Fury over Westminster gravy train
Last updated at 22:22pm on 27.10.06
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Prescott recently declared his son David is a member of his Commons team
MPs face a further public backlash over their lavish salaries and expenses after new figures showed that around 50 MPs are using their annual £87,276 staffing allowance to employ members of their own families.
The politicians, who last year pocketed an average of £204,000 in pay and perks, have hired their wives, husbands, children - and in some cases parents - as research assistants and secretaries.
A total of four cabinet ministers have ensured their work remains a family affair. The Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott recently declared that his son David is a member of his Commons team.
The 36-year-old former journalist and public relations consultant is named as being a member of Mr Prescott's private staff on September's register of MP's staff.
At the time, it was reported that he was employed by his father as a 'media monitor' in the wake of his affair with diary secretary Tracey Temple.
It prompted accusations that the Deputy Prime Minister had abused his position by giving him a coveted lobby pass to the House of Commons.
The Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who has recording the highest staff expenses of any MP at £99,589, has also been criticised for employing her husband Leo to run her constituency office.
The Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain lists his elderly 79-year-old mother Adelaine as a member of his Commons staff list, while the International Development Secretary Hilary Benn employs his brother Stephen.
And Sinn Fein's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness, employs his sister-in-law Anne 'Dodie' McGuinness as his sole member of staff.
Despite refusing to take his seat in the Commons along with his other Sinn Fein colleagues, Mr McGuinness claimed an astonishing £64,272 last year in staff costs. It is not clear how much of this goes directly to Mrs McGuinness.
The Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary David Lidington said: "We have consistently said that Sinn Fein MPs should not be paid parliamentary salaries or be allowed to claim expenses while they refuse to take their seats in parliament."
The register also shows that at least five MPs employ more than one relative to work in their Westminster offices.
Traditionally, Tory MPs have employed their wives in their private offices as research assistants, but the new figures show that up to 27 Labour MPs have relatives on staff compared to around 18 Conservative MPs and just one Liberal Democrat.
Campaigners last night accused the politicians of using taxpayers' money to fund their family finances.
Husband and wife Labour MPs Alan and Ann Keen, whose constituencies are side by side in West London, claimed £30,288 for a Central London flat even though they live only nine miles from Westminster. Mr Keen also employs the couple's son David as his fulltime assistant.
Many of the relatives work part-time or are not paid, but it is not known which ones are pocketing taxpayers' cash because details of their salaries are not made public.
MPs claim that the relatives carry out essential duties ranging from administrative tasks to tackling constituents' problems and represent good value for money.
But critics say payroll information for MPs staff should be made public.
Taxpayers' Alliance spokesman Blair Gibbs said: "Thanks to higher taxes, we all have to make an extra effort to budget, but some politicians are using taxpayers' money to pay for their own family members.
"These new revelations will only make the public more convinced of the need for real transparency - total figures aren't enough. It is our money, so it is only fair that we are allowed to see exactly how our money is spent, and who benefited."
Information campaigner Heather Brooke, from the website Your Right to Know, says: "These people are paid for with our money and we have a right to know who they are and what they are doing."
A spokesman for Mr Prescott's office last night insisted that David Prescott was not a fulltime member of staff. He said: "David Prescott was given a lobby pass for two weeks over the summer. It is my understanding that he was not paid. He is not a member of Mr Prescott's staff."
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Disregarding this latest hoohah, is anyone surprised at the what goes on in the `mother of Parliaments', bearing in mind that John Prescott still snatches the best part of A HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS per year, plus perks, yet he hasn't got a job and does little more than sit with scowling countenance to the right of Blair, without a care in the world at Prime Minister's Questions.
- Ted, Shetland
Action they say, speaks louder than words! This appalling spend of taxpayers money must be stopped sooner than later. Our money is been abused and it is getting more ridiculous. What has Tony Blair got to say? Or should we wait until our hard earned money is gubbled by MPs and their families?
- Kate Chukwu, London
Its so blatant the gap between the "top" and pensioners like me on £6000. per annum. How long before we get a pill on our 65th birthday so they can award themselves even more. I'm clearly a whingeing oap who has outlived her usefulness but there will come a day when they will have to be accountable for their greed. I may have nothing much but I do have peace of mind. My generation were bought up during the second world war so know what is to make do-and-mend etc and be grateful for what we have. People like this will never be happy, they will never be satisfied with anything, and always wanting more will destroy them in the end. I thank God I'm on my way out!
