Is this another Tory scandal brewing? (Part 1)

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Justice minister stripped of powers

Ken Clarke to take charge after Djanogly failed to declare family interest in claims management companies

The justice minister, Jonathan Djanogly, has been stripped of his responsibility to regulate firms that "ambulance chase" the public following a Guardian investigation that revealed how he and his family could profit from controversial changes to legal aid he was piloting in parliament.

Djanogly, the heir to a £300m family business, had failed to declare that his teenage children were minority shareholders in his brother-in-law's businesses – two firms that advertise claims and are part of an industry that Djanogly regulated in government.

Do you get the feeling that after each Revelation about members of this government you just have to shout NEXT

Redflag. Please don’t rise to the bait. Just keep the following Wikipedia definition in mind, and don’t let anyone drive you off the topic of 'Is there another Tory scandal brewing?':-
 
“A troll is a person who sows discord on the internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room or blog), either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.”

 

Thanks IVAN I think there could be another reason for Trolls, they know there will be pigs flying before the good people of the UK will ever vote Tory again, and they have a good idea what the Labour gov't of 2015 are going to find and do not want the TRUTH to come out.  You can rest assured Ivan as long as there is a Tory gov't the SCANDALS will keep on coming just like they did from 1979-1997.:yeahthat:

Police may investigate top Tory’s free Bradford school land deal
 
Extracts from an article by Rob Waugh and Jack Blanchard:-
 
Police have been asked to investigate a £6m land deal between a scandal-hit free school and a company owned by a senior Tory. Bradford West MP George Galloway has written to West Yorkshire police chief Mark Gilmore about the agreement struck by the Kings Science Academy to rent land from a firm owned by Tory vice chairman Alan Lewis. Lewis is also an executive patron of the school, which was praised by Michael Gove when it opened but has become mired in allegations of financial irregularity.

Galloway has highlighted the land deal in Parliament as a “clear conflict of interest”, stating Lewis’s firm is due to receive almost £6m over 20 years to lease the land on which the academy was built. Galloway’s letter to the chief constable said he has been contacted by a whistleblower raising concerns about the value attached to the land deal.

The affair appears hugely damaging to the DfE and Gove, who has championed free schools and dismissed opponents’ concerns about the DfE’s potential lack of oversight. The DfE has already been accused of a “cover-up” over its handling of the scandal now engulfing Kings, which only came to light when an internal report detailing allegations of serious fraud at the school was leaked. The DfE has admitted it did not pass the report to the authorities – instead reporting its contents “verbally” to Home Office agency Action Fraud. Action Fraud then wrongly filed an “information report”, rather than a “criminal report”, meaning police failed to take it further. Action Fraud has since apologised.
 
For the whole article:-
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/education/police-may-investigate-top-tory-s-free-bradford-school-land-deal-1-6226219

MPs’ expenses surpass pre-scandal levels as 150 give jobs to family from the Telegraph Friday 08 November 2013

Nadine Dorries, the Conservative MP, employed both her daughters during the course of the last financial year, with the recent graduates each receiving salaries of between £30,000 and £45,000.
Mrs Dorries, 56, who was suspended from the party last year over her appearance on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, was among 155 MPs employing family members, including five ministers.

Give the paper a bit of clap for not letting this go. Both sides of the house too.

However particularly amusing IMHO is the bit

Laurence Robertson, the Conservative MP for Tewkesbury, employed both his estranged wife  , Susan Robertson, and his current partner  , Anne Marie Adams. Mrs Robertson is his senior secretary and is paid between £25,000 and £29,999, while Ms Adams received between £40,000 and £44,999 last year.

Oh, it must be a great life if you don't weaken   

(Thomas) Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough, KCB, PC, DCL (8 February 1815 – 17 May 1886), whose Rules govern the conduct of Parliament, must be rotating like a chicken on the spit.

I hate to see anyone miss out on the glory  



Stratford on Avon MP Nadhim Zahawi repays expenses

"Mr Zahawi said the watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, had included claims for the previous year and the figure was nearer £4,000." Well that's all right then. Claiming only £4k instead of £6k... but hang on... doesn't over claiming last year count then?

""I am mortified by this mistake and apologise unreservedly for it. I will obviously be paying back any money that was wrongly claimed immediately."" Yes, we all hate being caught out don't we.



