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Hamish Macdonell: True cost of expenses row may be public service

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Published Date: 02 June 2009
IT IS 11 November, the clock strikes 11 and the nation falls silent. Dignitaries, civic and military, pause for two minutes all over the country and then step forward to lay commemorative wreaths at war memorials. It is solemn, it is respectful and it is official.
It is official, that is the key. As MSPs from a selection of parties get castigated for claiming back from the taxpayer the cost of the wreaths they laid at the memorials last year, that is the word we should remember.

For an MSP, the role of layi...



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  • Last Updated: 01 June 2009 9:08 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Hamish Macdonell
 
1

Marian,

02/06/2009 09:04:03
The facts on New Labour are these:

* 16 of the 20 top expenses scandal claimants are New Labour;
Several Cabinet members appear to have lied, either to the Fees office or HMRC, and if so are unfit for office;

* Two Lords (Both New Labour) have been suspended from the HOL. First time in several hundred years;

* The Speaker (New labour) has been thrown out, also the first time in several hundred years;*

* Gordon Brown has said and done nothing coherent on the subject;

The expenses scandal is a detail (although a revealing one) compared with New Labour's catastrophic mismanagement of the UK economy as a whole and the public finances in particular.
2

Simon M,

Edinburgh 02/06/2009 09:29:27
#1 What's the relevance of your post to this piece, which is about SNP, Labour and Lib Dem MSPs claiming back the cost of poppy wreaths they lay on behalf of the Scottish Parliament?

FWIW, I think Hamish is spot on.
3

Miss H,

02/06/2009 10:36:49
The matter can be easily enough resolved I would think. Scottish Parliament staff can buy the wreaths and accompany MSPs to ceremonies rather than MSPs organising buying wreaths and then reclaiming the money.

It will obviously cost the taxpayer more money and be rather stupid but if that's what it takes....

 

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