Greed and pomposity
Sometimes a political career comes naturally and gently to an end.
Sometimes a political career ends due to matters the politician cannot control.
Sometimes a political career ends because the politician makes a huge mistake and has neither the intelligence nor wit to change their course.
Everyone of them should have the to repay the claim and apologise to the electorate.
But will they? Not if this quote is anything to go by:-
But then, this is what an SNP Spokesman said:-
Sometimes a political career ends due to matters the politician cannot control.
Sometimes a political career ends because the politician makes a huge mistake and has neither the intelligence nor wit to change their course.
Fifteen members of Scottish Parliament claimed Remembrance Day wreaths on expensesA shocking headline betraying the shear unadulterated greed of the 15 concerned, and complete lack of respect to their constituents, the veterans and families of the armed forces, and to those who gave their lives in the services.
Everyone of them should have the to repay the claim and apologise to the electorate.
But will they? Not if this quote is anything to go by:-
Alasdair Allan, SNP Western Isles MSP, said it was 'not fair' to criticise his decision to claim the money on expenses, adding: 'No, I won't be returning the money.'He is in the highest 5% of earners in the UK and he doesn't think it is right to pay for a wreath. Such stupidity, arrogance and greed seems all too prevalent amongst those politicians who are caught making stupid claims - witness Anthony Steen's defence that the public were just jealous of his wealth. They forget the public service element of public service, but never forget the opportunity for personal enrichment.
But then, this is what an SNP Spokesman said:-
'Members lay wreaths in their official capacity on behalf of the Scottish Parliament,' she said.'As the Parliament supports Poppy Scotland the cost can be met from Parliament resources and it is for each elected member to determine if they wish to reclaim the cost.'
Unbelievable. Utterly unbelievable.
We are told, repeatedly, that Westminster should follow the example of Holyrood over expenses. Now you know why.
They are all taking the piss - and then putting it on expenses.
49 comments:
You are so wrong on this one Angus and have obviously forgotten your time on the Comhairle. Why are individal MSP being asked to arrange wreaths on their own when laying them on behalf of the Scottish Government? As you know, the Comhairle supplies all councillors with a wreath - certainly those that live outside Stornoway - who have to lay wreaths on behalf of the Comhairle (with the Comhairle coat of arms on them) at local war memorials. The Scottish Government should do likewise. The councillors and MSPs aren't laying the wreaths on behalf of themselves - it is on behalf of the Comahairle and Scottish Government.
Surely it depends who he was laying the wreath on behalf of?
himself? the Government? the community? the SNP?
I think thats OK, its a token of respect from the people which they are putting down on our behalf. I feel OK, in fact even better that I a tax payer put my money towards this after what I know by relatives did in the war. Think you have it wrong this time Angus.
PS its 11.00 AM again, full respect for posting all the replies, which all turn out to be against you view Angus
Surely, if you claim on expenses, and monies have truly been spent, it is up to the person approving the expense claim to advise if the expenditure has legitimate grounds for reimbursement or not. What I have issue with are claims for non existent expenditure (repaid mortgages etc) which is blatant fraud, and claims for non essential items (moat cleaning, duck islands, or even bars of Toblerone ) which is taking the piss out of the system. Both of which should have been picked up before expenses approved and dealt with accordingly. The first most probably constitutes grounds for summary dismissal (and loss of pension) in most organisations. The second should be dealt with in house, and the individuals reminded what items can be considered legitimate before resubmitting expenses claim form.
PS if all MP's were employed by the Comhairle, they would be lucky to even find an affordable hotel in London!
Hold on!
If there was nothing wrong with what has happened, then why did Alex Salmond immediately instruct all the SNP MSPs to repay the claim?
What I find most depressing and pathetic about the whole thing is that Allan knew that he was getting it back on expenses but only spent a measly £17.80 on the wreath.
He spends more than that on wine in Tesco each week.
If Angus is wrong, so too are the 115 MSPs who didn't claim for their wreaths, the Royal British Legion and everyone else who thinks it is shameful for an MSP or MP to carry out an individual act of remembrance with a wreath that he has claimed on expenses
If Angus is wrong, so too are the Royal British Legion, the Erskine Hospital, 115 MSPs who didn't put their wreaths on expenses and just about everyone else who read this story this morning.
