Ministers Expenses

[derick]

Paulb - du's no listening. It is totally irrelevant if Alex Salmond et aa da pies, whit I am saying is we need shot o Westmidden. Period. If da entire SNP wis disbanded, dat wid still be da case.

 

Holyrood is less corrupt as Westmidden, nae question. NB no bicis da fallible human beings at inhabits it is perfect, but becis it's NEARER, an mair visible. I wish da Sunday Herald weill in its campaign ta mak MSP's pey back capital gains on property speculation funded by dee (a'm assumin du haes a job) an me. Irrespective o pairty. Tavish haes a pure brass neck incidentally.

 

Da Scottish Parliament is also newer, an still evolving - yes yis da 'Scottish' Civil Service (wha actually run things, no da politicians!!) is still a branch oda 'British' Civil service, but year by year it becomes less 'British', less 'old boy network', less elitist, an mair open. Example: Kevin Dunion. Google it.

 

Settin aside my point at da correct number o Scottish MP's in London should be NIL, can du no tell da difference atween a man at used a rented flat, furnished wi second haund furniture, an da crooks an 'chancellors' for Godsake, at 'flipped' designation o second/first homes repeatedly??

 

Dunna believe da spin fae "Reporting Glasgow", which as we all ken is staffed by Laburr supporters if not actual card-carrying members.

 

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/alex_salmond/banff_and_buchan#expenses

 

Feel free tae enlighten wis regardin 'mistakes'?

 

Jim Wallace, Donald Gorrie (Liberal), John Home Robertson - all elected as MSP while already MP, both stood down at general election. As AS is aye said he wil do. Donald Dewar, ditto until death in 2000.

 

PS No moat as du weill keens, silly boy

 

PPS although at da 'wha et aa da pies' competition, Eck is up dere wi Jackie Baillie. Less pies wid do dem baith guid.

 

Cheers

[Muppet]

Paulb - du's no listening. It is totally irrelevant if Alex Salmond et aa da pies,

 

Du's surely kiddin!

 

Da man et £300 pounds wirt o pies a day, charged dem up ta me, claimed dey wir 'wholly, neccesarily and exclusively' required for him ta dae his job dat he gits paid (by me) ta dae, but he never budders turnin up tae it onywye. An if he hid buddered ta turn up, he'd a fun oot he wis on holiday.

 

I tink dat's gyan ta be braaly relevant whan i neest geng ta cast me vote!

 

Unless, of coorse he bocht dem fae da Globe! supportin local industy an dat!

[derick]

Du's surely kiddin!

 

Da man et £300 pounds wirt o pies a day, charged dem up ta me, claimed dey wir 'wholly, neccesarily and exclusively' required for him ta dae his job dat he gits paid (by me) ta dae, but he never budders turnin up tae it onywye. An if he hid buddered ta turn up, he'd a fun oot he wis on holiday.

 

 

No, not kiddin. Da point I am tryin ta mak is we can do better Independent, irrespective o onything else, an at Westminster/Whitehall is fundamentally unreformable. Hunders a years o organisational intertia - laek da Titanic, a big boat wi a peerie rudder.

 

I dunna keen if AS et aa dat pies, although judgin bi waistline, dat is possible. Mind, whin Westmidden is on holiday, ida sense o not sitting, it doesna mean der on holiday.

 

I am annoyed bi Angus Robertson's TV tho. Good Explanation required or we'll get someen idder ta staund in Moray.

[paulb]

Why do you expect an independent Scottish Parliament to be any less bent than the British one. They are all out for themselves. Give anyone power and they become corrupt. The last time Scotland had its own independent Government they failed. Got into a lot of debt and then sold out to the English.

By the way if you remove all the Scottish mp's from the UK parliament you then have to take home Brown et al. Remember the reason that labour has managed to muck up so badly was because of the large number of Scottish labour mp's.

I'm sorry you think corruption is an English vice but there are know to be a few iffy Scots about to.