Let's take a vote. Anyone think any sanctions will be taken against an MP making an egregious claim for expenses? ... No I thought not

The only "crime" acknowledged by our elected representatives appears to be the one of being found out.

Bellatori wrote:I hate to see anyone miss out on the glory  



Stratford on Avon MP Nadhim Zahawi repays expenses

"Mr Zahawi said the watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, had included claims for the previous year and the figure was nearer £4,000." Well that's all right then. Claiming only £4k instead of £6k... but hang on... doesn't over claiming last year count then?

""I am mortified by this mistake and apologise unreservedly for it. I will obviously be paying back any money that was wrongly claimed immediately."" Yes, we all hate being caught out don't we.



Let's take a vote. Anyone think any sanctions will be taken against an MP making an egregious claim for expenses? ... No I thought not

Nice one bellatori the only thing I would wonder about is WILL he pay it back ?  Or like every other fraud the Tories are committing get brushed under the carpet and forgot about just in case your wondering what I am talking about I am referring to the fraud going on at the Free School King's.:yeahthat:

Ms Dorries said the breach of the rules had been "inadvertent" but she owed MPs a "full and unreserved apology".

MP Nadine Dorries apologises over registering TV fees

However, it said it believed that the MP's failure to register her financial interest as a shareholder in the Averbrook media consultancy until June 2013 was "inadvertent" rather than deliberate.

:yeahthat: 

Why have a parliamentary standards ombudsman if he is not going to actually maintain any standards  

Apparently Oops is always a sufficient explanation.

Is it reasonable to expect higher standards of honesty from our elected Representatives than we encounter every day in dealing with capitalism?

Bellatori wrote:

Ms Dorries said the breach of the rules had been "inadvertent" but she owed MPs a "full and unreserved apology".

MP Nadine Dorries apologises over registering TV fees

However, it said it believed that the MP's failure to register her financial interest as a shareholder in the Averbrook media consultancy until June 2013 was "inadvertent" rather than deliberate.

:yeahthat: 

Why have a parliamentary standards ombudsman if he is not going to actually maintain any standards  

Apparently Oops is always a sufficient explanation.

You can understand how she would forget this as it's not like her appearance on Big Brother was high profile or anything like that. I quite like her though, mainly because she's a thorn in the government's side.

oftenwrong wrote:Is it reasonable to expect higher standards of honesty from our elected Representatives than we encounter every day in dealing with capitalism?

It's reasonable to demand it in my view. Expecting it is another matter.

It was the Tories who gave us capitalism Dan Fante, when there was no such thing as socialism because it was the landed gentry who ruled the UK.:yeahthat:

Here we go again .... a capitalist Banker misbehaving. Typical Tory values

Co-op Bank ex-boss Paul Flowers 'filmed buying drugs'

How did Flowers bloom at Co-op Bank?

... but wait a minute.... Tory?

In other words, the new management of Co-op Group is concerned to reform a governance system that allowed a small number of activists in the political wing of Co-op Group to control the group's commercial activities.

  Robert Peston

Doesn't seem to matter much what party they claim to belong to does it... incompetence/greed/stupidity seems fairly well distributed.

I have an account with the Co-op due to their ethical banking policy. Silly me.

Bellatori wrote:-
Doesn't seem to matter much what party they claim to belong to does it... incompetence/greed/stupidity seems fairly well distributed

 
I couldn’t agree less.  
 
I believe about 98% of scientists accept climate change, leaving the lunatic fringe to deny it. When the BBC has a discussion on the idea and puts up one scientist from each side, it might appear to anyone watching the programme that the issue is about 50:50. Similarly, finding an example of something dodgy on one side of the political fence doesn’t mean that such practices are “fairly well distributed”. We have the most corrupt government in living memory, for example with two Tory donors getting NHS contracts worth £1.5 billion in return for £1.5 million donations. Trying to pretend that “they’re all the same” is disingenuous, especially when your evidence comes from Tory supporter Robert Peston.

Dan Fante wrote:I have an account with the Co-op due to their ethical banking policy. Silly me.

So do I, Dan. Not sure what I am going to do now. Where else is there that has an ethical standpoint. Vatican Bank?!!

This bit's still within living memory:

On 24 August 1986, the assets of the British Gas Corporation were transferred to British Gas plc, then owned entirely by the Government. In November 1986, shares in British Gas plc were offered for sale on the stockmarket and trading in British Gas shares commenced on 8th December 1986.

