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bushmill_1608

Listed below are comments made by bushmill_1608 between Sunday, 20th September 2009 and Saturday, 21st November 2009.

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Pressing ahead? 8:07pm on 21 Nov 2009 Mark,

Re post no8 have you any idea who gave Arlene the lovely bunch of flowers?
Gerrymandering in Dunmurry? 11:14am on 14 Nov 2009 They really do not get it. If you hold a double mandate you will on occassions have a clear conflict of interest. Whether it is development of a prison site or redrawing of city borders.

The minister has form in apparently using high office to seek to favour his local council area.

On a separate point a hardworking double mandated but inneffective MLA is unlikely to be much better as a Councillor, bring on early elections.
Is the Brown offer a "con"? 2:17pm on 24 Oct 2009 So Mark Reaney reckons MLA's expenses claims were reasonable....! As the person shown to be the highest earning Secreteriat Official in his role as Clerk to the Assembly/ Director General apprantly earning in the region of £110k in a full year (Moderator: if in doubt look at the Resource Accounts for the Northern Ireland Assembly for the year ended 31/03/2009 page 17)his views must be challenged and he must be reminded he is a public servant not a spokes-persons for MLAs and be held accountable for his actions.

As an example I would challenge Mr Reaney to consider the rent claimed by 2 East Londonderry UUP MLAs paid to their UUP landlords in respect of offices in Coleraine & Limavady. The figures appear excessive all the more so since the landlord does not even pay for repairs never mind improvements. One of the UUP MLA's only served one term in office (during a period of suspension) so it is interesting to look at the rental figures for all available years and consider the question of value for the public purse.

No doubt there are many such examples the triple jobbing DUP Councillor, MLA & MP whose Coleraine base is in Bushmills Road would be worth looking at in this regard, but sadly I would not expect Mark Reaney to want to speak out against such matters in the same way as I would not expect a turkey to vote for Christmas.
No Expenses Spared 8:05pm on 15 Oct 2009 Office Cost Allowance as per Assembly Members Handbook:

The purpose of the OCA is to provide Members with an allowance equal to the expenses incurred on research, secretarial, clerical or administrative assistance (including the provision of any equipment, facilities or services associated therewith) required in connection with the carrying out of Assembly duties.
Members may not claim from OCA the cost of any donations they might make to their political parties or to any other organisation or individual.

From the above and from the tenor of Marks article it is clear that a practice must have been allowed to grow and may still currently exist where some MLA's submitted inflated invoices for either secreterial support or research for work that may or may not have been carried out.

This was obviously done as a means of indirectly supporting the party and was an activity carried out with little resistance from the finance office.

With regard office rents who reviews them and decides if they are fair and reasonable. Again the practice of claiming for inflated rentals as a means of diverting additional monies to the landlord would be wrong.

The above instances are clearly unacceptable and if the have gone on then it is clear evidence of breaches of not only the new code of conduct but also potentially the criminal code. To preserve the good name of the Northern Ireland Assemly the matter needs to be fully investigated and clarified now.
Sorry Dawn (and Monica)! 7:21pm on 14 Oct 2009 Bally09,
Good luck with any complaint you pursue and once the MLA's are in full compliance with the need to register as data controllers you can checkout our MEPs may not be difficult to work out who and then proceed to councillors elected to our 26 local councils.

Stormontspy,
Could you help me with a couple of clue to a crossword puzzle I am struggling with:
1) A bird with distintive red chest plummage(5)
(2) Scientist who gave his surname to 3 laws of physics one of which involved an apple tree? (6)

After that there will only be five to go.
Sorry Dawn (and Monica)! 09:29am on 14 Oct 2009 Why post when the moderators appear overly keen to "block" posts. I agree the Blether with Brian blogg is much more interesting and lively with an obviously lighter touch by the moderators.

A recent series of posts stemming from questions to the first minister was worth reading. All stemmed from the Leader of the Scottish Labour Party being allowed an extra question.
Alex Salmons put downs were superb. Compare that with our political donkeys burdened with a system of submitted questions and restricted supplementaries asked by highly paid individuals who in the main struggle to read from their scripted notes never mind having the ability to think on their feet and get out a meaningful series of words in a free exchange of views.

Turning to the subject of an MLA 's requirement to register as a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act can I ask the moderators to view the new Code of Conduct posted on the Assembly website earlier this week and can I ask them to understand that when the code talks of Public Duty and Members having a duty to uphold the law and to act on all occasions in accordance with the public trust placed in them, I am entitled if I chose to draw attention to the fact that MLA's who are not registered as Data Controllers are in breach of the Data Protection Act and as a result are in breach of the members code.
Toast Tussle 00:05am on 08 Oct 2009 If the BBC does have such a disc and it falls to the moderators of this blog I doubt much detail would see the light of day.

A problem when members of a taxpayer funded organisation feel it is their duty to adopt a softly softly approach with members of a taxpayer funded assembly.
Justice and the US Peace Dividend 8:11pm on 06 Oct 2009 I wonder if the BBC will publish this comment.

At www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/index/about-ofmdfm/ministers.htm there are pictures of four politicians.

Question 1: Which one of the four mla'S pictured would currently find it difficult to produce the registration no provided by the Information Commissioner Office to those who register as data controllers?

Answer phone the Information Commissioners Office and ask for the notifications section.
Life in the fast lane 6:52pm on 29 Sep 2009 Message to Moderator:

The subject of my post was clearly reported on the BBC website under the heading "MLAS' expenses claims total £8m"

The definition of disabilty is defined in the Disability Discrimination Legislation.

The certification required to claim the Disability Allowance is that the expense has been wholly, necessarily and exclusively incurred on assembly duties.

This is an issue of public interest, so much for free speech.
Mark Durkan to step down 2:59pm on 20 Sep 2009 Might you be getting ahead of yourself here. The Westminster election are still some way off and there must be the prospect of some electoral surprises for our double jobbing MPs/MLAs.

Mark may not be re-elected to Westminster if so would he may not be keen to stand down as an MLA!! As for Alasdair once details of all MP'S expenses are placed in the public domain he and other double jobbers may struggle to hold their Westminster seats.

In the words of a famous UK politician "A week is a long time in politics" so lets not get ahead of things. However the thought that wee Margaret or any other of the current SDLP assembly team could one day be party leader leaves me fearful for the future of the party.

No great loss some would no doubt say.

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