Matt Bear

Conservatives have gained overall control of Somerset and Devon from LD so I don't think DC will be too concerned about the statistics relating to 10% of the voting in Lancashire.

With results like these I think we could see proportional representation before the next election.

Thing is, this is barely a reshuffle at all. Most of it is to do with filling vacated posts. So the fact that he has yet another gap to fill is quite significant imo.

"Still backs Brown" apparently.

I'd like to vote Green tomorrow (probably not a hugely popular choice on this forum) but I'm a bit concerned that the plethora of other choices will fragment the anti-Labour vote to such a degree they might actually get in. So it is interesting to see what others are considering doing. Maybe I should go with UKIP.

I agree. And Gb had the cheek to say this in PMQs (according to the BBC) Mr Brown says the government is working to clean up MPs' expenses and end the recession and says all sides should acknowledge the pressures some MPs and their families have been facing. Some of them should be facing much more pressure.

Don't see anything particularly exciting happening today. But if the local and Euro election results are awful, he could be gone by next week.

"Mrs Main, the MP for St Albans, has claimed a 10 per cent second home discount on her council tax for the apartment in her constituency even though her 27-year-old daughter, Claire Tonks, has lived there for up to three years. This discount can only be claimed if no one lives at the property full-time. Mrs Main’s principal home is a large detached house in Beaconsfield, Bucks, 25 miles from St Albans. The house is roughly six miles further from Westminster than the St Albans flat. Mrs Main has no regular accommodation in the capital."

Therein lies the problem as I see it. Now they have started down the QE route, it cannot be allowed to fail. They will have to keep printing if there's any hint of deflation. If that happens then at some time there will come a tipping point...

I think some of these MPs are going to be in for a nasty shock when they get booted out at the next election. They seem to be relying on their allowances to pay the mortgage on their family homes.

Shows how stupid the first offer was if nothing else.

I think just as a member of the shadow cabinet.

Indeed. I'm also sure anyone else caught fiddling their expenses would be sacked without hesitation, mistake or not. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8045998.stm

Are MPs on Self-Assessment?

Seems a bit surprising for C&G to be doing this. You'd think they be happy to get people off their SVR (2.5%).

Yeah, but he's an accountant.

We have to be careful what we wish for. It now seems that the proposal for an independent fees office was an attempt to remove the fees office from the freedom of information requirements. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/poli...icle6265742.ece

Agree with this. Their interpretation of "within the rules" seems to be that it wasn't questioned or refused by the Fees Office therefore must have been within the rules. The fact is that MPs are supposed to be honourable and trustworthy and their claims are not rigourously compared with the rules by the Fees office.

Or HBOS.

More here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...r-expenses.html edit: bold added

There was a story in the Guardian yesterday saying that HMRC are investigating Captial Gains Tax and benefits in kind issues.

Now how would they decide on the compensation? For some newer MPs they might be quite glad to get back what they paid.

Arguably for the Tories to be flipping properties isn't as bad as Labour ministers doing it as they were not the ones in charge merely taking advantage of the situation. Still bad, just not as bad, arguably.

Not enough discussion of PFI in the mainstream media IMO. It has turned into a ridiculous farce.

Indeed. This is what bugs me even more than the fact they saw the allowance as part of their salary. They amorally jumped on the property bandwagon at taxpayers expense.