Westminster Expenses : They work for you, are paid for by you, have possibly stolen from you, but they feel they are not accountable to you

Westminster publishes MPs expenses online with most details blanked out. The House of Commons has finally published MPs expenses online, however many of the details have been blanked out, because while we as taxpayers are paying MPs salaries and their expenses, we are it seems not entitled to see what we are paying for, or by the looks of it, any returns the country actually gains by allowing politicians to claim for all & sundry from us, the taxpayer.

An MP’s British Telecom reminder blacked out – would you pay a bill if it landed through your letterbox in this state ?. While members of the House of Commons seemingly can get anything & everything paid for by the taxpayer, from mortgage interest, to second homes allowances, to telephone bills to the removal of moss from their umpteenth house, or duck houses and repairs to swimming pool boilers .. the ones paying it – us, are not entitled to see exactly where the money is going and what the justification is for their huge expenses to the country, particularly in these crushing financial times.

For a couple of samples of today’s publication of expenses from Westminster, via Freedom of Information (in other words, the blacked out version, as opposed to the Telegraph ‘warts and all’ version) we see among the Scottish contingent, Alex Salmond claiming for mortgage expenses and a rather costly envelope folder, as well as curtains & bedding .. with Scottish Conservative MP David Mundell keeping the First Minister company on mortgage expenses, which I'm sure probably most of the country would like to join in with, having mortgages, bedding, curtains, food, and letter folder contraptions paid for out of thin air out of other people's taxes & hard work.

A sample of First Minister Alex Salmond’s Westminster Expenses as an MP :

A sample of South of Scotland MP David Mundell’s Westminster expenses :

Virtually all the documents have blacked out parts, leading one to conclude democracy, transparency and accountability have most definitely been blacked out in the entire country. I wonder where politicians learned that little trick from ? It surely couldn’t be the legal profession, could it ? … and lets not forget Kenny MacAskill, Scotland’s Justice Secretary is busy trying to keep the Law Society of Scotland exempt from Freedom of Information laws, just in case we begin to find out many of the dirty secrets of Scotland’s less than honest legal profession : MacAskill’s ‘no intention to include Law Society in FOI review’ allows lawyers to keep scandals & criminal records hidden from public scrutiny

If it had not been for the Telegraph newspaper, we would have been none the wiser on crooked politicians expenses claims. Exposing this organised ‘thieving’ from the country of course, fell to the Telegraph newspaper, rather than Freedom of Information legislation, because as we now see in today’s release of expenses information from Westminster, it would not be possible to see who had been flipping homes, and who was claiming what for which property. It is therefore clear that FOI legislation will have to change because it is being used to deceive rather than empower, just as we have seen the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission use FOI to cover up scandalous workings within its increasingly bizarre operations of allegedly regulating the Scottish legal profession.

I reported some rather secretive goings on at the SLCC where similar blacked out documents were issued to hide controversial information here : FOI disclosures censored to law journalists as MacAskill’s legal complaints commission prefers secrecy to public accountability

MSP David McLetchie was among those politicians caught out at Holyrood claiming thousands for expenses. MSPs might like to think they are whiter than their Westminster counterparts, but as we know here in Scotland, that is most certainly not the case. While MSPs expenses are now published online, again, it took pressure from newspaper investigations such as those in the Sunday Herald to force the changes at Holyrood which Westminster will now have to go through.

You can read more about MSPs expenses milking in an earlier article, here : First Minister Alex Salmond admits he's not 'whiter than white' over Westminster expenses scandal as questions arise over £800 food allowance claims

If you want to find out more about your own MP’s expenses at Westminster (and there is a lot to find out !), click the following link which leads to the BBC News website :

MPs' expenses: Find your MP

and the main story from BBC News :

MPs' expenses made public online

The expenses claims of every MP for the past four years have been published, but with some key details blacked out.

Commons authorities have published the details after a long-running Freedom of Information battle.

The addresses that claims relate to - and correspondence - have been removed on privacy and security grounds.

This means it is not possible to see if MPs "flipped" second homes - a key part of the Daily Telegraph's revelations from its leaked version of the data.

MPs have said some details, like addresses and travel patterns, have to be withheld for security reasons .

But other details have been removed in the official version such as Prime Minister Gordon Brown's claims for his Sky television subscription - despite the fact it was published last year, also under the Freedom of Information Act.

The uncensored details obtained by the Daily Telegraph have led to weeks of revelations and a slew of resignations from MPs.

On Wednesday Treasury minister Kitty Ussher stepped down amid reports that she changed the designation of her constituency home to avoid capital gains tax.

Ms Ussher said she acted within the rules but wanted to protect the government from further embarrassment amid public anger about expenses.

The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said that if the full uncensored claims had not been leaked to the Telegraph, then MPs like Miss Ussher would still be in their jobs.

Among Daily Telegraph revelations that do not appear in the blacked out versions of MPs' receipts are:

• Andrew MacKay - From the official receipts it would not have been possible to know the Tory MP claimed for a second home without having a main constituency home.
  