Now if your independent Scotland happens what happens when you discover that Shetland takes it oil and gas and goes and becomes an independent state. The western isles have little in common with the central belt maybe and independence movement for Gaelic speakers.

 

Indeed cry freedom but remember its hard to stop the band wagon when it starts to move.

Who is going to fund your services when the oil is gone. who is going to bail you out when your government runs out of money.

How odd it is that the SNP government seems to favour there core voting areas over others. Look at the ferries.

[sheepshagger]

So better the thieving rat pinching fae a smaller pot eh dessy boy

[derick]

Why do you expect an independent Scottish Parliament to be any less bent than the British one.

Umm... becis dat widna be aafil hard!

 

First, becis it is a new institution, wi VERY much less organisational inertia.

 

Second, becis it is a lot nearer, and a lot more visible so it's harder for malpractice ta go unnoticed. A perfect example is da Sunday Herald's campaign ta mak MSPs (and yes including a number o SNP MSPs) such as Tavish Scott pey back capital gains on property subisided bi da taxpeyer. I wid prefer if both da London Parliament, and Holyrood wis ta buy or bigg accommodation fur members at's fae da ootlying areas, and at said members wis expressly forbidden fae getting mortgage subsidy.

 

They are all out for themselves. Give anyone power and they become corrupt.

No dey ir not - da vast majority o fok at staund fur da thankless task at is political office does it fur da right reasons.

 

We dunna keen yet hou mony Westmidden MP's is on da take. Da BBC is quite deliberately conflating (in my view) stupit claims fur toblerones an corkscrews, wi serial property speculation, moat cleaning etc.

 

The last time Scotland had its own independent Government they failed. Got into a lot of debt and then sold out to the English.

 

so is du sayin da Scots is racially incapable o self government? Dat is joost historical unionist propaganda. Wha cares whit did or didna happen hunders o years ago. Worry aboot whit's happenin dis year.

 

By the way if you remove all the Scottish mp's from the UK parliament you then have to take home Brown et al. Remember the reason that labour has managed to muck up so badly was because of the large number of Scottish labour mp's.

Ah, dat wid be da owld racial inferiority ageen. Trust me I AM NOT A FAN o SLAB MPs

 

I'm sorry you think corruption is an English vice but there are know to be a few iffy Scots about to.

Nope. I dunna tink corruption an English vice, nor do I tink Westminster is an English Parliament. Du conflates 'Westminster', wi 'English'. How odd, I towt it wis a British parliament!

 

Now if your independent Scotland happens what happens when you discover that Shetland takes it oil and gas and goes and becomes an independent state. The western isles have little in common with the central belt maybe and independence movement for Gaelic speakers.

Indeed cry freedom but remember its hard to stop the band wagon when it starts to move.

Who is going to fund your services when the oil is gone. who is going to bail you out when your government runs out of money.

Usual British Loyalist divide and rule tosh.

 

And, er...Britain is no exactly rolling in cash. Google 'bankrupt britain'.

2032 afore Titanic UK peys back it's national debt. Maybe.

 

http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/4489

 

How odd it is that the SNP government seems to favour there core voting areas over others. Look at the ferries.

We're been through aa dis: RET wid mean fares on Aiberdeen-Lerwick wid go UP. I doot if Tavish's total hostility helped much.

 

Ghostrider, better proper rules an 'daylight as da best disinfectant' as wis wi Lord Nolan.

 

Actually I tink I will contact Eck an see if I can get an explanation fur da pie bills.

 

Cheers

[JAStewart]

The last time Scotland had its own independent Government they failed. Got into a lot of debt and then sold out to the English.

 

so is du sayin da Scots is racially incapable o self government? Dat is joost historical unionist propaganda. Wha cares whit did or didna happen hunders o years ago. Worry aboot whit's happenin dis year.

Potentially the most irresponsible comment I've read on Shetlink.

[sheepshagger]

Exactly JAS without knowing and understanding what happened in the past how the hell can you understand whats happening now.