I totally agree with you on this Angus. It just shows just how much these misers care about our Armed Forces when they cannot put their hands in their on golden lined pockets to show their support for the RBL etc.
Just another annoying little duty to have to do on a Sunday.
Mr Allan is showing his true colours as MSP for Gaelic - sorry for Western Isles.
I totally agree that Allan has got it wrong this time and his response is even more appalling.
This is the same as attending a funeral and then putting the wreath on expenses, you just don't do it, particularly when you are pulling in close to £70k per annum in a society that can only dream of earning that much.
You obviously got a flurry of local SNP supporters on this one first thing this morning. It's funny that they are all worded pretty much the same.
Anon 10:06am
No YOU are soooo wrong on this one.
Let's have a poll Angus on whether people think AA should have put this on expenses..
Not that I'm defending Alastair Allan but don't you think it's a bit pot and kettle with Alex Salmond telling him to repay the money when he was happily claiming £400 per month for food as an MP when he wasn't even working in Westminster!
"an individual act of remembrance"
Why was he acting as an individual? He was acting on behalf of the taxpayer was he not - so the taxpayer should pay.
For the record I vote LibDem - somebody has too!
For goodness sake it is the Daily Mail here, hardly a rational and impartial rag. Obviously it has an agenda to reduce debate to the lowest common denominator, mindless and thoughtless patriotism. Is that what people who died on foreign battlefields fought for?
And the mindless masses craving blood take it in hook line and sinker.This is not a scandal, an 'outrage' or 'disgust'. The world has far greater problems, but newspapers have agendas--their owners agendas.
Since when did the media have a right to put people on trial?
Alasdair Allan is supposed to represent his constituents and I'm sure the over-whelming majority of the people of the Western Isles would have paid for the wreath (or Toblerone) themselves and would be mortified at the thought of claiming expenses on a memorial tribute to the war dead. Absolutely shameful.
Alasdair Allan can well afford it on his wage. This shows how few principles these guys actually have and how unwilling they are to actually give of themselves.
Expenses are the limus test to gauge the honesty and integrity of our elected representatives and they have failed miserably.
Career politicians more interested in milking the system for their own gain than really working for their constituents. Don't vote for them.
11:07pm
Very eloquently put (particularly for 11pm on a Saturday night)
10:07pm
Since when did the media have a right to put people on trial?Who is on trial here? A trial implies that there is a case to be proven one way or another. This article is fact. Alasdair Allan hasn't denied it, in fact he thinks it is ridiculous that anyone should question his judgement. I agree that the Daily Mail is down there with the rest of the gutter press but what is stated is still fact.
Afraid he can't win on this one. Wrong to claim expenses, and also wrong to spend so little of tax payers money on the wreath - should have been much more. An extra 50 quid on a wreath would have honoured our fallen much more. Pathetic! Think it's fair to claim in this instance. The ones who have paid back just don't want the media chasing them.
To Lord Wreath: there wouldn't be any of our guys in the Erskine or other nursing homes if it wasn't for the war-mongering Labour Party! There is Iraqi and Afgan blood on all of your hands.
Well said, 10:41. And Tony "45 minutes" Blair is still out there on the lecture circuit earning close on £2,000 a minute passing on pearls of wisdom from his successful premiership, though he always neglects to mention the body count (Iraqi and British). Now that is an obscenity.
Dear 6.10 : As one of the first to reply I can tell you I am neither SNP nor partial to multi posting. You should not go through life thinking everything is a conspiracy. Lastly 11.00am is not first thing, even for a Sunday. What a lovely day, back to the garden I think.
We are not getting out of this depression anytime soon. Its going to get a lot worse for most of us. It didn't have to be this way. Greed ruins everything.
