P45s for the relatives?
I started the day at the Hilton Hotel, where the Committee on Standards in Public Life were holding their only public hearing outside London. No local MPs showed up, in part because they were having to deal with a bill on the new Parliamentary Standards Authority.
It must be hell being Peter Robinson's diary secretary - first Gordon Brown wants to see him in London to discuss policing and justice when he has to be in Belfast for the swearing in of his new ministers. Then Sir Christopher Kelly wants to see him in Belfast when he feels he must be in the Commons.
The DUP has pledged to give Sir Christopher's committee its evidence next Tuesday in London. But now Sinn Fein wants them to be in Stormont on that day for an emergency meeting of the Assembly to process the delayed June Monitoring round.
How can anyone be expected to be in two places at once? Sounds like a prima facie argument against double jobbing.
On which topic the PUP's Dawn Purvis, the first witness today, sounded very strong. She is preparing an anti-double jobbing private member's bill which she plans to introduce at Stormont in the autumn. She urged the Committee to recommend a Westminster ban on the dual mandates without delay.
In his letter to the Committee, Peter Robinson pledged to end the dual mandates by 2015. However Dawn Purvis argued that voluntary action wasn't sufficient as, come election time, each party would end up looking over its shoulder to guess whether its rivals would retire their big hitters or not.
Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey told the Committee his party also wants to end dual mandates. But Sinn Fein's evidence stressed the fragility of the Assembly as the context for double jobbing. It described Stormont as "a work in progress".
Predictably, the DUP argues that Sinn Fein's MP expenses should be cut, whilst republicans maintain they are necessary to support their constituency work. Although Sir Christopher Kelly was playing his cards close to his chest I detected a great reluctance for the committee to make a ruling on such a sensitive political topic. I predict that they will bounce this ball back to the government.
In their evidence, the SDLP suggested limiting MPs to the employment of just one family member, whilst the Ulster Unionists supported an MP's right to hire relatives. However I was struck by the fairly tough line one committee member appeared to take in his questions about family employment, pointing out that the practice had already been ended so far as schools, doctors and dentists are concerned. So could the Committee be about to hand out P45s to the relatives?
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Mark
RELATIVE EMPLOYMENT AN ISSUE, BUT NOT THE BIG ISSUE
Whatever new rules on expenses emerge from the Sir Christopher Kelly Review will not deal with the real problem which is MLAs/MPs who are dishonest and lacking integrity. The recent revelations in the Daily Telegraph demonstrate clearly that there are many such miscreants.
Take an example at random: if an MP has been claiming the maximum four hundred pounds a month in Westminster Food Allowance when not in attendance at Westminster then, by any yardstick, he/she is dishonest QED.
In short, if an MLA/MP is a swindler now, he/she will still be a swindler after the new rules have been introduced.
Susie
Carryduff
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It should also be made clear that if a relative is employed by an MLA, whether or not they are part-time of full-time and whether or not they have another job.
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Mark
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
The points I made in Post 1 about honesty and integrity are particularly apposite in light of this report in today's Daily Telegraph about Jeffrey Donaldson.
Well, what can we ask old Jeffrey about this one?
A thousand questions spring to mind, but if I had the opportunity I would start with this simple question:
- Okay, Jeffrey, you are always banging on about the need for truth, so what are the titles of those 68 films that you claimed for on Westminster expenses during all those lonely nights on your own in London?
I hope Jeffrey is not going to be bashful in his response. After all, honesty and integrity are the cornerstones of his reputation.
Susie
Carryduff
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Mark,
Did you see the press release from the Northern Ireland Assembly? The Assembly has been recalled this Tuesday so members can hear the June Monitoring Round. This should be fun. Last week we had some pantomine antics between Nigel and Reg. Will this week be a full on show or will it be the usual - dull and boring. Wonder whether Nigel will do it or whether Sammy will read the Civil Service prepared statement.
Stormontspy
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Mark,
In this era of honesty, integrity and transparency there is 1 thing in which all MLA's in Northern Ireland must do. I hope the public can support me on this issue. I also hope Mark you can take this forward as you are the Political Editor for the BBC in Northern Ireland. During the time of suspension for nearly 5 years all MLA's still claimed wages and office cost allowances. What must be done now is that all of this money is paid back as members got paid for effectively doing nothing.
On the 14th October 2002 John Reid, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland suspended devolution taking effect from midnight on 14 October 2002.
In 2002/2003 approx £4 million was spend through wages and office accommodation costs. With the suspension half way through then £2 million could be paid back.
In 2003/2004 £7.2 million was spend through wages and office accomodation costs.
In 2004/2005 £ 8 million was spend through wages and office accommodation costs.
In 2005/2006 £ 8 million was spend through wages and office accommodation costs.
In 2006/2007 £ 3 million was spend through wages and office accommodation costs.
Devolution was then returned in May 2007.
That is a staggering £28 million that has gone out to MLA's. If this money came back to the public purse how many new roads, hospitals and schools could be build? How many new Police Officers could be trained? It would go half way in helping deal with the Swine Flu.
It is time MLA's acted to show that money is not their only agenda in Politics.
Stormontspy
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