General Chat

I think you;d have to live here to know and understand just how morally depressing it is and has been for a long long time well before this leak......

Its been a closed door and until the now gone Speaker under duress gave saction for Freedom of Information we would still be none the wiser......

People have lost jobs by the thousand,facing eviction weekly,cant provide basics for their families,debts mounting round their ears from utility to other bills,,,,,

We Brits have every right to feel anger,that an MP can scam,cheat and lie at taxpayers expense....

MPs do not spend every week day in Westminster.some work at their office which can be the spare room at their 1st home,sec duties can be done by the wife.son.daughter !

Well if you're going to be unpopular Sheila, then I might as well join you LOL.

MP's have always been able to claim allowances for: offices, staff, and all the expenses that go with that, no problem there as far as I am concerned.

The other expenses allowances were brought in in 1970's because the government were too scared to award themselves a pay rise at that time. Which goes a long way to understanding their attitude about this now. As far as they are concerned it is theirs by right.......a pay rise by another name.

I for one will stand up and say that, if I were offered a job at a salary of £25K and taxed on all of it.....or a salary of £22K and £3K travel allowance (untaxable), even though I lived near enough to the job that I could walk there, I would take the £22K + £3K.

Mary

How much does a refuse collector get per annum? Would most of us notice the lack of refuse collectors or politicians first?

Not sure about the 67k. They are supposedly running the country which is an important task. How does 67k equate with a comparable job in outside industry?

Here are my mum's MP's expense claims -- for a constituency about a 5-hour drive from Ottawa.

Divide by two for approximate values in pounds.


Member's office budget

staff and other expenses $190,062
travel $10,498
advertising $23,179
office lease $16,680

Goods and services provided by the House

Travel $48,152
Telephone $11,565
Printing $49,768
Office supplies $3,847
Constituency offfice furniture & equipment improvement fund $896
Other $1,408

Plus accommodations allowance in Ottawa which seems to be $25/day.


Just by chance, the MP whose expenses are above (a particularly vile Conservative) has written about his accommodations in Ottawa. I'm sure everyone will enjoy this insight.


An MP I know (not a Conservative) lives in a tiny house on a little street in a run-down neighbourhood in downtown Ottawa, as this MP describes. I have also known MPs who shared accommodations in Ottawa with another MP. I think in one case it was an MP from a different party!

---------------

Constituents often ask me where I actually live in Ottawa. I have rented an apartment about eight blocks from Parliament Hill. It is a nice enough place, but it is hard to call it home. After spending the rest of my life always living in a house with lots of green space around me, living in a box in the sky takes a lot of adjustment.

Members of Parliament all have different arrangements for their living. The need to have a second home is somewhat offset by the housing allowance that is provided by the House of Commons. The housing allowance can be applied against your rent, your basic utilities, and hotels necessary for the conduct of your business as a Member of Parliament across Canada. The amount of the housing allowance, however, falls far short of the actual cost of maintaining a second home or similar accommodation when traveling on Members' business. As such, most members assume an additional cost themselves, as do I.

There are some MP’s who live in the dubious housing arrangements and conditions that many University students would recognize, in order to minimize the costs that they must absorb themselves at the end of the day. Others also take in roommates.

I, however, find it difficult to contemplate living in close quarters with a fellow Member of Parliament or other Parliament Hill staff. I had to share a room with my brother growing up and I am not interested in reliving that experience in my forties!

An additional cost, of course, is the furnishing of an apartment - for which there is no subsidy. I spent much of my first four months as a Member of Parliament using every spare moment to chase down ***the purchase of household items ranging from beds and bookshelves to a toaster and toilet brush***.

Of course, having one more home means one more set of windows to wash, floors to scrub and carpets to vacuum. At least, with my box in the sky in Ottawa, there is no lawn to cut!

I have now been in the same apartment for almost two years and I still haven’t fully settled in. There are still one or two items of furniture I would like to buy if I can find the right thing and a little bit of wall paper and other work around that would make it feel a bit more like home. I do spend a lot of time in my apartment in the late evening doing work I’ve brought from the Hill to finish off. In fact, with the time I spend at community events at home in the riding, I perhaps spend more waking hours at my apartment in Ottawa than my home on the farm in the riding.

There remains no doubt in my mind, however, that the real sense of being at home only comes over me at the farm in York-Simcoe.