Ever since then, City spivs have had their fingers inside the wallet of every British consumer.

[quote="IvanI couldn’t agree less.  [/quote]Your Labour Party, one might almost say almost religious, fervour would never allow you to see both sides. Do you remember Poulson & T Dan Smith?  How about Tony Blair and Capita? Tony's cronies was a notorious chant throughout his era. They ALL do it. This government is no more corrupt than most (policy wise is a different issue) which is to say it is generally pretty venal but would a forensic analysis of it compared to others show it is much worse? I doubt it. It is getting a mauling because of the press royal charter which they do not like.

As for Robert Peston, I thought his article was pretty balanced all things considered AND the point he was making, a very valid one, was that the body supposed to oversee such directorship appointments seemed to be very lackadaisical.

I do find it amusing that the Tories think the BBC is full of left-wing sycophants and labour supporters such as yourself want to tar it with a Tory brush. Personally I go by the content. I read the Telegraph for the cricket, the Mail for the personal financial information and the Guardian for the politics.

T. Dan Smith by the way The money spent on the Civic Centre etc. on his watch.
And honestly, the unbalanced notion amongst some on here that the Tories are evil whilst Labour politicians are somehow unimpeachable is the sort of shit that gives the Left a bad name. In Newcastle Labour councillors down the years have often been synonymous with corruption. Not helped by the fact that (until they lost the control of the council to the Lib Dems a few years back) they assumed they'd be in power no matter what they did with the budget, etc.

Bellatori wrote:-
I do find it amusing that the Tories think the BBC is full of left-wing sycophants and labour supporters such as yourself want to tar it with a Tory brush. Personally I go by the content. I read the Telegraph for the cricket, the Mail for the personal financial information and the Guardian for the politics.

 
Bellatori I agree its the biggest laugh ever to suggest the the BBC is full of left-wingers, I do not know what shows on the BBC they are watching but they cannot be the same ones as myself Daily politics both presenters are right-wingers and they make it very clear exactly they are right-wingers, QT is another one DD is an Ex-Bullingdon boy and if he sees the audience saying what he thinks is against the Tory party they are cut off even BBC news 24 is not missed out.:yeahthat:

Redflag wrote:Bellatori I agree ...

I seriously doubt it. I think Dan got it right above as did I. It is six of one and half a dozen of the other but those who support Labour, with that almost religious fervour, cannot see beyond the need to abuse the Tories. If you stick to policy then its a no brainer.

Dan Fante wrote:T. Dan Smith by the way :lol:The money spent on the Civic Centre etc. on his watch.
And honestly, the unbalanced notion amongst some on here that the Tories are evil whilst Labour politicians are somehow unimpeachable is the sort of shit that gives the Left a bad name. In Newcastle Labour councillors down the years have often been synonymous with corruption. Not helped by the fact that (until they lost the control of the council to the Lib Dems a few years back) they assumed they'd be in power no matter what they did with the budget, etc.

True, Dan, but 'true' Labour supporters will do a three wise monkeys rather than admit there is an issue with 'their' politicians.

oftenwrong wrote:This bit's still within living memory:

On 24 August 1986, the assets of the British Gas Corporation were transferred to British Gas plc, then owned entirely by the Government. In November 1986, shares in British Gas plc were offered for sale on the stockmarket and trading in British Gas shares commenced on 8th December 1986.

Ever since then, City spivs have had their fingers inside the wallet of every British consumer.  

Absolutely... and it sucks. Are we going to see it re-nationalised I wonder? I hesitate to mention Atlee here. Of course career politicians, that is those that have never had a real job in their life, need big business so that they can have a nice fat non-executive directorship to retire to if the political career goes belly up. That rather inhibits such strategies.

Ed Miliband put the Coalition onto its back foot with his attack on Energy Charges.

Logically, to follow through, the Socialist manifesto prior to a General Election should grasp the nettle of re-nationalisation.

Shit or bust!

oftenwrong wrote:Ed Miliband put the Coalition onto its back foot with his attack on Energy Charges.

Logically, to follow through, the Socialist manifesto prior to a General Election should grasp the nettle of re-nationalisation.

Shit or bust!

There's absolutely no way on that'll happen. Even if there was the will for it amongst the Labour Party they'd know fine well that they couldn't afford to do it if they got into power. And it would be Michael Foot and 1983 all over again. The Tories would absolutely lap it up.

