Tory expenses claims published…
‘The Daily Telegraph discloses how Tory grandees have received tens of thousands of pounds to maintain manor houses and stately homes. One claimed successfully towards the cost of a full-time housekeeper with a salary package of £14,000 a year, along with a claim including £2,000 for clearing the moat surrounding his manor house. Another was allowed to claim for a “helipad” to be maintained.’ – Robert Winnett, Daily Telegraph
‘The costs of swimming pool maintenance are among expenses claims by eight Tory MPs, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Its report, based on leaked receipts, also says claims were made for clearing a moat, buying horse manure and mowing and rolling paddocks.’ – BBC
… as the expenses row continues
‘Voters are united in revulsion over the disclosures on MPs’ expenses and have turned against both main parties, a Populus poll for The Times finds today.’ – Peter Riddell and Philip Webster, The Times
‘The new Populus poll for The Times, done over the weekend, will make grim reading in Downing Street. It is scant comfort that the Tories are also down. At 26 per cent, Labour is at its lowest level since last June, only just above its lowest rating in a Populus poll.’ – Peter Riddell, The Times
‘Let me be “smooth” with you. Twenty-five light bulbs (or, rather, an electrician to sort out the defective wiring, but sorry, I may be spoiling the story), 20 grand on security, a bath plug, a boiler, a property “flip” that earns a grand, a shared cleaner, or even 60-quid’s worth of wreaths for Remembrance Sunday, does not add up to “clawing greed”, constitute a “sordid culture of abuse” or justify the assertion that Parliament’s “moral authority is at the lowest ebb in living memory”.’ – David Aaronovitch, The Times
‘If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. But it turns out that if you pay for a packet of Maltesers, you get a Member of Parliament. The baroque system of MPs’ pay has finally been tipped into crisis. From the moment that pay for MPs was introduced in 1911 the arrangements were complicated and their rationale confused. Indeed, the correct remuneration has been a subject of controversy since the Middle Ages. It is long past time to settle the matter.’ – Leader, The Times
‘The one character who has been tested to final destruction is Gordon Brown. The music stopped on his watch, first for the economy and now MPs’ sleaze, for which the government of the day takes most blame. Labour used to lay claim to higher moral ground, while the right always said greed was the motor of growth. When he first talked of his moral compass, Brown should have cleaned up party funding, MPs’ expenses and honours – and linked these reforms with curbs on the power that money breathes over the nation’s affairs.’ – Polly Toynbee, The Guardian
Recession hopes
‘The world economy remains mired in a “strong slowdown”, but Britain seems set to be one of the first countries to see the situation stabilise over the next few months.’ – Sean O’Grady, The Independent
‘Hopes are mounting that the worst of the recession is over for Britain, after influential organisations and investors said that there were clear signs of economic recovery.’ – Gráinne Gilmore, The Times
European elections
‘Former Conservative Party chairman Lord Tebbit is urging people to boycott the major political parties at next month’s European elections.’ – BBC
‘In a thinly veiled attack made in Berlin, the German Chancellor threatened David Cameron with ostracism from the EU’s powerful Franco-German alliance.
“France and Germany are the engine of Europe. We refuse to stretch out our hand to those who oppose the Lisbon Treaty but who at the same time talk about enlargement,” Chancellor Merkel said.’ – Bruno Waterfield, Daily Telegraph
‘It is a remarkable speech for the leader of a far-right party: large chunks of it could have been delivered by Barnsley’s very own Arthur Scargill. But the shameless economic populism and scapegoating of immigrants resonates in struggling towns like Barnsley, and look set to propel the BNP to a startling breakthrough in next month’s European elections.’ – Martin Fletcher, The Times