• Margaret Moran - The Labour MP who claimed £22,000 for dry rot on her second home. The receipts do not show her second home was in Southampton -100 miles from her Luton constituency.
  
• Sir Peter Viggers - Tory MP who tried to claim £1,645 for a "duck island", the official receipts show no evidence of the unsuccessful claim.
  
• Hazel Blears - The former Labour minister claimed second home expenses for three different properties in a single year but the redacted receipts do not show this as addresses are blacked out.

Heather Brooke, one of the campaigners who brought the Freedom of Information case, told the BBC the official publication was a "substandard version".

She pointed out the High Court had ordered that second home addresses be published - MPs rejected this in a later Commons vote, arguing it would jeopardise their security.

"It's the only way to police effectively whether there is a second home and whether the mortgage exists whether it's been paid off or not and they are still claiming. It's really the only way we can hold them to account on that second home allowance."

'Seismic changes'

She said the security argument had been "totally discredited" adding: "I can see that avoiding embarrassment has been the key motivating factor of what's been deleted."

And Maurice Frankel, of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, also said the official version was a "very poor substitute": "The mood of the House of Commons was that they did not want any of this information to be published and, failing that, as little as possible."

But cabinet minister Hilary Benn told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The argument for keeping bank details, phone numbers and addresses confidential I think is a fair one."

But he said the system needed to change: "That's why we've seen seismic changes, that's why Parliament has already taken steps to alter the rules why Christopher Kelly's committee will look at what the new system will be."

He added the problems were the result of self regulation - now expenses would be audited independently.

For the Conservatives, shadow Commons leader Alan Duncan said: "I think the black ink is justified where it is things like ex-directory phone numbers ... and personal details and bank accounts."

He said changes had been made to ensure MPs could not "play around with the second home address in order to extract as much money as possible out of the system".

Exclusions

But he said "at the very least" addresses should be properly audited.

"Whether the exact address should be put up which would allow people to walk up your front drive I think is a grey area - but the verification of the house and the consistency of the house that is registered is important."

More than a dozen MPs have said they plan to stand down since the furore over expenses began and many have had to repay money - more than £300,000 has been repaid.

Claims made by all 646 MPs under three different allowances since 2004 have been published alphabetically on the Parliament website with thousands of receipts made available in a series of PDF files.

The Telegraph's reports focused largely on the additional costs allowance, designed to cover costs associated with second homes.

WITHIN THE RULES

£24,000-a-year Additional Costs Allowance, which covers the running of MPs' second homes

£22,193-a-year Incidental Expenses Provision, which pays for running an office

£10,400-a-year Communications Allowance, which funds websites, newsletters, stationery and postage

The paper highlighted the practice of "flipping" - by which some MPs switched the designation of their homes and claimed allowances for several properties over the four year period and other claims that were within the rules - but questionable.

Last year, the Commons agreed to blank out certain information considered sensitive including addresses and all communications with the Fees Office. MPs have been able to suggest further exclusions.

Other information published on Thursday includes the incidental expenses provision for office costs and the communications allowance - Parliament had been ordered to publish them by the High Court.

Labour has referred MPs accused of making questionable claims to an internal disciplinary panel, which has barred five MPs from standing at the next election.

The Tories have asked all its MPs to submit their claims to an internal panel for scrutiny, with a handful of MPs either being forced to stand down or choosing to retire.

The furore has led to interim changes to the second homes allowance while the Committee of Standards in Public Life is holding an inquiry into expenses and will recommend changes to allowances rules.

Gordon Brown has said oversight of MPs expenses must be handed over to an external regulator as part of a root and branch reform of Parliament.

The Daily Telegraph's assistant editor Andrew Pierce told the BBC they would publish the entire list of claims submitted by the cabinet on Friday and every MP's expenses on Saturday - to allow people to draw their own conclusions about what had been "censored".

"I suspect it could be that more MPs will be considering their position and maybe their party leaders will be considering whether they are really fit to be an MP," he said.

First Minister Alex Salmond admits he's not 'whiter than white' over Westminster expenses scandal as questions arise over £800 food allowance claims

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond blamed expensive food allowance claims on William Wallace events. Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond who is also an MP at Westminster, been sucked into the expenses scandal at the House of Commons in London, with revelations Mr Salmond had claimed £800 for food expenses for two months, while the Parliament was actually in summer recess.

Mr Salmond, speaking on BBC radio last week, did not give specifics to callers on his expenses claims, choosing to blame attending William Wallace commemoration events as one of the reasons for the large food claims. Mr Salmond continued, saying he was "quite happy to go before an independent audit" but admitted no one including himself could claim they were "whiter than white" in the expenses scandal.

First Minister Alex Salmond on £800 food claims admits "I'm not whiter than white" in expenses scandal.

The SNP's Nigel Don embarked on a series of property deals to get Holyrood to pay his mortgage. While the First Minister claimed on BBC Radio that no one within the SNP had been 'house flipping' to claim thousands of pounds from the taxpayer on second homes, recent revelations over Nigel Don's property deals to secure £688 a month from the taxpayer to pay his mortgage, despite receiving a salary of £55,381. It is worth noting that Mr Don is also Parliamentary assistant to Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, and is also a member of Holyrood’s Petitions Committee, where recently Mr Don’s remarks on an access to justice petition ‘constituted disinformation’ as some pointed out at the time.