- Janet Edwards, Kendal, England
33rd year AADHIKAR
0225 GMT Thursday 06 June 2013
AADHIKAR Media Foundation Editor © Muhammad Haque
Founding News Editor
Shah M Azizul Haque
AADHIKAR Media Foundation established with the publication of AADHIKAR the weekly on Monday 19 December 1980 from London E1 UK.
Friday, February 20, 2009
So crass, so insane has been the CRASS-rail-peddling that for the first time, a serious crack appears!
1928 Hrs GMT London Friday 20 February 2009: KHOODEELAAR! TOLD YOU SO!
So crass, so insane has been the CRASS-rail-peddling that for the first time, a serious crack appears! When Steve Norris [more than once a candidate for the post of London mayor for the Toy Party, himself] feels it necessary to go on the record to voice his disagreement with Boris JOHNSON on ‘Crossrail levy’, it is only a matter of time before the avalanche comes and sweeps the lunacy away...[To be continued]
AADHIKARonline in association with
KHOODEELAAR!
quoting from the PROPERTY WEEK piece attributed to Steve Norris: Last week this magazine covered the two proposals to raise money for Crossrail that have got the development community up in arms: the 2p levy on existing non-residential properties with a rateable value of more than £50,000 in all 33 London boroughs and mayor Johnson’s proposal for what amounts to a compulsory section 106 levy at £19.80/sq ft on new development in central London.
There have been predictable objections to both from outraged retailers, who say the 2p levy will leave them uncompetitive, and from developers such as Land Securities, which faces a potential £20m bill for its Victoria Interchange scheme if Boris goes ahead with his plan.
Contributing factors
But is a contribution to Crossrail by the property industry so unreasonable?
When I was a minister desperately trying to get the Jubilee Line extension through the Treasury, the most difficult part of the negotiations was getting £400m over 20 years out of Olympia & York, the owner of Canary Wharf, as a contribution to the line. It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that the developer was in administration at the time and effectively owned by a consortium of banks.
But those hard-nosed bankers could see that the Jubilee Line was a lifeline for London Docklands. They agreed to a net present value lump sum and the scheme went ahead.
Two lessons struck me. First, that there is no doubt whatever that transport infrastructure can transform the value of surrounding property where the job pool is massively magnified and business access is transformed. Docklands without the Jubilee Line would be nothing like the powerhouse it is now.
But what also impressed me was that while Canary Wharf’s owners paid up, and one or two small contributions trickled in, most of the property owners along the line got a massive benefit for free. And that simply can’t be right.
There is certainly an argument over whether properties in those boroughs that are not directly affected should pay. I personally proposed a scheme of 1 km circles around stations, within which a graduated charge would apply, but I admit that it is easier to say than deliver in law.
In any event, the estimates I have seen are that the 2p levy will add 1% to total occupancy costs so, while no charge is welcome, this one is not likely to be fatal and small businesses are by definition excluded.
On the mayor’s levy, one thing is clear: any extra costs imposed on development – particularly at this time – will be as much of a disincentive as Development Land Tax in all its forms always has been.
I have argued in this column before that, while it always looks attractive to charge new development for a variety of reasons, the reality is that any charge makes that development less likely. The mayor is taking a risk with his proposal because, if he sticks to his guns, I fear many developments that are already in rocky territory financially simply won’t happen.
Boris will be aware of Edmund Burke’s theory that ‘to tax and to please … is not given to men’. He may have to lower his ambitions, as shown by the Howick Place example – where, after a standoff with Terrace Hill over its development in London’s Victoria, he had to accept a fraction of the Crossrail contribution he had asked for.
Neither is the levy likely to win popular approval – but that those who benefit most from a scheme such as Crossrail should cough up some of the cost ultimately sounds fair.
Postscript :
Steven Norris is an adviser on transport and development to London mayor Boris Johnson
So crass, so insane has been the CRASS-rail-peddling that for the first time, a serious crack appears! When Steve Norris [more than once a candidate for the post of London mayor for the Toy Party, himself] feels it necessary to go on the record to voice his disagreement with Boris JOHNSON on ‘Crossrail levy’, it is only a matter of time before the avalanche comes and sweeps the lunacy away...[To be continued]
AADHIKARonline in association with
KHOODEELAAR!
quoting from the PROPERTY WEEK piece attributed to Steve Norris: Last week this magazine covered the two proposals to raise money for Crossrail that have got the development community up in arms: the 2p levy on existing non-residential properties with a rateable value of more than £50,000 in all 33 London boroughs and mayor Johnson’s proposal for what amounts to a compulsory section 106 levy at £19.80/sq ft on new development in central London.
