Re: Mysterious Black Hole in Blair's personal expenses

hummingbird wrote:
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:03:06 +0100 Stephen Glynn
<7won-t15h@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
mysteriously appeared above the parapet to say:

hummingbird wrote:
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 19:49:01 +0100 Stephen Glynn
<7won-t15h@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
mysteriously appeared above the parapet to say:

hummingbird wrote:
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 15:22:13 +0100 Stephen Glynn
<7won-t15h@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
mysteriously appeared above the parapet to say:

MM wrote:
On Sun, 09 Apr 2006 10:37:44 +0100, Stephen Glynn
<7won-t15h@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

What's improper about it?
As hummingbird says in his next post, it's sleazy. It pongs.

MM
All that's doing is providing me with a couple of synonyms for 'improper'. No one's suggesting an MP shouldn't be able to claim an allowance for the cost of renting somewhere in London, and no one's suggesting MPs' relatives shouldn't be allowed to rent out properties. If the chap's sister were to rent her flat out to one of her brother's colleagues in Parliament, no one would suggest this was some sort of fiddle because she should be letting her brother live in the flat rent-free rather than renting it out to someone else, would they?
No doubt you also believe that it's alright for Blair and NuLab to
receive large cash loans instead of donations. Nothing illegal but it
has a awful smell about it...if you can't see that I'm sorry for you.

I think Labour (and the Conservatives) were very ill-advised to accept the loans, partly because a loan potentially comes with rather more strings than does a donation -- unless you've got rock-solid repayment terms agreed beforehand -- and partly because it made them look incredibly stupid to be discovered having to circumvent a stupid piece of legislation for which they'd been responsible.

I don't quite see, though, what that's got to do with this chap renting
>from his sister. Unless you're saying that because she happens to have
a flat in London to rent out, therefore she should be forced to let her MP brother live there rent-free (which I don't think you're saying), why does it matter who her tenant is? Would it make you happier if he and another MP decided to swop flats, so he pays rent to someone else and the other MP pays rent to her?
As said, I feel sorry for you that you don't seem to have a grasp of the obvious appearance of sleaze.

I should look at things more in the way a spin doctor does, you mean?

No, you should stop that for a while and think about how the NuLab
*loans* are seen ...nothing illegal but they have a smell about them.

This issue has the same features.


And what are the similar features? AIUI, the main objection to the loans to the Labour Party are that they were set up in order to circumvent legislation (bloody stupid legislation, if you ask me, but they didn't) on donations, and they're combined with the very strong suspicion that they were made on favourable terms in return for the expectation of rewards from the government.

I don't see how Gaz's MP's renting his London accommodation from his sister falls into either of those categories. What rules do you say he's trying to circumvent? What clandestine rewards do you say she's going to get from renting to him rather than any other tenant? I'd be rather more suspicious -- and, I dare say, so would you, if you think about it -- she were giving him (or any other MP) rent-free accommodation.

As an MP for a constituency up in Cumbria, the chap obviously needs somewhere to stay in London. He gets a flat rate allowance towards this, as does every other MP, so there's no question of his being able to fiddle his expenses. I'm sorry, but while I can certainly see what you find suspicious about the loans, I genuinely don't see what you find improper in this rental arrangement. As I've suggested, presumably you wouldn't find anything to object to if he and another MP were to swop flats with similar rents, or, should he lose his seat in the next election, his successor were to take over the flat, even though this wouldn't change anyone's financial position in the slightest, so I don't see what you find suspicious about the existing arrangements.

What is it that you suspect is going on that shouldn't be?

Steve
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Mysterious Black Hole in Blairs personal expenses
    ... mysteriously appeared above the parapet to say: ... suggesting MPs' relatives shouldn't be allowed to rent out properties. ... If the chap's sister were to rent her flat out to one of her brother's ... receive large cash loans instead of donations. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: Mysterious Black Hole in Blairs personal expenses
    ... allowance for the cost of renting somewhere in London, ... suggesting MPs' relatives shouldn't be allowed to rent out properties. ... If the chap's sister were to rent her flat out to one of her brother's ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: Mysterious Black Hole in Blairs personal expenses
    ... mysteriously appeared above the parapet to say: ... suggesting MPs' relatives shouldn't be allowed to rent out properties. ... If the chap's sister were to rent her flat out to one of her brother's ... receive large cash loans instead of donations. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: Mysterious Black Hole in Blairs personal expenses
    ... As hummingbird says in his next post, ... No one's suggesting an MP shouldn't be able to claim an allowance for the cost of renting somewhere in London, and no one's suggesting MPs' relatives shouldn't be allowed to rent out properties. ... If the chap's sister were to rent her flat out to one of her brother's colleagues in Parliament, no one would suggest this was some sort of fiddle because she should be letting her brother live in the flat rent-free rather than renting it out to someone else, would they? ... the loans, partly because a loan potentially comes with rather more strings than does a donation -- unless you've got rock-solid repayment terms agreed beforehand -- and partly because it made them look incredibly stupid to be discovered having to circumvent a stupid piece of legislation for which they'd been responsible. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: Tax Return for Rented Property
    ... > the cost of the decoration works we did to get the flat ready to rent. ... the renting was only an interim thing which happened also to benefit ...
    (uk.business.accountancy)