"As mass production has to be accompanied by mass consumption; mass consumption, in turn, implies a distribution of wealth -- not of existing wealth, but of wealth as it is currently produced -- to provide men with buying power equal to the amount of goods and services offered by the nation's economic machinery. Instead of achieving that kind of distribution, a giant suction pump had by 1929-30 drawn into a few hands an increasing portion of currently produced wealth. This served them as capital accumulations. But by taking purchasing power out of the hands of mass consumers, the savers denied to themselves the kind of effective demand for their products that would justify a reinvestment of their capital accumulations in new plants. In consequence, as in a poker game where the chips were concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the other fellows could stay in the game only by borrowing. When their credit ran out, the game stopped."
Marriner Eccles, FDR's Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank - 1959
In other words, the first Great Depression was caused by greed. The rich couldn't settle for reasonable pay. They had to have more and more and more. That caused a giant shift in buying power from the majority to the rich. When the majority lost their buying power, they lost their ability to support the economy. Einstein said basically the same thing in 1949.
Its even worse now. Ordinary people havn't only lost their relative buying power. They have also lost their savings, home values, pensions, and benefits. This didn't happen overnight. Its been happening gradually for the last 30 years. Meanwhile, the rich have become super incredibly rich. The richest 500 Americans are worth about two trillion dollars. More than the bottom 40% of American housholds combined. The richest 1 percent are worth about 15 trillion dollars. More than the bottom 98% of American households combined. Thats just insane. I don't care how much work for humanity the rich claim to do. Its nothing but a cover for their own greed. We don't need anymore rich people to entertain us or create jobs or make donations for charity. We need them to get reasonable about how much money and assets they keep for themselves.
Don't believe their excuse about paying more income taxes. They don't pay enough. For every tax they pay, they get an obscene profit, bailout, or kickback from our government to cover it. We had a progressive tax system that worked for over 40 years. It prevented too much wealth from accumulating at the top. In 1976, the middle 80% owned about 2/3 of America's total wealth. Reagan lowered taxes for the rich. Bush lowered them again. Now, the richest 5% own about 2/3 of America's total wealth. The lower 95% own about 1/3. America's wealth has been transfered from poor to rich again. Now, we have another depression.
Don't believe it when the rich claim to be getting poorer. Property values have gone down for everyone. Thats because of the concentration of wealth and income. When the economy slows down, property values tank. So when rich people complain about lower net worth, thats a trick. They still have the same buying power on average.
Everything that is happening with the economy is happening because too much wealth has been taken away from the majority and concentrated into the private vaults of rich people. The same ones on TV and radio telling us how much they want to help the world. Its a big lie. Just another way to promote their own business and get more of our money. Rich people don't want to help the world. They want to own it.
Now, the economy is ruined. Obama can't fix it because the rich won't let him. There will be no bailout for the people because the ones with all the money won't settle for less. They want more. Its going to get a lot worse. Say goodbye to the American dream and hello to the American nightmare.
You're suffering from Dailymailitis, Angus. Plus I see you've still got the old chip on the shoulder...
It's disgraceful alright, Angus - disgraceful that you think so little of the act of remembrance that you're willing to use it to point score in this sickening way. Alasdair Allan was - as were all the other MSPs - representing us, the taxpayers. I am not in the top 5% of earners in the country, but I fully endorse him laying the wreath in my name and using a fraction of a penny off my pay to do so.
If you're such a socialist that you think he should pay for a wreath that he's laying on your behalf, what are you doing reading the "Daily Mail"?
If it's a wreath laid on behalf of the Scottish Parliament then it would be improper for the MSPs in question to provide them. It's certainly not a question of money when we're talking about sums of 17 quid. If he was in this to rip off the tax payer then what's going on here:
http://www.hebridesnews.co.uk/allan-donates-rise-to-hospice.html
It takes a certain level of malice to turn an act such as wreath laying into some kind of scandal.
You should be ashamed Angus. The ugly thing is this has probably made you proud...
If everyone was so concerned about the dead, why are the Urras being allowed do dig up the dead by mechanical digger and dump the remains? Now that is an outrage.
Alasdair Allan ate my hamster! While walking along the beach at Vatisker! And Angus saw it all! I've just contacted the Daily Mail!
Another clanger, Angus.
