A fresh expenses scandal worth millions proves top MPs are players in the rigged system
The Mirror has revealed a fresh expenses scandal. And it proves many MPs aren’t fighting the rigged system. On the contrary, they’re a part of it.
“Should not be making a profit”
160 MPs pocketed over £42m selling off their second homes, despite receiving public funding towards the accommodation. Environment secretary Michael Gove, for instance, made an £870,000 profit selling off two homes. And Boris Johnson’s taxpayer-funded property has skyrocketed in value by £1.2m.
Politicians claimed the taxpayer funding as part of the old expenses system but cashed in on the homes years later. Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the committee of standards in public life, said:
People should not be making a profit. It was there to help them meet their public Âresponsibilities. You should not be profiting out of special taxpayer funds. You should repay any gain you made over that period. The arrangement was made purely to take into account MPs who came from the North who would struggle to meet the housing costs.
The Mirror‘s investigation casts further doubt on the ability of some UK lawmakers to solve the housing crisis. In fact, Conservative austerity policies have only exacerbated the problem. In 2010, then chancellor George Osborne launched £3bn of annual cuts to housing associations, making the government’s recent proposals obsolete.
Too many MPs are landlords
One in five MPs are landlords themselves, meaning they are directly profiting from extortionate housing prices. Of those MPs, 87 are Conservative compared to 28 from Labour and three from the SNP.
The 2017 Labour manifesto, meanwhile, contains fundamental proposals to deal with the crisis. The party pledged to “build at least 100,000 council or housing association homes” per year. This is necessary. If you earned the national average salary of £26,500, 91% of the housing market in England and Wales would be beyond your income.
Crucially, the Brexit deadlock is sidelining the real issues that actually led people to vote for change in the referendum. We need to provide housing and other necessities as a public part of UK society. Because otherwise we’re left renting our accommodation at an extortionate cost. And at present, around 20% of our own lawmakers are part of the few benefiting. We must bring the scam to an end.
Featured image via Flickr – N04 / Flickr – Policy Exchange
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Maybe the crooks in this article can join our Local area Cllr
that “I posted on in 10./4/2019 in my area of Lancashire?
My post is below voters + readers of all my posts “I make.
PART-1
Outrage as more than 160 MPs make.
£42 million profit selling homes YOU helped pay for
MIRROR! Name & shame them all before May 2019 local election.
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So, we voter can show our disgust to our local area M.P. for sewing us out of tax, our Hard-earned CASH.
(If we public did this we would be in prison NOW)
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Any Govt member changing the rule to benefit any SCAM’S must be kicked out of Govt
Not given a job in over Dept but kicked out FULLY.
PART-2
Then when they are Not protected by Govt party rule or parliament laws they can ALL answer for every penny they SCAMMED out of us taxpayer. We public do without police /Nurse/Doctor/ armed forces personnel/While M.P. of all parties are SCAMMING us taxpayer out of our money Not theirs therefore M.P. head should roll!
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Mirror how about you “helping us voter + taxpayers
Out by naming all the M.P. involved + their party’s here and come May 2019 or any G.E. in 2019 we voters will decide their fate in Govt jobs also at local area jobs we will also divide the Cllr members of their parties jobs as well on local area council up & down the country in 2019.
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We Voter Now must put a stop the rich M.P.+ Ministers raiding our taxpayer,
money then shifting it OFF shore to bank in their personal doggy accounts
We can start in May 2019 at local level to remove the doggy Cllr of all parties
remember voter if you wish changes you must vote for them FULL STOP!
The lack of convictions after the last expenses scandal was a disgrace. Senior MPs suggested that a generous expenses system was essential in attracting the best people, who could earn so much more in the private sector. So these are the “best people”? People like Grayling and Johnson who just fail, fail and then fail again? When I watch parliament braying and shouting like children, I wonder who could make a worse job of it.
Even a basic MP earns almost 3 times the National average and these parasites have voted themselves pay-rises of £11,600 over the last 7 years, bringing it to £77,379 (plus generous expenses). This is in the same period that Nurses and other public sector employees were told they could only have 1% on their meager pay.
On top of that, MP’s can take huge amounts of money as donations or payment for “consultant” work to big firms. All legal if they just write it in the Big Book. How can that be right? £500 – £1000 per hour is not for their expertise, because they don’t usually have any. Let’s face it, it’s for their influence. AKA bribery. How can being an MP not be a full time job? It should be.
The money needs to be removed from our politics. I would suggest no additional income allowed. I know it would be tricky for people who are already rich and raking in profits, but do we want our MPs to be in a different financial world from the average voter? I don’t.
Don’t want to be an MP for “only” 3 times the National average? Then fuck off, because you are obviously doing it for the wrong reasons.
GOOD POINT —-DWPVictim
We can add to you list the Tory SCAM U-CREDIT that cost us more than Labour spent in Office for years on all the over benefits combined, Tory Govt is over spending ever day now just on court fees plus back payments alone when they loss to claimant when withholding their money they are fully entitled too is a wast of our taxpayer money and the SCAM U-CREDIT should be SCRAPED.
Al it’s doing now is creating /POVERTY in low paid working families Killing people off, Making the need for food backs and discriminating again all disabled + ill health people that need Benefit help this is another good reason Not to vote for any Tory Cllr in May 2019 election as they back up Tory Gove SCAM U-CREDIT in addition they voted for it by way of Tory party MANIFESTO paper back in 2015 G.E
again in 2017 G.E. + 2018 local election as well.