Off Topic The Politics Thread

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Should the UK remain a part of the EU or leave?

  • Stay in

    Votes: 56 47.9%

  • Get out

    Votes: 61 52.1%
  • Total voters
    117
  • Poll closed .
What's the deal with the dancing smelly glue people in London
Can anyone camp out like this
Will the cops have fun and muck around if I put up a tent on hammersmith bridge for a week
 
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kiwiqpr said:
if you cant afford a second house then you should sell it
pigs snouts etc
Dozens of MPs rent out their London homes - while claiming more than £1.3million in expenses from taxpayers for hotel rooms
  • 46 MPs used expenses loophole, which is not against parliamentary rules
  • Allowed to claim £20,600 a year in London rent and £150 a night for hotels
  • Mortgage claim ban forced them to let out second homes, MPs said
Dozens of MPs are claiming taxpayer-funded expenses to rent homes or stay in hotel rooms in London while letting out property they own nearby, it emerged last night.
The 46 MPs have claimed more than £1.3million for rent or hotel rooms at the same time as receiving rent from properties that were often purchased and refurbished from taxpayers’ money.
An investigation by Channel 4 News found 25 Conservatives, 14 Labour and four Liberal Democrats had benefited from the expenses loophole, which is not against parliamentary rules.
Many of the MPs bought their London properties with the help of the taxpayer under the previous expenses system that allowed claims for mortgage payments.
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He bought the two-bedroom apartment, which has a private lift and porter, in 2005 and claimed around £1,000 a month in mortgage claims.
But when the rules changed he moved into another flat and let out the property he already owned for around £3,000 a month.
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy owns a property two miles from Westminster that he bought with taxpayer help. But in the previous two years he claimed £39,372 to rent another flat for himself.
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Labour’s shadow culture minister Chris Bryant (left) has claimed £35,350 in the past two years to rent a property in London despite owning a penthouse. Former Liberal Democrat defence minister Sir Nick Harvey (right) has charged the taxpayer £39,772 for the rent of a flat, despite owning a house in Lambeth
Former Liberal Democrat defence minister Sir Nick Harvey has charged the taxpayer £39,772 in expense claims for the rent of a flat, despite owning a house in Lambeth, which he has let out to tenants since the rule change.
Andrew Lansley, the former Tory health secretary, has claimed more than £7,440 since 2013 to stay in London hotels, despite owning a flat with his wife in upmarket Pimlico, which was bought with help under the old expenses system.
SNP MP Angus MacNeil owns a flat in Lambeth, a short walk from the Houses of Parliament, which was paid for with taxpayer help. But he has claimed £42,177 in hotel expenses om the three years since 2012/13.
Former Chairman of the Committee for Standards in Public Life Sir Alistair Graham said MPs should be seen to be upholding the spirit of the rules that state they must not ‘exploit the system for personal financial advantage’.
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Former Chairman of the Committee for Standards in Public Life Sir Alistair Graham (above) said MPs should be seen to be upholding the spirit of the rules that state they must not ‘exploit the system for personal financial advantage’
He told Channel 4 News: ‘It’s not always just about exactly what the rules say. It is about you taking personal responsibility that public funds are used in a proper and appropriate way that your constituents would be comfortable with.
‘I’m sure we will hear all sorts of sob stories about why it’s justifiable to do what they’ve done.
‘But they must know in their heart of hearts that the public will see this as MPs on the make.’
Last night MPs said the rules banning mortgage claims had forced them to let out their second home to be able to afford the mortgage payments.
Sir Nick Harvey said: ‘This situation is not of the MPs’ choosing. MPs have been obliged to let out their own properties since 2010 because the new rules say they cannot claim mortgage interest – only rent.
‘Letting income covers the mortgage and other outgoings and is of course taxed. It is not MPs’ fault that the rules compel them to rent a separate flat to live in.’
Mr MacNeil blamed the current rules and said MPs should be allowed to claim for flats they own, as they did in the past.
Mr Lansley said he normally commuted to Parliament from his home in South Cambridgeshire and only stayed overnight in London hotel about once a month.
He told Channel 4 News: ‘My expense claims have always sought to minimise the cost to the taxpayer. My relatively few overnight stays in London (barely once a month in the last year) meant that my expenses claims would be lower for occasional hotel stays in sitting weeks than for the costs of maintaining a flat in Westminster.’
Mr Bryant and Mr Murphy did not respond to a request for comment
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have friends who own 15 houses plus sad but true
I own one in France but even looking to buy another but there are a lot of empty old houses there... so I am hypocrite just the same in theory
Mrs DT owns 2 in London and one in Dorset
Is that worse?
It’s 2019 and I am betting no one wants to change their status ? I did so some 12 years ago now and gave everything away what happens because I live in London ... it all comes back without really trying ... it’s wrong of course but at least I do know that
 