Rich and Poor. There are many more of the latter than there are of the former. If democracy means government by the majority then Public Ownership of essential services should be a mere formality.

I'm not talking about what I'd like to see happen, rather what will (or to be more exact won't) happen. The latter makes the former rather moot anyway.

Dan Fante wrote:I'm not talking about what I'd like to see happen, rather what will (or to be more exact won't) happen. The latter makes the former rather moot anyway.

Why pay the market price? Calculate the profit they have made over the years, adjust for inflation so it is at today's figures and then subtract that from the value of the shares which will have crashed once you announce that they will be nationalised. Works for me...  

Bellatori wrote:-
Your Labour Party, one might almost say almost religious, fervour would never allow you to see both sides.

 
There isn’t a ‘religious’ bone in my body. I don’t believe any of the fairy stories about a virgin birth, a resurrection, or someone flying to heaven on a winged horse, because there isn’t a shred of evidence to support them. Like Richard Dawkins, I only believe what can be proved. For that reason, I take exception to easy and lazy remarks such as “six of one and half a dozen of the other”. Where’s the evidence which proves that for every case of malpractice involving a Tory, there’s also one for Labour?  In any case, how could you quantify examples of corruption, when clearly some instances are far more serious than others?
 
I don’t think everyone in the Labour Party, or any other organisation, behaves impeccably and I’ve never said anything to suggest as much. I also don’t think that anyone else on this forum reckons that Labour is ‘perfect’ (or ‘divine’, as you seem to be suggesting). I’m well aware that there is much corruption in local government, and I’ve long suspected that some councillors in solid Labour towns would happily be Tory councillors in a staunch Tory town, and vice versa, and I could probably name a few. But you have to ask, which councillors are more likely to be outsourcing municipal functions to private firms - bringing with it the opportunity of nice juicy backhanders – Labour or Tory ones?
 
Perhaps it would help if I give you the names of some of the people I follow on Twitter, none of whom is in the Labour Party – Natalie Bennett, Tim Farron, Andrew George, Caroline Lucas, Tommy Sheridan, Salma Yaqoob. (Bennett, George and Sheridan also follow me.) At least one of my friends on Twitter is a member of the TUSC. One of the aims of this forum has always been to promote left unity, since I consider it a tragedy that the natural-left majority in this country is so fragmented (and often too disillusioned or too ‘purist’ to vote) that it allows Tory nightmares like the current one to happen. At the end of the day, I’m a pragmatist; I have a lot of sympathy with the Green Party, but I’m realistic enough to know that only Labour can remove this government.

The East Coast railway line is a, perhaps surprising, good advertisement for Nationalisation. The privatised company gave the contract back to Government because they (National Express) couldn't make it pay.

The current public-sector business is going from strength to strength, presenting keen competition to the short-haul airlines. The Coalition now want to re-privatise the East Coast line ASAP for ideological reasons, but this looks like a cause which the Labour Party could do worse than adopt.

Bellatori wrote:

Dan Fante wrote:I have an account with the Co-op due to their ethical banking policy. Silly me.

So do I, Dan. Not sure what I am going to do now. Where else is there that has an ethical standpoint. Vatican Bank?!!

 
I would like to think that people that live in glass houses should not throw stones as the saying goes, what am I talking about todays PMQs Cameron talking about the Labour party's ties to the Co-op bank but not saying anything about the Hedge funds that now own 70% of it, no wonder Cameron is not saying anything about that, it's the hedge funds that pour money into Tory party funds, but the minute he finds out the Unions have made a donation to the Labour party all hell breaks loose.
 
So all this boils down to its OK for the Tories to take donations or give dinners in No10 or chequers and charge £250,000 per diner with a policy change for dessert, Lord Beecrofts' policy Hire Or Fire at will is just one, most recently treasury minister charging the taxpayer for the electricity not just for his second home but to keep his business in electricity also.
 