There have been predictable objections to both from outraged retailers, who say the 2p levy will leave them uncompetitive, and from developers such as Land Securities, which faces a potential £20m bill for its Victoria Interchange scheme if Boris goes ahead with his plan.
Contributing factors
But is a contribution to Crossrail by the property industry so unreasonable?
When I was a minister desperately trying to get the Jubilee Line extension through the Treasury, the most difficult part of the negotiations was getting £400m over 20 years out of Olympia & York, the owner of Canary Wharf, as a contribution to the line. It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that the developer was in administration at the time and effectively owned by a consortium of banks.
But those hard-nosed bankers could see that the Jubilee Line was a lifeline for London Docklands. They agreed to a net present value lump sum and the scheme went ahead.
Two lessons struck me. First, that there is no doubt whatever that transport infrastructure can transform the value of surrounding property where the job pool is massively magnified and business access is transformed. Docklands without the Jubilee Line would be nothing like the powerhouse it is now.
But what also impressed me was that while Canary Wharf’s owners paid up, and one or two small contributions trickled in, most of the property owners along the line got a massive benefit for free. And that simply can’t be right.
There is certainly an argument over whether properties in those boroughs that are not directly affected should pay. I personally proposed a scheme of 1 km circles around stations, within which a graduated charge would apply, but I admit that it is easier to say than deliver in law.
In any event, the estimates I have seen are that the 2p levy will add 1% to total occupancy costs so, while no charge is welcome, this one is not likely to be fatal and small businesses are by definition excluded.
On the mayor’s levy, one thing is clear: any extra costs imposed on development – particularly at this time – will be as much of a disincentive as Development Land Tax in all its forms always has been.
I have argued in this column before that, while it always looks attractive to charge new development for a variety of reasons, the reality is that any charge makes that development less likely. The mayor is taking a risk with his proposal because, if he sticks to his guns, I fear many developments that are already in rocky territory financially simply won’t happen.
Boris will be aware of Edmund Burke’s theory that ‘to tax and to please … is not given to men’. He may have to lower his ambitions, as shown by the Howick Place example – where, after a standoff with Terrace Hill over its development in London’s Victoria, he had to accept a fraction of the Crossrail contribution he had asked for.
Neither is the levy likely to win popular approval – but that those who benefit most from a scheme such as Crossrail should cough up some of the cost ultimately sounds fair.
Postscript :
Steven Norris is an adviser on transport and development to London mayor Boris Johnson
KHOODEELAAR! TOLD YOU SO! So crass, so insane has been the CRASS-rail-peddling that for the first time, a serious crack appears!
1910 Hrs GMT London Friday 20 February 2009:
AADHIKARonline has taken the Steve Norris piece, below, from the web site cited:
http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=38&storycode=3134281&c=3
I disagree with Boris over the Crossrail levy
20.02.09
The politics of property
-
By Steven Norris
Last week this magazine covered the two proposals to raise money for Crossrail that have got the development community up in arms: the 2p levy on existing non-residential properties with a rateable value of more than £50,000 in all 33 London boroughs and mayor Johnson’s proposal for what amounts to a compulsory section 106 levy at £19.80/sq ft on new development in central London.
There have been predictable objections to both from outraged retailers, who say the 2p levy will leave them uncompetitive, and from developers such as Land Securities, which faces a potential £20m bill for its Victoria Interchange scheme if Boris goes ahead with his plan.
Contributing factors
But is a contribution to Crossrail by the property industry so unreasonable?
When I was a minister desperately trying to get the Jubilee Line extension through the Treasury, the most difficult part of the negotiations was getting £400m over 20 years out of Olympia & York, the owner of Canary Wharf, as a contribution to the line. It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that the developer was in administration at the time and effectively owned by a consortium of banks.
But those hard-nosed bankers could see that the Jubilee Line was a lifeline for London Docklands. They agreed to a net present value lump sum and the scheme went ahead.
Two lessons struck me. First, that there is no doubt whatever that transport infrastructure can transform the value of surrounding property where the job pool is massively magnified and business access is transformed. Docklands without the Jubilee Line would be nothing like the powerhouse it is now.
But what also impressed me was that while Canary Wharf’s owners paid up, and one or two small contributions trickled in, most of the property owners along the line got a massive benefit for free. And that simply can’t be right.
There is certainly an argument over whether properties in those boroughs that are not directly affected should pay. I personally proposed a scheme of 1 km circles around stations, within which a graduated charge would apply, but I admit that it is easier to say than deliver in law.