I wrote about Mr Don’s mortgage arrangements and work on the Petitions Committee in an earlier article here : Influencing Justice reforms in Scotland worth ‘price of a mortgage allowance’ as MacAskill's ministerial aide gets £688 a month to fund capital flat

Christine Grahame, the SNP’s MSP for South Scotland claimed a staggering £26,465 for ‘stationery’. Another example of huge expenses claims at Holyrood surfaced recently with revelations the SNP’s Christine Grahame claimed a staggering £26,465 for postage and stationery, while other politicians from the Tories and Liberal Democrats representing the same area claimed ‘significantly less’ sums. You can read more about MSPs stationery claims here : Scottish Parliament : Christine Grahame’s £26k stationery expenses claim on 'consultations'

Currently, up to 28 MSPs at the Scottish Parliament, 12 of that number being SNP MSPs and 6 of those being Cabinet Ministers in the Scottish Government, including the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, John Swinney, are claiming mortgage interest payments of up to £1000 a month from the Scottish taxpayer to pay for their second homes in Edinburgh. This state of affairs could hardly be described as being ‘whiter than white’ – Scottish MSPs collectively claiming millions of pounds from the taxpayer in expenses while themselves claiming they are a model for transparency & accountability compared to their colleagues caught up in the Westminster expenses scandal.

You can read more about the Scottish Parliament’s own expenses milking scandal here : An extra £2m for MSPs at Holyrood while Westminster’s reputation withers in expenses scandal

Many MSPs have ensured they have not been outdone by their Westminster counterparts in expenses claims, in examples I have previously covered here : Scottish MSPs get in on the act of expenses milking too

Ex Tory leader & lawyer David McLetchie was brought down over huge taxi expenses claims. The Scottish Conservatives, who have raised the issue of the First Minister’s food expenses, have themselves suffered expenses scandals, which led to the resignation of David McLetchie as the Scottish Conservative Party leader, after revelations he claimed more than £11,500 for taxi journeys ‘into the unknown’, some of the destinations being revealed later as his law office at Tods Murray, and a few trips to Morningside …. You can read more of the McLetchie scandal here : McLetchie taxi details revealed

It is also worth noting that while the Liberal Democrats in England have been told to pay back any Capital Gains Tax on profits made by selling properties funded by taxpayers, the Scottish end of the party, seems to have a different policy for its members, as has been covered in the media here : LibDems leader Tavish Scott refuses to reveal capital gains tax payments on property profits

Lets also not forget that Scottish politicians were also recently caught for even claiming wreaths from the taxpayer, reported last month here : Scottish Parliament MSPs 'as crooked Westminster' claimed expenses for funeral wreaths

What is so disgusting to me, is that while there are people including children literally begging for cancer or other medical treatments to their local NHS Trusts throughout the country, only to be told there is either no money to pay for it, or that they are in the wrong postcode, politicians from all political parties, including the SNP are able to basically claim for what they want. A thoroughly disgusting situation which no honest decent person can defend.

How could a politician, already being paid over £70,000 plus, justify they deserve £800 for food, or £14,000 to clean moss off the front of their house, while, say, a 14 year old child cannot get a life saving course of medication simply because they live in the wrong area or their own health board has run out of money. That HAS to be an affront to humanity, politicians putting money and self gain before the lives of constituents while having such a huge salary for allegedly representing our interests.

Indeed the caller in the radio show who questioned Mr Salmond on his food expenss may well be right when he said “All you politicians are in it to line your own pockets”.That much is true – they certainly do, but it must now stop, and we the electorate must hold all politicians to account for their actions of lining their own pockets, no matter which party they are from.

The Sunday Herald reports :

Fresh challenge to Salmond over London meals claims

By Tom Gordon, Scottish Political Editor

ALEX SALMOND is facing fresh accusations over his expenses as an MP, after the Conservatives proved he was out of London for several weeks during the whole period for which he submitted maximum claims for meals from the House of Commons.

The first minister claimed the monthly £400 maximum for both August and September 2005, despite Westminster being in summer recess.

Salmond has repeatedly refused to publish his diaries for the months, dismissing suggestions the claims were unjustified as "laughable".

Last week, he told a BBC Radio Scotland phone-in: "I was in London in recess in 2005. MPs often go to London. They were all legitimate Parliamentary claims."

But the Scottish Tories last night produced a list culled from SNP press releases and newspapers showing Salmond was in Scotland on at least 22 of the 61 days in question. His eight August engagements included Robin Cook's funeral, a cricket match in Edinburgh, a gala in Rhynie, an art exhibition in Banff, and a constituent's 100th birthday in Portsoy.

The following month he was in Scotland for at least a fortnight, campaigning in the Livingston and Cathcart by-elections, and attending the SNP conference in Aviemore.