I am a Labour party member and voter but do know my party is not without making mistakes and has done so on several occasions, but ask a right winger to admit the Tory party mistakes they never happen   I can still remember the sex scandal and mad cow desease scandal in the Thatcher gov't and this shower are hell bent with keeping up with the last Tory gov't. Cameron will not find out just how much the majority of  people of the UK hate him and his party for the nastiness he has put them through in this term of gov't, but come May 2015 he will find out in the general election in 2015, try as he may to blacken the name of the Labour party the people are not stupid and will not forget what he has inflicted on them and their families.:yeahthat:

If "they're all the same", perhaps someone can remind me when the Labour Party had a chairman who behaved like this?  
 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BZi2w0AIQAEn5Up.jpg

Bellatori. I’m not really sure what the point was of dragging up Poulson from ancient history, when Tory home secretary Reginald Maudling and Bournemouth’s Tory MP John Cordle were up to their ears in the scandal. As for “Tony’s cronies” being “a notorious chant throughout his era”, well it would be, wouldn’t it? How nice and glib (like “Red Ed”), but a chant hardly constitutes evidence of very much. We have 23 pages of stories about Tory scandals on this thread. We get reports of blatant bribery and corruption almost on a daily basis under this regime, and the last Tory government under John Major will only be remembered for endemic sleaze, utter incompetence and ‘Black Wednesday’. Why Mrs Windsor decided to give that useless oaf a knighthood is beyond comprehension, but that’s another story.
 
What I found significant was that the BBC Radio 4 PM programme at 5pm yesterday (Tuesday) led with the Co-op story, and when I turned it off ten minutes later it was still being given airtime. Yet when I turned on Channel 4 News at 7pm, the lead story was the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Beirut, which caused significant loss of life and was arguably much more important. The BBC can give so much prominence to a story about the Co-op bank, no doubt because it's perceived as detrimental to Labour, yet it hardly covered the passage of the Health and Social Care Act last year.
 
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourbeeb/oliver-huitson/how-bbc-betrayed-nhs-exclusive-report-on-two-years-of-censorship-and-distorti
 
The BBC has a duty to be impartial yet it’s clearly biased to the right these days, I won’t hear otherwise. Hardly surprising when the chair of the BBC Trust is someone who still takes the Tory whip in the House of Lords. Patten also has extensive interests in private healthcare, which might explain the virtual news blackout when the Tories were getting their legislation to privatise the NHS through Parliament. If you want to discuss the BBC in more detail, please do so here:-
 
https://cuttingedge2.forumotion.co.uk/t193-the-gradual-destruction-and-right-wing-bias-of-the-bbc

Ivan the Tories never commit fraud it is always the Labour party that does that, but in todays papers a report that the Tories sold our Royal Mail on the advice of their friends in the City of London at the price of 330p per share, then proceeded to buy more than 800,000 shares for £1.5Million which are now worth £4.5Million so I hope the Labour party do re-nationalize our Royal Mail and tell the likes of Lazard and their ilk to EFF off if they come looking for COMPO.

The common perception of MPs is not always either accurate or fair, but might any particular Party be more readily have been associated in the Public's mind with a suspicion of harboring members who are in Parliament mainly for the money?

Redflag wrote:Ivan the Tories never commit fraud it is always the Labour party that does that,

Except Bellatori isn't suggesting that at all, is he? He was saying you can't lay political corruption in the UK at the door of any one party because they've all been guilty of it.

Ivan wrote:If "they're all the same", perhaps someone can remind me when the Labour Party had a chairman who behaved like this?  

I can remember the PM before last allowing F1 to be exempt from the ban on tobacco advertising purely because the people running it were donating a large amount of cash to the Labour party.

Dan Fante wrote:

Redflag wrote:Ivan the Tories never commit fraud it is always the Labour party that does that,

Except Bellatori isn't suggesting that at all, is he? He was saying you can't lay political corruption in the UK at the door of any one party because they've all been guilty of it.

How come bellatori only points his finger at the Labour party Dan, if he was not so biased there is as much fraud in the Tory party as any other party that is all my post was saying.:yeahthat: 

Redflag wrote:How come bellatori only points his finger at the Labour party Dan, if he was not so biased there is as much fraud in the Tory party as any other party that is all my post was saying.:yeahthat: 

 
Seems to me it's usually is response to suggestions that it's only the Tories who do it, which evidently is not the case.

On the other hand, the thread title is ' Is this another TORY scandal brewing?' so maybe a focus on Tory wrongdoing is implied for this discussion.
Could be there's another topic opening up - the general corruption of the political process - also worth discussing, but maybe not here?

In fact, there is a thread titled 'Taking sides - the dividing lines of British politics' which is currently moribund and could comfortably accommodate this discussion.

Sorry if that sounds a bit OCDC