I am appalled at our MSP,s stance on those who died for our country, so that we have our freedom. It shows how little he thought of them when he only spent £17 on a wreath and then claimed it back as expenses. I am almost sure if we had an Islander representing us at Holyrood this would not have been the case. The people of the Islands have always shown respect to the fallen in both World Wars and other conflicts since 1945. Lest We Forget.
stop digging guys
I see the SNP sockpuppets are out in force...
Unable to defend the indefensible, they resort to shooting the messenger.
Vote anything but Labour on 4th June.
disgraceful that you think so little of the act of remembrance that you're willing to use it to point score in this sickening way.No, what is disgraceful is that Allan thought so little of the Act of Rememberance that he spent a measly £17.40 on a wreath and then tried to claim it back on expenses.
There is no difference between this and the excesses of Labour, Tory, LibDem and SNP at Westminster.
It is simple, every politician seems to think that they are so much better than you or I.
If it's a wreath laid on behalf of the Scottish Parliament then it would be improper for the MSPs in question to provide them.The wreath is NOT laid on behalf of the Scottish Parliament. It is laid by the MSP in their role as MSP.
Thank you for acknowledging that the reclaim was improper, which explains why Allan was told to repay it, and has done so!If it was on 'behalf of the Scottish Parliament' then the Parliament would have provided the wreaths.
@ 8:54 AM
Why then did it have "Scottish Parliament" written on it?
8.54
The parliament DID provide the wreaths....
@9:01
Why then did it have "Scottish Parliament" written on it?If I put a wreath down bearing the inscription "From Buckingham Palace" it wouldn't make me the Queen would it.
@9:56 The parliament DID provide the wreaths....Looks like the apologists are out in full force.....
If the Parliament did provide the wreaths, then why was Allan claiming for them on expenses?
All this proves is that Allan is really, truly, a tight arse.
Storm in a teacup. Damn sight more trivial than this, eh?
Anon 10:37 AM. It is for his likes that these wreaths are laid.
Lest We Forget
Am I on the right page to ask after the wellbeing of one Alistair Darling NuLabour man of these parts ?
8.44; i hope you mean anything but labour or BNP
Hope Chancellor Darling hasn't been claiming on a third house in Bernera...
12:32 yes, goes without saying. I meant any sane party.
The poor old Labourites (and the odd ex-SNP member) can't get one over on the SNP at all...their desperation is evident and no wonder, looking at what's going on in Westminster. Try to deflect attention as you might, the SNP here and in Holyrood is streets ahead of Labour and Labour know it. And they're going to get blitzed on Thursday. Woohoo!
Did anyone read the article in the Times on Saturday about how inconsequential Holyrood is? How they debate and make no important decisions. One example being that they have debated aquaculture three times in recent months.
I only bring this up, as the SNP sock puppets (sorry stealing someone else's phrase but loving it) are implying that the Labour government have sent all of our soldiers off to war to be killed and that they all have blood on their hands. Whatever anyone thinks of this opinion, our country and our soldiers have done their duty for their country. Should the SNP ever get the decision making powers to do this I would like to see how they could keep the blood off their hands.
If someone were to invade Scotland I am sure that Alex Salmond would have an army ready and have a very good justification for any deaths that occur.
The point is, they will never have to make these type of decisions as Scotland will never be independent and the SNP will never rule the UK. So they find it easier to snipe from the sidelines rather than using their Holyrood powers to do something useful for Scotland.
Blame merchants are really unattractive as are wall sitters. SNP have both of these traits and it really isn't putting them in a good light. Yes you will do well on Thursday and you will do well at the next general election but please don't think that it is because anyone wants you in power it's just that they are trying to keep the current bunch out and teach them a lesson. Your days will soon be over and you will be back to the backbenches.
Ah well, I suppose the elections on Thursday and in the next year will tell their own story, eh?
12:28 Chance[llo]r Darling, surely :->
7:33 Oh, i see, we own and lived in 'iraqistan' and all these middle east countries we poked our nose into?! PS i used to vote SNP but am very disgruntled with them. I do NOT see myself voting for them in the coming election. I was delighted when labour beat the tories way back when, because i thought to myself (rather naively) at last a change of government... that did not turn out to be the case and it took me about 6-18months to realise it! I will be voting for a smaller party at the next election... but definately a sane one!
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