [...]

July 13, 2009 2:34 pm No Comments

Cycling in to work this morning, one of those wretched plastic bags blew into my derailleur gears, clogged them, tangled the chain, which flew into the pedals and jammed. I deteriorated from trying to unscramble it using Kleenex and litter that I found in the street, but realised after three minutes that I’d need to [...]

July 9, 2009 4:01 pm No Comments

The following correspondence has come my way…it shows the new foreign office minister charged with looking after Latin America, reaching out to Latin American interests in the UK. I’m wondering how many other ministers, opposition front benchers and MPs are in receipt of such anger from voters?

June 18, 2009 12:38 pm No Comments

On one level he is the fall guy of the expenses scandal. But on another, some see Michael Martin as the agent of his own undoing. Look no further than the absurd scenes enacted yesterday as he processed through the Palace of Westminster. Did anyone ever think of cutting that frock coat so that some [...]

June 4, 2009 9:04 am No Comments

I always read the comments on Snowblog but rarely have time to respond, but I feel the response to yesterday’s posting and to unfolding events speaks volumes about the qualities that exist in the country beyond the “political classes”. Stuart Tunstead’s wise observations about the constitution and the need for a “separation of powers particularly [...]

June 3, 2009 1:33 pm 52 Comments

A political crisis This is a political spectacle none of us has ever seen before. The government is reshuffling itself. Hazel Blears has just shuffled herself out of the Cabinet. She’d have been fired anyway over her second homery and non-payment of capital gains tax. Two other ministers, one of them another woman, are expected [...]

June 2, 2009 2:55 pm No Comments

Ever since she was discovered to be claiming a room in her sister’s house in Nunhead, south London as her primary residence, home secretary Jacqui Smith has been in trouble. Her husband renting a couple of porn movies on the taxpayer didn’t help. But in truth the first woman home secretary, the second youngest holder [...]