Salmond's spokesman said the first minister had never stated he was in London all the time, and suggested some of the claims might refer to days when parliament was sitting.

Besides claiming £400 for food in August and September, Salmond also claimed the maximum for six other months in 2005-06, a total of £3200. He also claimed £1751 for food in 2007-08, when he was first minister, despite voting on only six days in the Commons.

Annabel Goldie, the Scots Tory leader, last night wrote to Salmond urging him to publish his diaries. She said: "I am asking him to be open and transparent with the taxpayers about his Westminster expenses. He claimed the maximum food allowance of £800 for August and September 2005, but there are doubts over how much time he actually spent in London during that period that would justify such a large claim.

"I hope for the sake of the Scottish Parliament he takes this opportunity to clear up any lingering doubt."

Salmond has been the MP for Banff and Buchan since 1987 and is also the MSP for Gordon.

The continuing row over his Commons expenses comes as a fresh review of the MSP expenses system begins at Holyrood.

Sir Neil McIntosh is to examine whether "key elements of the scheme could be expected to continue to command public confidence".

Although praised as more transparent than Westminster, the Holyrood scheme still allows MSPs to keep all profit from the sale of second homes funded by the taxpayer.

Last month, the Sunday Herald revealed 28 MSPs currently claiming mortgage interest would make around £2 million profit if they sold up.

A Holyrood source said the McIntosh review, which will report by December, was aimed squarely at closing the second homes loophole. Tavish Scott, the Scottish LibDems leader, who would make a £120,000 profit on his second home, is under fresh attack over "despicable" expense claims by his MSPs.

Peter Nield, a LibDem councillor in Angus, resigned from the party in disgust at Scott's failure to discipline four LibDems who claimed for Remembrance Day poppy wreaths.

Although all agreed to repay the money after the claims were publicised, Nield said that was "irrelevant".

Now sitting as an independent, he said of Scott: "When a party leader is so out of touch with society he does nothing to reprimand those responsible, it is a step too far for me. It is despicable MSPs on good salaries and generous expenses claim back Remembrance Day poppies as expenses."

A LibDem spokesman described Nield's decision as "disappointing".

In a statement, Salmond said he was "entirely confident" about his expenses. "I was in London in both August and September, securing an unfurnished rented flat and other engagements, and during that period also paid bills from the Commons refreshment department incurred during the parliamentary session."

***

Council expenses cost taxpayer £3m Argyll and Bute Scotland's most expensive authority By Tom Gordon, Scottish Political Editor

SCOTLAND'S councillors claimed more than £3 million in expenses last year on top of £22.4m in salaries, according to new official figures. In recent days, all 32 local authorities were forced by law to publish councillors' salaries and expenses for 2008-09, showing spending on travel, accommodation, meals, phones and IT.

Analysis by the Sunday Herald shows that the average expenses claimed per councillor ranged from £325 in the country's smallest authority, Clackmannanshire, to £6004 per head in the largest, Argyll and Bute. The Scottish average was £2486.

Under a complicated remuneration formula, all 1222 councillors earned a basic salary of at least £15,000, with more for those in bigger councils and those with special responsibilities, such as committee chairs, and provosts.

The most expensive council in terms of salaries was the City of Edinburgh, with its 58 members taking home an average £21,079 in pay.

The least expensive was Moray, with its 26 members earning an average salary of £17,314. The average across the country was £18,351.

Overall, the most expensive council, including salaries and expenses, was Argyll and Bute, run by a coalition of Independents and the SNP. Its 36 councillors cost an average of £24,088. With 25 inhabited islands covering the largest geographical area of any council, their expense claims included £152,974 on mileage and £10,703 on ferry fares.

The least expensive was Labour-run Inverclyde, whose 20 members each cost £18,128 overall. Across Scotland, the average councillor cost £20,837.

Despite outnumbering them 10 to one, the councillors expense claims came to less than a third of those made by MSPs.

The highest expenses claim was made by the SNP's Donald Manford, chairman of the transportation committee in the Western Isles, whose £20,081 claim was larger than his £17,819 salary - it included £11,740 in travel and £5300 in subsistence claims.

In contrast, several dozen councillors around the country claimed no expenses at all.

Argyll and Bute said its unique geography contributed to high costs. A spokeswoman said: "We have very strict controls on what can be claimed as expenses, and in what circumstances claims can be authorised.

"Receipts are required not only for subsistence or accommodation claims, but also for fuel ...

"Councillor remuneration is fixed by the government by statutory order, not by councils themselves. Mileage rate is also fixed by government."

Robert McGill, the deputy leader of Labour-run Clackmannanshire council, said: "We are looking to offer value for money to our constituents. It's important that local people trust their council and the expenses are all itemised and accounted for."

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the umbrella body which represents all of the country's 32 councils, said: "Scotland's democratically elected councillors offer extremely good value for money.

"Councils put a real value on the public pound and therefore operate extremely well controlled systems around expenses for councillors.

"All expenditure rightly needs to be proven and would include things like the cost of mobile phone calls, IT and the sort of other businesslike necessities being a democratically elected member committed to representing communities entails."