--------------

Maybe a happy medium is needed. I do think our MPs in Canada should have something closer to actual costs of accommodations in the capital covered.

Sheila, well said.

I don't think most people on here would mind legitimate expenses, being an MP costs a lot of money and those from poorer backgrounds shouldn't be penalised. I think what annoys people, in a time when there are many many people in financial difficulty, when many people have lost their homes last year, there are a number of MPs (not all) who have deliberately abused the system and were hoping to hide behind the system before the leak revealed all.

Sheila, I think 67 grand is a bloody good salary:)

Janey, happy to answer as long as you restrict your replies back to me to just a couple of paragraphs:)

Why would you think my account was hacked into?

Personally, I wouldn't count office stuff and staff salaries as expenses but as part of the job and necessary to its being carried out properly. That's a completely different thing to someone claiming for a second home in my opinion.

Constituency: Bristol North West
MP: Naysmith, Dr Doug
Party: LAB
Expenses
Second Home: £20,808
London Supplement: £0
Office: £18,085
Staffing: £85,325
Stationery: £461
IT Provision: £1,168
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £5,164
Travel: £7,884

Total Expenses: £141,111

One of mine.

I object to them claiming travel expenses. I earn a wage the same as an MP but I cannot claim my travel expenses back, so why should they.

EDIT:
MP's Salary £67,000 JUST GOOD!!!!
OH and I have a total income of £18,000 before stoppages, I say that was bl**dy good!

I'm probably going to be unpopular if I say this, but so what lol!

I believe MPs should have a reasonable salary, and some sort of allowance for a base in the capital if necessary. If we take that away, all we will have in Parliament are the chinless Bufton-Tuftons with pots of money and no brains who will pootle down to London in their Rollers. Poverty should be no obstacle to political ambition.

However all these expense claims are just well-used ways to supplment income, and I totally abhor the present system and the way it as been abused by many (but not all).

And I don't think £67k is an 'extremely good' salary, just 'good' ;-))

Can you tell us when you've had a job that required that you perform the duties of the job in two places, hours apart by car or train, on a weekly basis?

**wonders what lorry drivers claim** ;-)

Just over £67,000 a year basic from this April David....obviously not enough...perhaps as I work away from home they will let me claim for my £1,936 a year train pass.....hmm wont hold my breath

I gave an answer Janey, what more do you and Hayley want?? The general public suffer the wrath of mortgage companies and bailiffs if they are struggling, from a government who promised to help.....and......do they.....no,

Uggers:

"I really don't think MPs should be able to claim anything. They get an extremely good wage and should be able to pay their own expenses out of that."

I think someone has hacked your account.


Janey.....please give prior warning before making jokes like that in future, I nearly choked lol

I mean, Uggers, just wondering.

MPs should pay staff salaries, which amount to more than their own annual salaries and ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT 60% OF THESE HORRIFIC 'EXPENSES', plus the cost of an office out of which to serve their constituents where the constituents live, which accounts for another 7-8% or so of those expenses it seems, out of their own pay?

Can you tell us when you've had a job that required that you perform the duties of the job in two places, hours apart by car or train, on a weekly basis?

Good Afternoon everyone...

Just checked out the link provided here re Surrey/East & many thanks. Posting the following on behalf of my 83 yr old father (ex RN WW2) who still resides there....

Constituency: Surrey East
MP: Ainsworth, Mr Peter
Party: CON
Expenses
Second Home: £12,363
London Supplement: £0
Office: £14,168
Staffing: £94,230
Stationery: £632
IT Provision: £1,183
Staff Cover: £0
Communication: £8,244
Travel: £5,842

Total Expenses: £138,415

I really feel for you all across the pond & hope for better times ahead.

K/Regards,
A/C

Caz:

"Yes Janey for attention and sympathy nthing at all to do with the debate
I hope i have answered this accusation."

By saying I was right about it?

Okay.


Uggers:

"I really don't think MPs should be able to claim anything. They get an extremely good wage and should be able to pay their own expenses out of that."

I think someone has hacked your account.

Give them £30 per night for B+B Like the rest of us when we work away from home

No SRS, that was one of them:)

The average wage is about 65 grand pa isn't it? Why is that not enough? No-one gives me money to get to and from work, I take that into account when I take a job. Why shouldn't MPs do the same?

Hi Lesley,

There are claims for swimming pools and underfloor tennis court heating, i doubt anyone would deem this neccessary for being an MP,

How are you? x