In any event, the estimates I have seen are that the 2p levy will add 1% to total occupancy costs so, while no charge is welcome, this one is not likely to be fatal and small businesses are by definition excluded.
On the mayor’s levy, one thing is clear: any extra costs imposed on development – particularly at this time – will be as much of a disincentive as Development Land Tax in all its forms always has been.
I have argued in this column before that, while it always looks attractive to charge new development for a variety of reasons, the reality is that any charge makes that development less likely. The mayor is taking a risk with his proposal because, if he sticks to his guns, I fear many developments that are already in rocky territory financially simply won’t happen.
Boris will be aware of Edmund Burke’s theory that ‘to tax and to please … is not given to men’. He may have to lower his ambitions, as shown by the Howick Place example – where, after a standoff with Terrace Hill over its development in London’s Victoria, he had to accept a fraction of the Crossrail contribution he had asked for.
Neither is the levy likely to win popular approval – but that those who benefit most from a scheme such as Crossrail should cough up some of the cost ultimately sounds fair.
Postscript :
Steven Norris is an adviser on transport and development to London mayor Boris Johnson
AADHIKARonline has taken the Steve Norris piece, below, from the web site cited:
http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=38&storycode=3134281&c=3
I disagree with Boris over the Crossrail levy
20.02.09
The politics of property
-
By Steven Norris
Last week this magazine covered the two proposals to raise money for Crossrail that have got the development community up in arms: the 2p levy on existing non-residential properties with a rateable value of more than £50,000 in all 33 London boroughs and mayor Johnson’s proposal for what amounts to a compulsory section 106 levy at £19.80/sq ft on new development in central London.
There have been predictable objections to both from outraged retailers, who say the 2p levy will leave them uncompetitive, and from developers such as Land Securities, which faces a potential £20m bill for its Victoria Interchange scheme if Boris goes ahead with his plan.
Contributing factors
But is a contribution to Crossrail by the property industry so unreasonable?
When I was a minister desperately trying to get the Jubilee Line extension through the Treasury, the most difficult part of the negotiations was getting £400m over 20 years out of Olympia & York, the owner of Canary Wharf, as a contribution to the line. It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that the developer was in administration at the time and effectively owned by a consortium of banks.
But those hard-nosed bankers could see that the Jubilee Line was a lifeline for London Docklands. They agreed to a net present value lump sum and the scheme went ahead.
Two lessons struck me. First, that there is no doubt whatever that transport infrastructure can transform the value of surrounding property where the job pool is massively magnified and business access is transformed. Docklands without the Jubilee Line would be nothing like the powerhouse it is now.
But what also impressed me was that while Canary Wharf’s owners paid up, and one or two small contributions trickled in, most of the property owners along the line got a massive benefit for free. And that simply can’t be right.
There is certainly an argument over whether properties in those boroughs that are not directly affected should pay. I personally proposed a scheme of 1 km circles around stations, within which a graduated charge would apply, but I admit that it is easier to say than deliver in law.
In any event, the estimates I have seen are that the 2p levy will add 1% to total occupancy costs so, while no charge is welcome, this one is not likely to be fatal and small businesses are by definition excluded.
On the mayor’s levy, one thing is clear: any extra costs imposed on development – particularly at this time – will be as much of a disincentive as Development Land Tax in all its forms always has been.
I have argued in this column before that, while it always looks attractive to charge new development for a variety of reasons, the reality is that any charge makes that development less likely. The mayor is taking a risk with his proposal because, if he sticks to his guns, I fear many developments that are already in rocky territory financially simply won’t happen.
Boris will be aware of Edmund Burke’s theory that ‘to tax and to please … is not given to men’. He may have to lower his ambitions, as shown by the Howick Place example – where, after a standoff with Terrace Hill over its development in London’s Victoria, he had to accept a fraction of the Crossrail contribution he had asked for.
Neither is the levy likely to win popular approval – but that those who benefit most from a scheme such as Crossrail should cough up some of the cost ultimately sounds fair.
Postscript :
Steven Norris is an adviser on transport and development to London mayor Boris Johnson
KHOODEELAAR! TOLD YOU SO!