'Self regulation' system which destroyed Westminster reputation must now end for all professions, industry & public services

Westminster Parliament used self regulation for decades to protect members unacceptable conduct on expenses. SELF REGULATION, the infamous liars charter which many professions and public services use to protect themselves against complaints from the general public, and even the law itself, is to end at Westminster, according to the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaks about the end of self regulation at Westminster after politicians from all parties were caught looting taxpayers money for personal expenses.

Conservative leader David Cameron also speaks about the end of self regulation at Westminster.

Yes, self regulation must now be ended in the UK political system, as it had utterly destroyed the public's faith & trust in the Westminster Parliament.

However, self regulation as we all know is a popular facility which many professions & industries and public services within the UK also use to protect themselves against public complaints of bad conduct, poor service, lack of honesty, theft & embezzlement of client & public funds, and in the case of Doctors, even negligent medical decisions which lead to the deaths of patients.

A roll call of self regulation and how it has affected all our lives :

Self regulation of bankers ensured lack of independent scrutiny of Sir Fred Goodwin's actions at Royal Bank of Scotland. Self regulation of the Banking & Finance sector has cost the UK dearly, and virtually brought public finances to the brink of bankruptcy, as bankers such as Sir Fred Goodwin's over zealous takeovers while in charge of the Royal Bank of Scotland have plunged the UK Banking sector into collapse and worldwide disrepute.

Doctors are self regulated by the General Medial Council, where complaints get less than a fair hearing according to many patients. If you have ever tried to complain against a Doctor, or medical facility such as a hospital, you will find that self regulation plays an extensive part in ensuring patients complaints are kept within the medical profession, and never really achieve a fair hearing. For instance, many medical decisions which could be called negligent, resulting in the deaths of patients, for example, either through lack of treatment or administering of the wrong medicine, are also covered up by self regulation.

Just look how self regulation of the UK medical profession has protected those who allowed the use of contaminated blood products which infected many haemophiliacs with Hepatitis C and even HIV infections, killing many and leaving thousands suffering from incurable diseases. I have reported on those matters here : Scottish blood infections inquiry will be 'another whitewash' as documents expected to be withheld to cover up public liability

Former Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie lied over taxi expenses & journeys. Scottish Parliament has its own share of expenses scandals and self regulation has seen that no MSPs get prosecuted. Our dearly beloved Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, which some have been holding up as a model of expenses reform against the recent scandals at Westminster, has also had its fair share of expenses fiddling, with MSPs milking their expenses accounts to pay off mortgages, non existent travel, and even taxi fares.

No prosecutions or de-selections of MSPs have ever taken place at Holyrood despite all the expenses fiddling there, because of course, self regulation has allowed the Parliament to keep decisions on punishment and standards to itself. You can read some of my earlier articles on expenses scandals in Scottish politics, here: Scottish Parliament expenses scandals

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission was an attempt at independent regulation but was 'taken over’ by legal profession before it even existed. Despite attempts to create an independent regulator of the legal profession in Scotland by the previous Scottish Executive, the current Scottish Government stood by and allowed the legal profession to take over the 'independent' Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, ensuring once again, that 'virtual self regulation', as some at the Law Society of Scotland now call the SLCC remains the order of the day for complaints against solicitors in Scotland, and that even today, complaints by the public against crooked lawyers do not get a fair hearing, because too many lawyers and Law Society members were parachuted into the 'independent' SLCC via deals between the Law Society and the Scottish Government

Scottish accountants have used self regulation to hide corruption complaints against members. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) is one of a number of organisations which self regulate its members, however the style of self regulation at ICAS has led to the cover up of some of the worst conduct of accountants in the UK, where fraud, embezzlement of client funds, even criminal activity by members, and many other types of complaints have been swept under the carpet of self regulation by the body which prides itself in having extensive political connections throughout the UK, including even members of the Privy Council which ICAS have used to prevent changes to independent regulation of accountants from taking place.

An example of how accountants self regulation affected my own family (in complaints which are common to many ICAS investigate) :

Norman Howitt, Borders Accountant with JRW Group was protected by self regulation of accountants. Norman Howitt, a Borders Accountant ruined my family's life, and got away with it because of self regulation at ICAS which even covered up the fact he gave false statements to Lothian & Borders Police to cover up his embezzlement of money into his accounting firm's accounts, from the sale of my late father's assets.

You can read more about what Norman Howitt and several lawyers in the Scottish Borders did to my family in the name of greed and taking money for themselves, here : A picture is worth a thousand words - Images of fraud reveal corruption & deceit by lawyers & accountants in the Scottish Borders

Scotsman newspaper led a campaign in the 90’s to end self regulation of Scots lawyers. The Scotsman newspaper reported on many occasions, the corruption of self regulation at the Law Society of Scotland which protected complaints against crooked Borders lawyer Andrew Penman of Stormonth Darling Solicitors, Kelso. No effort was spared by the Law Society of Scotland’s most senior officials to corrupt the investigation and derail any prosecution against Penman who also deceived the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Inland Revenue.