kiwiqpr said:
What's the deal with the dancing smelly glue people in London
Can anyone camp out like this
Will the cops have fun and muck around if I put up a tent on hammersmith bridge for a week
Click to expand...
Bugger off smelly- keep your carbon footprint in New Zealand.:emoticon-0100-smile

Seriously though would it not be better for our planet if we kept all our migrants from the EU rather than have all the hordes of Antipodeans over here doing their round the world trips and 10 year sabbaticals.
 
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YorkshireHoopster said:
Bugger off smelly- keep your carbon footprint in New Zealand.:emoticon-0100-smile

Seriously though would it not be better for our planet if we kept all our migrants from the EU rather than have all the hordes of Antipodeans over here doing their round the world trips and 10 year sabbaticals.
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Unlike the rest of the migrants most of the antipodean hordes have British passports
And a good percentage piss off home with their bar keeping experience
 
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Labour reach out to Jewish community and shoot themselves in the foot again. They may as well just tweet 'F*ck off and die, we don't give a sh*t about you anyway'...

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when was drinking on trains banned
bloody wowsers
leave abbott alone
shes probably put in a full 43 hour day


COCKTAIL PARTY
Labour’s Diane Abbott breaks the law by swigging can of mojito on the train home
A retired police officer has called for Ms Abbott to 'face action' after she was caught illegally drinking alcohol on a London Overground service
Exclusive
By Chris Pollard, Tom Wells and Chloe Kerr
19th April 2019, 9:30 pm
Updated: 19th April 2019, 9:50 pm
SHADOW Home Secretary Diane Abbott was slammed for illegally downing an alcoholic cocktail on a train.
Drinking alcohol is against the law on all Tubes, buses and trains run by Transport for London.
4
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The Shadow Home Secretary was seen illegally drinking alcohol on a London Overground train
The outspoken Labour MP stunned fellow passengers by swigging a £2 can of Marks and Spencer mojito on an Overground service.
Ms Abbott — who has campaigned to end the sale of cheap alcohol — downed the rum cocktail on a journey through her constituency in North London last Saturday.
A passenger said: “She kept her head down and was staring at her phone but kept slurping from the can. It was 1pm, so a bit early to be drinking — especially in public.”
Another added: “There are clear signs up in the carriages which say alcohol is banned. She was lucky there wasn’t an inspector on board.”
There is no suggestion that Ms Abbott, 65, was drunk or behaving in a disorderly manner.
Susan Hall, who sits on the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee, said: “As someone who aspires to be Home Secretary, Diane Abbott should know better.
TfL should be looking into this and sending her a fine. She should face action as a deterrent to others.
Mick Neville, retired Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector
“How can she have any credibility if she’s willing to break the law?
“This is typical of a Labour politician; one rule for them and another for everyone else.”
Mick Neville, a retired Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector, said: “It’s shocking that she is breaching a law that was brought in to keep order on public transport.
“London’s got enough problems without senior politicians drinking on trains.
“TfL should be looking into this and sending her a fine. She should face action as a deterrent to others.
“She should be the most upright citizen in London, not doing stupid things like this.”
The “ready to drink” 25cl can of mojito contains two measures of white rum — two units of alcohol — making it eight per cent in strength.
A TfL spokesman said people found boozing on trains could be fined or even arrested.
Last night Ms Abbott’s spokesman failed to respond to requests for comment.
 
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