As is often said history has a funny way of repeating itself.

[paulb]

I'm not saying that the Scottish parliament is anywhere near as bad as the UK one but they are made up of the same group of politicians.

 

When they built the new building they allowed it to go way over budget. Would this happen if they had full control over the budget.

 

I don't see the SNP government as anything more than an anti British left wing party. They are not very good at keeping there promises.

 

Do you feel that they would be bothered with us up here if they were in charge. Thou neither would any of the others. Oh no im promoting independence for Shetland.

[Para Handy]

In the words of Jim Hacker MP: "Backbench MPs are not underpaid. Being an MP is a vast, subsidised ego trip. It's a job for which you need no qualifications; there are no compulsory hours of work, no performance standards. You get a warm room and subsidised meals for a bunch of self-opinionated windbags and busybodies who suddenly find people taking them seriously simply because they have the letters MP after their name.

[derick]

 

When they built the new building they allowed it to go way over budget. Would this happen if they had full control over the budget.

 

I don't see the SNP government as anything more than an anti British left wing party. They are not very good at keeping there promises.

 

 

The Scottish Parliament building location, design and crucially procurement route was set by Westminster politicians, specifically Donald Dewar as Secretary of State. http://www.holyroodinquiry.org/holyrood-history.htm

 

"1 June 1999: Project was transferred to the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body"

 

SNP are anti British, sure, as in anti the contintuation of a unitary British state. Not exactly a secret. And actually yes, the membership is to the left of centre (Professor James Mitchell did ESRC funded research on that)

http://www.holyrood.com/content/view/3043/11056/

 

Actually we are quite good at keeping our promises, particularly given that the SNP Government is a) a MINORITY, and has its overall budget in the form of the block grant manupulated by the Westminster Government. Contrast generous funding settlements during Lab/Lib years, and since.

 

All this is a matter of public record - usually best to find out facts before commenting.

[paulb]

broken promises

“They said they would increase police numbers by 1000, now they say they won’t.

 

“They said they would cut class sizes at primary school in Primary 1, 2 and 3 by 2011, now they refuse to confirm they will.

 

“They said every nursery class would have a nursery teacher, now they say they won’t.

 

“They said they would freeze council tax, now they say it is up to hard pressed Councils to do that.

 

“They said they would match Labour’s school building programme `brick for brick, and now its clear they won’t.

 

 

published in a number of papers.

[derick]

published in a number of papers.

 

(And written or spoken by the Labour Party)

 

I could dig out statistics to refute 'broken promises', but he's a fine night an I'm goin oot!

 

Minority Government, Paulb, means that it is not possible to implement the parts of a manifesto that other parties disagree with. Simple fact.

[derick]

Have the folk at Holyrood claimed similar claims.

Look for yourself. The members of the Scottish Parliament expenses have been online for years.

 

Use this search tool, by year and MSP

http://mspallowances.scottish.parliament.uk/MSPAllowances/

 

So, for example I can see that my MSP, Michael Mathieson, spent £4.10 on a return train ticket from Mount Florida to Glasgow Central, on 04 April 2008, Transaction reference O0273279

 

How to use the search tool

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/MSP/MSPAllowances/searchGuidance.htm

 

SPICE briefings on the expenses scheme.

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/MSPAllowances/AllowancesExp.htm

 

LIGHT YEARS ahead of Westmidden. If you recall Reporting Labour and the Daily Retard have explained this clearly to the Scottish Electorate? Waitameenit, dat's no right.

 

Was the building of Holyrood financed by expenses?

Nope

 

Is it me or does it seem that those guilty of the most obvious infractions have safe seats? And are long term career elected?

Spot on. First past the post is a crap system.

[Para Handy]

Perhaps MPs should form an orchestra, as there seems to be plenty of brass and plenty of fiddlers

 

 

Some years ago I had a bumper sticker on my car which read "Don't steal – the Government hates competition