Philip Yelland, Law Society’s self regulation chief ordered solicitors to ignore clients instructions in cases against crooked lawyers. You can read more about the way self regulation of the legal profession was used by the Law Society of Scotland to protect crooked lawyers in my own case, here : The Scotsman reports : Andrew Penman, self regulation and the Law Society of Scotland and you can read about some of the lengths individuals at the Law Society of Scotland were prepared to go to defeat complaints against the legal profession as a whole, here : Law Society intervention in claims 'commonplace' as ex Chief admits Master Policy protects solicitors against clients

What we as the public have had to endure for far too long in Scotland, England & Wales, is a Crooked Curtain of self regulation that has been held firmly in place by the professions, many UK industries, public services, politics and Government (local & national), simply to protect those same professions, industries, public services and politicians from public accountability and transparency, which can only be achieved through fully independent regulation.

As we can see from the above examples, it is time to end self regulation for anyone & all public services, industry and professions in the UK, now.

Scotland's Westminster Members of Parliament claiming £100,000 plus,in expenses. Are they worth it ?

Scotland's Westminster MPs are busy yet again, ripping off the public by claiming a whopping £100,000 plus in their annual expenses accounts.

Hands up who wants a £100,000 + expenses account ? .. it could be YOU, earning nearly £175,000 a year in expenses along, on top of a salary of almost £60,000 with pension, perks, company directorships, foreign travel & more .. now that's a job !.

What else can MPs take home ? well .. their expenses account is but the tip of the iceberg at both Westminster and at Holyrood.

Company Directorships, preferential property & land deals (where politicians have been slipped up the property ladder for doing favours), interest only, or even interest free mortgages & loans .. some never intended to be paid back ... such as what has recently been exposed in the loans & cash for peerages scandal affecting all the Westminster political parties ... 'fact finding' trips abroad .. which are anything but ... jobs for relatives & friends, you name it, it happens .... politicians in the UK can generally claim for whatever they want, and get away with it.

Hands up who believes all those declarations of interests by politicians ?

Well, I for one sure don't. I know for a fact some of these politicians have a lot more coming in than they declare .. and are tied to a lot more corporate or foreign funding than is ever declared in their returns to either the Parliament or even the Inland Revenue. Just look, for instance, at the recent revelations of political party funding in the UK ... where everyone from foreign dictators, to criminals who have flown abroad but are wanted in the UK on charges, to military conglomerates, to secretive international 'think-tanks' & finance groups bent on imposing their own politics & ideas in the UK .... Do I need to go on ? .. and don't leave any political party out of the debate .. they are all at it .. getting money from wherever they can .. and then have to bow down to their donors when it comes to giving out peerages, changing or improving the law in certain areas (especially pro consumer legislation), handing out contracts for supplying the Health Service .. etc.

Take for example what has recently happened to Labour Party funding, where the legal profession & the Banks have warned the Government that too much pro-consumer reform will dent any donations to the Labour Party .. and might even just see the Tories gain office next time around !

Look at some of the examples we have close to home, where Henry McLeish was caught out renting office space to a well known firm of lawyers - Digby Brown Solicitors .. who have some former partners at the very heart of Government .... and the likes of David McLetchie ... who famously fiddled his taxi expenses (and a lot more) ... but didn't declare it ... However McLetchie was caught nicely and had to resign as leader of the Tories in Scotland .. although the spectre of his re-appearance as Scottish Tory leader looms large over the party, with the current infighting & whispering campaign against Annabel Goldie started by allies of Mcletchie who want him back ... plenty of that support seems to come from his colleagues in the legal profession - who are well versed in political dirty tricks & rehabilitating some of the worst elements of society back into political life .. from fire raisers to fraudsters ... we sadly have them all.

How about some more examples ? well, look at who we got for the first Speaker of the Scottish Parliament - David Steel .. formerly an MP at Westminster, now Lord Steel of Aikwood ... but he took a significant donation from the Countryside Alliance .. about £93,000 and as you can see, Sir David was judged to have broken Parliamentary rules in his lobbying for the Countryside Alliance

The then Sir David Steel was subject to further complaints further complaints from a Labour MP, Mr Dale Campell Savours, also relating to his lobbying activities for the Countryside Alliance.

Sir David as he then was, 'retired' from the Westminster Parliament .. and we poor Scots ended up with him as the Scottish Parliament's first Speaker ... just going to show the quality of representation we have had in our Holyrood politicians since it began .. his involvement with the Corporate Body which 'controlled' the runaway $1billion expenditure on the Holyrood Parliament, is now legendary .. although any blame on him or anyone else in the whole Holyrood funding inquiry was never apportioned.. as is of course, traditional in inquiries into scandals in the UK .. no one gets the blame .. it was all a muddle .. not a fiddle .. but as we all know, when it comes to politicians & money .. it's always a fiddle and never a muddle !

As far as my own experiences with Westminster MPs go .. well, I can only attest to those I have used who represented the Scottish Borders. I was saddled with Archy Kirkwood .. who has now retired from Westminster, having been made Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope .. being made a Knight Bachelor in 2003 and then being made a life peer in 2005.

