At the Lib Dem Conference yesterday, Chris Davies MEP had this to say:"I hate the dirty cheating bastards who took every opportunity to fill private pockets with public money. I despise them for damaging the reputation of my parliament and all its members. I want them exposed, I want them punished, I want them thrown out."
I wouldn't want to go as far as calling him a 'dirty, cheating bastard' but Chris' Lib Dem colleague George Lyon MEP is still employing his partner Flora Boyd despite it being a clear breach of the spirit of the European Parliament rules.
It's worth adding that the appointment equates to a £12,000 payrise for Flora and came at the same time that George made a £15k donation to the party.
Per the Scottish branch of the UK office of the European Parliament:
Among the "non-reimbursable expenses" which Members are entitled to claim are funds to provide for parliamentary staff. The Measures make it clear that these cannot now be used directly or indirectly "to fund contracts providing for the employment or the use of the services of Members' spouses or stable non-marital partners, as defined in Article58(2), or their parents, children, brothers or sisters."
Given that George Lyon contacted this same office before making the appointment official, he must have known of these objections and ploughed ahead with hiring his 'stable non-marital partner' anyway.
However, as there is no formal document that can prove Flora Boyd is George's partner, they get off scot-free with an arrangement that is clearly a breach of a rule that has been put in place to clean up Parliament.
Nick Clegg wants us to believe the Lib Dems are above this type of behaviour, Chris Davies goes as far as saying such people should be thrown out of the party and/or parliament if they are milking the system but a clear opportunity has arisen for either man to follow their words through with action and as far as I'm aware they have both failed to act.
To be honest, I don't really care if someone hires their girlfriend or boyfriend or mother-in-law or nephew to do a job if they do it well but at least be open about it and speak up for your actions and the actions of your party colleagues rather than embarking on this tiresome dance with the electorate where you say one thing and do another.
So much for openness, so much for transparency and so much for a new style of Politics within the Lib Dems...
(with thanks to an anonymous emailer for the chat on the rules included in this post)
11 comments:
I am just wondering why, when referring to Lyon employing his GF, there was no mention of the fact that the SNP's top MEP employs his wife?! Newbies follow example, so it seems. I certainly don't condone the first or the latter case.
I was unaware of that though I now know that a third of British MEPs employ family members on expenses
Not sure if a difference arises in that George hired an assistant 'after' the news rules were in place and Ian 'before' (given he has been an MEP since 1998).
I think in George's case, it's particularly poor that he contacted the authorities, was told he shouldn't really do it but pressed on and did it anyway.
However, if it is a blanket ban and the family arrangements are still widespread then I agree it is equally poor form from all concerned.
As I understand it, current MEPs are allowed to employ partners (marital and non-marital) until 2011 (I think that date is correct) under pre-existing contractual arrangements. You are right, new incoming MEPs should not follow suit. It is, after all, against the new Parliament rules.
What can you do if Parliament doesn't investigate further and take action...
I have it on very good authority that Lyon used to pay Boyd's taxi bills to and from her place of work, before she worked for him.
He also used to cover the cost of her ferry journey's to Dunoon.
No evidence though that he claimed any of this back as expenses.
The LibDems are not serious, full stop. A total irrelevance, who deserve to be treated as the sanctimonious sideshow that they are.
This does rather expose Cable as being as financially illiterate as the rest of them.
CC
The Lib Dems are serious, full stop. Its a bad apple in the bunch that unfortunately tarnish the others. They were the only party who virtually were unscathed during the expenses scandal. Salmond himself was caught up in it. The SNP are at it as well.
SNP don't stand a chance on the world stage - we would be the ones that would be sidelined.
'SNP don't stand a chance on the world stage - we would be the ones that would be sidelined.'
Britain has been sidelined for years and will be continue to be. It's only because of America's influence after WW2 that we are on the UN security council.
Winston...
I'm mystified why we would want to play on the world stage. It only costs money to grandstand instead of spending on people. Denmark and Norway manage rather nicely without being up there. Of course their Prime Ministers probably never get to dine at the White House.
If that's what's important, I guess it's worth the billions it takes out of the domestic budget.
Probably Mr Salmond would prefer a good curry at about a tenner.
There is nothing wrong with an MEP employing his or her partner in my opinion - the European Parliament has foolishly allowed itself to be bounced into changing the rules. What will happen after the 'ban' I imagine is that partners will in reality continue to act as diary secretaries/PAs but will not get paid for it. I suppose that will release some cash to increase the number of staff who can be paid to do other duties but it is a bit harsh on the people who will end up working for nothing.
Perhaps Britain is sidelined in the world, but in the EU, the UK along with France and Germany are the 'bigger' states and the most influential in Europe. There is no guarantee that Scotland would have an automatic seat in the EU, which is a concern.
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