1815 Hrs GMT London Friday 20 February 2009:
KHOODEELAAR! telling it as it is, again. That every holder of office paid for and maintained by public money and with the implied legitimacy conferred on them [the said postholder concerned] by an election preceding their given abuse of the office and of the resources and of the powers, is prone to abuse their position... As Boris Johnson is indulging in .....Johnson is exhibiting the very same brazen insanity that was seen in the uncontrollable fanaticism of Ken Livingstone... When the entire mainstream media has been forced to acknowledge the truth ALBEIT reluctantly and with additional prevaricator diversions and against its own ‘grains’ [because the ‘media’ is OWNED by Big BUSINESS], that the crassly conceived Big Business scams - typified by Crossrail, London, scam - are not to be allowed to be given public support on the scale that Crossrail has been and is being given.. Looking at the ‘news’ that GOOGLE has proved in the past 10 minutes, it is clear that Boris Johnson is making sure that Crossrail is SEEN at last as the CRASS rail scam that it has been.… Boris Johnson is behaving as if he has finally [!!!] been turned into ‘bonkers Boris’ by the pullers o the strings …Whatever the details o the workings of the strings, the time may be near when the analytical word used by KHOODEELAAR:AAR! since the summer of 2004 may get the overdue recognition... and the process may be about to begin fro the scrapping of Crossrail....CRASS Rail!
[To be continued]
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KHOODEELAAR! telling it as it is, again. That every holder of office paid for and maintained by public money and with the implied legitimacy conferred on them [the said postholder concerned] by an election preceding their given abuse of the office and of the resources and of the powers, is prone to abuse their position... As Boris Johnson is indulging in .....Johnson is exhibiting the very same brazen insanity that was seen in the uncontrollable fanaticism of Ken Livingstone... When the entire mainstream media has been forced to acknowledge the truth ALBEIT reluctantly and with additional prevaricator diversions and against its own ‘grains’ [because the ‘media’ is OWNED by Big BUSINESS], that the crassly conceived Big Business scams - typified by Crossrail, London, scam - are not to be allowed to be given public support on the scale that Crossrail has been and is being given.. Looking at the ‘news’ that GOOGLE has proved in the past 10 minutes, it is clear that Boris Johnson is making sure that Crossrail is SEEN at last as the CRASS rail scam that it has been.… Boris Johnson is behaving as if he has finally [!!!] been turned into ‘bonkers Boris’ by the pullers o the strings …Whatever the details o the workings of the strings, the time may be near when the analytical word used by KHOODEELAAR:AAR! since the summer of 2004 may get the overdue recognition... and the process may be about to begin fro the scrapping of Crossrail....CRASS Rail!
[To be continued]
Fencing Training: Learning, Recreational, Competitive, Elite
Examiner.com - 28 minutes ago
They may or may not cross-train or have some kind of athletic regimen. The Learning phase is usually a 2 to 4 month one - enough time for someone to decide ...
A tragic tale of two Thamesmeads
Building Design, UK - 1 hour ago
Thamesmead needs the tube station it was promised in the 1960s, but Crossrail may rectify that. If it does, let’s hope this haunting but brave failure gets ...
On guard! Recreation debuts fencing program
Cohasset Mariner, MA - 4 hours ago
Mullarkey, a Scituate resident, readily admits he might be a little bias, but he sees fencing as the most advantageous sport in which to cross train. ...
Conservatives propose major surgery for planning regime - Planning ...
eGov monitor, UK - 8 hours ago
... be replaced by a streamlined inquiry process or a hybrid Parliamentary Bill system on the lines of the legislation used for the Crossrail project. ...
Blears calls in Ealing tower plan
Regen.net, UK - 14 hours ago
The site is adjacent to Ealing Broadway station, which is also due to be served by Crossrail. A Glenkerrin spokesman called Blears’ decision "a blow to ...
Rail link levy spread urged
Regen.net, UK - 14 hours ago
London mayor Boris Johnson should seek Crossrail contributions from sites on the line outside the city, London Councils has urged. ...
PREP GYMNASTICS: Bellingham trio looking to make a name for itself ...
Bellingham Herald, WA - 16 hours ago
Cheldelin and Gray also cross-train as cheerleaders at Bellingham and with the Northwest Silverstars, Gunnels said. Gunnels hopes that previous competition ...
Boris demands cash for Crossrail
Building Design, UK - 18 hours ago
But the London mayor has demanded that both developers — Land Securities and Irvine Sellar — make a total contribution of £2.65 million to the Crossrail ...
Boris’ brain: Sir Simon Milton interview
Building.co.uk, UK - 18 hours ago
He covers everything from the mayor’s policies on tall buildings to the funding for Crossrail to the regeneration of the suburbs – essentially Johnson’s ...
Rail safety training held in Heflin
Cleburne News, AL - 20 hours ago
... program first established in 1972 to end collisions, deaths and injuries at places were roadways cross train tracks and on railroad rights-of-way. ...