I had to write to Kirkwood over the scandal of crooked Borders lawyer Andrew Penman of Stormonth Darling Solicitors, Kelso and how he & his firm looted my deceased father's funds. Kirkwood was also supposed to be helping me with my efforts to bring the other crook in the affair - crooked Borders Accountant Norman Howitt of Welchs Accountants, Hawick & Galashiels who even stole my mother's pension & Bank books .. and tried to set up secret trusts to take the rest of the money for his own control.

Kirkwood wrote the usual letters one would expect from an MP helping a constituent .. you know .. oh .. I've had a constituent on to me .. he has problems with a lawyer .. blah blah .. but of course, Kirkwood, was a lawyer himself ... and was well known to Andrew Penman and Norman Howitt .. who's services I'm sure Archy Kirkwood valued much more than mine .. after all, I was just a constituent .. but Howitt & Penman it is rumoured, are great friends of Kirkwood .. so no wonder nothing was done to help me .. actually, I was told, Kirkwood would have a laugh when he received letters from me.

Kirkwood was involved in my case from 1994 - 2005. He did nothing for me. Nothing at all. The result of his involvement was actually a negative for me - as you can see ... and this is common to anyone like me who takes on the likes of crooked professionals and tries to use their elected representative to do something about it. I wonder how much by way of expenses goes on stuff like this ... messing a guy around for 11 years and getting nowhere .. that should rank high on the list of claimed expenses me thinks.

It got a lot worse though ... When the Scottish Parliament came into being, Kirkwood suggested I write to his MSP colleague Euan Robson MSP.

Euan Robson demanded that I drop any complaints I was making against the crooked lawyer Andrew Penman AND make sure the Law Society of Scotland ceased their investigations into Penman, BEFORE he did anything for me ... which I thought was, shall we say .. a wee bit crooked !

What business was it of Euan Robson to insist, even, demand, that I stop making complaints against a crook lawyer who had robbed me, robbed my family, defrauded a Bank, defrauded the Inland Revenue .. fiddled & faked up files, fiddled evidence - even to the Law Society of Scotland ... well ... no surprise again .. Andrew Penman was very familiar with Euan Robson .. and very familiar with the Lib Dems .. and of course .. Robson's colleague, Kirkwood.

I then tried Christine Grahame MSP.. yes, the SNP member for the Scotrish Borders .. she didn't want to know me .. perhaps . I just wasn't Scottish enough for her maybe .. and after all, she was Convener of the Justice 1 Committee of the Scottish Parliament .. and maybe couldn't be seen to be representing someone who was intent on bringing some much needed reform to the way crooked lawyers fleece their cleints in Scotland.

I then went to Murray Tosh MSP to help me with the fight against the hospital where my mum died.. a complete waste of time .. I remember he once claimed he had forgotten what was said in a meeting he allegedly had with Hospital officials on my complaint, and he utlimately turned against me, after I revealed the crooked dealings of one of his political party colleagues in the Scottish Borders - Councillor Hugh Wight who deamded I be run out of Jedburgh.

Finally I turned to Phil Gallie MSP- who was the ONLY politician at the Scottish Parliament who ever helped me .. Mr Gallie helped get the 2001 Parliamentary inqiury into regulation of the legal profession going .. and I would say played a major part in starting the process which has seen the Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill proposed as a remedy to bring independent regulation and much needed pro consumer reforms to Scotland's legal profession. Thank you, Mr Gallie. So, one MSP helped me. Phew .. I'm lucky I think, considering what I have seen on other people's cases.

So, while these high expense claiming MPs get up to £3000 a week, and their Scottish counterpart MSPs are getting over £1000 a week, the rest of us rot in mortgage land, bereft of decent pensions, wages not matching the rise in property prices or the cost of living, not being able to get health care, dental care, etc .. while these politicians get whatever they want.

I say quite a few of them aren't worth it ... let's find out a lot more on what this gang of expense claiming MPs are up to .. and how big that 'wee bit on the side' has now become ... and it just so happens, I'm working on a political story which should rock some people's boats ... you can look forward to that appearing in other parts of the media soon ...

Read on for the article, from the Scotsman, at : http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1588622006

Scots MP tops Westminster expenses
GERRI PEEV POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (gpeev@scotsman.com)

* 55 Scots MPs out of 59 claim over £100,000 in expenses
* MPs claim £86.5m in total in expenses between April '05 and March '06
* Westminister does not release expenses details unlike Holyrood

Key quote "[I'll] do something about it"- Eric Joyce, Scottish Labour MP and the Commons highest expenses claimant

Story in full ERIC Joyce, the Labour MP for Falkirk, was yesterday named the highest expense-claiming MP in Britain, clocking up larger travel costs than colleagues who fly to far-flung Orkney and Western Isles constituencies.

Mr Joyce cost taxpayers nearly £175,000 - of which £45,000, or £865 a week, was for travel - on top of his salary of almost £60,000.

The travel claim is enough for two economy return tickets a week to Australia.

As a loyal ministerial aide, Mr Joyce attended 90 per cent of Commons votes in the past year but spoke in just 13 debates, well below average.

Last night he admitted that his travel costs were too high and vowed to "do something about it".

Three of the five costliest MPs are Scottish - mainly because of high travel costs - with Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat Orkney and Shetland MP, in second place and Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, in fifth.

Mr Carmichael, whose expenses were £161,815, attended 69 per cent of parliamentary votes - below average - but he asked more written questions and participated in more debates than the average MP.

Mr Salmond has attended fewer than one in three votes in parliament - Nationalists refuse to vote on matters that pertain to England and Wales only - but has participated in more debates than average.

Last night, he told The Scotsman he was "surprised and puzzled" that he was the fifth most expensive MP, at £157,844.

"I will get my staff to investigate. I can explain the travel costs, because it is expensive to fly to Aberdeen."

Mr Salmond added that he put all of the SNP's parliamentary staff costs under his expenses, bumping up his bill by more than £5,000.

Details of the expenses claimed by MPs, published today, show they claimed £86.8 million between April 2005 and March 2006. This compares with £80.8 million in 2004-5.

The increase this year is in part due to the inclusion of £5.8 million in winding-up allowances for MPs who retired or lost their seats at the last general election. Meanwhile, high staff costs for Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, were questioned. Her staff bill was £99,589. Ms Beckett employs her husband, Leo, as one of her assistants.

Sinn Fein's five MPs claimed £206,721 in expenses last year, despite never taking their seats in the House of Commons. The Irish Republicans' bill included £7,500 claims by each of the MPs for staying away from their main homes.

Unlike in Holyrood, where journalists and the public can scrutinise receipts and detailed breakdowns of expenses, Westminster authorities release the figures under broad categories, refusing to provide a "total".

Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat MP and spokesman for the Members Estimate Committee, which released the figures, insisted MPs represented "excellent value for money".

What your MP claimed

THE list of Scottish MPs and the expenses they have claimed is:

Eric Joyce, Falkirk, £174,811; Alistair Carmichael, Orkney and Shetland, £161,815; Alex Salmond, Banff and Buchan, £157,844; Ian Davidson, Glasgow South West, £155,521; Angus Robertson, Moray, £155,189; Nigel Griffiths, Edinburgh South, £153,570; Frank Doran, Aberdeen North, £152,852; Michael Connarty, Linlithgow & East Falkirk, £151,854; Jim Murphy, East Renfrewshire, £149,846; Mohammed Sarwar, Glasgow Central, £149,310; Russell Brown, Dumfries & Galloway, £148,136; Anne Moffat, East Lothian, £148,072; Anne Begg, Aberdeen South, £147,274; Malcolm Bruce, Gordon, £146,281; Charles Kennedy, Ross, Skye & Lochaber, £145,366; Jim Sheridan, Paisley & Renfrewshire North, £145,134; Brian Donohoe, Central Ayrshire, £145,014; Rosemary McKenna, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East, £144,899; Rt Hon John McFall, West Dunbartonshire, £144,336; David Mundell, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale, £143,159; Frank Roy, Motherwell & Wishaw, £142,948; Tommy McAvoy, Rutherglen & Hamilton West, £141,898; John MacDougall, Glenrothes, £141,773; Tom Clarke, Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill, £141,603; Tom Harris, Glasgow South, £140,831; Michael Moore, Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk, £139,621; Alistair Darling, Edinburgh South West, £139,105; Sir Robert Smith, West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine, £138,938; Gordon Banks, Ochil & South Perthshire, £138,885; John Robertson, Glasgow North West, £138,838;

Mark Lazarowicz, Edinburgh North & Leith, £137,360; Gordon Brown, Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath, £134,586; David Hamilton, Midlothian, £133,007; Pete Wishart, Perth & North Perthshire, £132,825; Danny Alexander, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, £132,742; Des Browne, Kilmarnock & Loudoun, £131,187; Jim McGovern, Dundee West, £130,792; Mike Weir, Angus, £130,312; Jimmy Hood, Lanark & Hamilton East, £129,461; Douglas Alexander, Paisley & Renfrewshire South, £128,313; Gavin Strang, Edinburgh East, £128,247; Sandra Osborne, Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock, £128,225; John Barrett, Edinburgh West, £126,343; John Thurso, Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross, £125,217; Anne McGuire, Stirling, £124,400; Ming Campbell, North East Fife, £123,617; Ann McKechin, Glasgow North, £122,906; David Cairns, Inverclyde, £121,457; David Marshall, Glasgow East, £120,428; Katy Clark, North Ayrshire & Arran, £119,818; Stewart Hosie, Dundee East, £117,667; Jo Swinson, East Dunbartonshire, £116,382; Angus MacNeil, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, £113,101; John Reid, Airdrie & Shotts, £108,908; Alan Reid, Argyll & Bute, £107,096; Adam Ingram, East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow, £103,613; Jim Devine, Livingston, £92,297

Michael Martin, Glasgow North East, £66,954; Willie Rennie, Dunfermline & West Fife, £37,670 (by-election winner) *Figures compiled by Bloomberg