Duddridge challenges Prime Minister over McBride

Conservative MP for Rochford and Southend East James Duddridge called for confirmation from the Prime Minister yesterday that all ties have been cut with Damian McBride.

Mr McBride, ex-advisor to Gordon Brown, was held largely responsible for a leaked internet smear campaign against the Conservatives.

The incident brought scandal to the Labour party, which first came to power after an effective anti-sleaze campaign.

Yesterday, Mr Duddridge asked Mr Brown during a Parliamentary debate:

“Can the Prime Minister confirm whether he has had any correspondence, e-mail, telephone calls or texts from Damian McBride since the day he resigned, and just to clear up the confusion that there seems to be around this issue, will he write to the Parliamentary Standards Authority confirming the answer to this question?”

Mr Brown was quick and dismissive in his response, saying:

“The answer is no, but is it not amazing when we are discussing Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and other major issues that a back bencher can reduce himself to re-asking a question that was asked last week?”

Mr Brown was asked the same question last week by Conservative Lee Scott, after rumours circulated that Mr McBride was already advising Mr Brown again in an “informal” capacity.

June 25, 2009
Categories: James Duddridge MP . Tags: , , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: Leave a Comment

Amess refuses to respond to letter from Lib Dem MP

Last week, Liberal Democrat candidate for Southend West Peter Welch sent David Amess a letter asking him to explain various points in his expenses paperwork.

This included requests to explain why Mr Amess claimed for more travel expenditure than other MPs from the same area, and what he employed “Westminster Consultancy” for, as this was unclear from the invoice provided.

Yesterday, Mr Welch received a response from Mr Amess’ office.

The letter, from Mr Amess’ political secretary, said that “Mr Amess does not respond to letters sent to the media,” but that “the various points [Welch] raised in the letter about claims for allowances are being addressed and responses provided.”

Mr Welch maintains his view that Mr Amess should step down as MP for Southend West immediately.

June 25, 2009
Categories: David Amess MP, Expenses, Peter Welch, Uncategorized . Tags: , , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: Leave a Comment

Amess questioning reveals East of England has lowest teen abortion rate

Conservative MP for Southend West David Amess has requested information on abortion rates in the East of England region.

Mr Amess wrote to the Minister for the Cabinet Office, asking for the figures on how many women and teenaged girls had abortions in each region.

He wrote to ask: “what the abortion rate among those under the age of (a) 18 and (b) 16 years was in each region in 2008.”

Mr Amess received a response from Gillian Merron, Minister of State for the Department of Health.

The figures Ms Merron provided show that the East of England has the lowest abortion rate in women aged under 18, with 14 per 1,000 women.

The Eastern region also has one of the lowest rates of abortion in girls aged under 16, at just 3 per 1,000.

The highest rate for under-18s was in London, at 25 per 1,000, and in the North West, the rate Is 21 per 1,000.

June 24, 2009
Categories: David Amess MP, Public Health . Tags: , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: 1 Comment

Almost half Southend councillors made no expenses claims in 2007-08

As the furore over MPs’ expenses rages on, the expenses claimed by local councillors has also come under scrutiny.

Councillors, unless they are leaders or deputy leaders of the council, are not paid a salary, whereas MPs are.

In Southend, just under half of councillors claimed no expenses at all for both 2007-08 and 2008-09. These are councillors Aylen, Carlile, Cushion, Flewitt, Habermel, Holdcroft, Luty, and Price (Conservative); Grimwade, Longley and Roast (Liberal Democrat); Borton, Dandridge, Garne George, Norman, Robinson and Royston (Labour); and Assenheim, Terry, Velmurugan, Weaver and Woodley (independent).

Of those councillors who did claim expenses in the financial year 2007-08, those who claimed the most were Cllr Foster (Con), with £2,802.28; Cllr Lamb (Con) with £2,085.04; and Cllr Garston (Con) with £1,154.28.

In 2008-09, the top two claimants – the only two to claim £1,000 or more – were Cllr Lamb, with £2,242.00, and Cllr Hadley (Con), with £1,270.40.

June 23, 2009
Categories: Council, Expenses . Tags: , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: 1 Comment

Amess pays back some of expenses claims

Conservative MP for Southend West David Amess has paid back part of the expenses he has claimed.

Mr Amess’ expenses were published online last week. Since then, he has attracted criticism for claiming the maximum allowance for food when Parliament was not sitting, and for payments to consultancies without adequate invoicing information.

Mr Amess has paid back £106 out of his total claims. This is thought to be due to an over-claim of council tax.

Mr Amess previously said that the Conservative Party Scrutiny Committee and the Fees Office had said that the was not required to pay any money back at all.

June 23, 2009
Categories: David Amess MP, MP Expenses . Tags: , , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: Leave a Comment

Labour councillor: high-rise building not answer to housing shortage

Labour Councillor for Victoria Ian Gilbert has spoken to CouncilBust.com about his concerns over housing in the Victoria ward.

In the full council meeting last week, councillors discussed the changes Tesco have made to their proposed building plan on the site near Southend Victoria Station.

The supermarket chain originally said it would build affordable housing as well as a new store on the old B&Q site, but has since withdrawn its housing offer, claiming it is unaffordable in the current economic climate.

As other councillors expressed frustration at Tesco’s apparent decision, Cllr Gilbert voiced his concerns over building affordable housing in the area at all.

Today, Cllr Gilbert told CouncilBust.com: “I do regret that the affordable family housing, which was at one point suggested as part of this development, is not being included.

“However, the tower block which was proposed for the front corner of the development would have drawn objections from nearby residents, and I remain of the opinion that high-rise living is not good answer to our shortage of affordable housing.

“Parking in the Milton Street area is a nightmare, and residents fear that it will get even worse when the existing car parking is closed, so I’m raising this issue at every opportunity.”

June 23, 2009
Categories: Cllr Ian Gilbert, Housing Market . Tags: , , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: Leave a Comment

Independent Southend councillor suggests Tesco boycott

At the full council meeting last week, several local councillors expressed their disappointment and frustration with Tesco’s plans to drop affordable housing from its building plan in central Southend.

The supermarket chain originally planned to build a new store on the B&Q site near Victoria Plaza, as well as new low-cost homes.

Company staff now say, however, that the economic downturn has made it impossible for them to go ahead with the housing plan.

As of yet, Tesco has not submitted a planning application to the council, but speculation is rife about whether the company will stick to its original proposal.

Ron Woodley, Independent Councillor for Thorpe, suggested boycott action to put pressure on Tesco, saying at the council meeting:

“We should urge people not to shop at Tesco unless we have the affordable housing we were promised.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor Jim Clinkscales expressed his belief that Tesco’s new plans should not be allowed. He said:

“Tesco needs the High Street and we should tell it we will not accept this unless there is affordable housing.”

Cllr Andrew Moring, who is responsible for support services at the council, said that the council were unable to reject Tesco’s proposals as the site is already earmarked as shopping space.

Ian Gilbert, Labour Councillor for Victoria, disagreed with the other councillors, saying:

“While it is always regrettable to lose affordable housing, we do not want high rise development in Victoria Ward.

“With this scheme there were serious concerns about car parking among local people and these still remain, whether or not affordable housing is included.”

June 23, 2009
Categories: Cllr Ron Woodley . Tags: , , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: 2 Comments

Comment: Where do they find these “nobs”?

It’s all kicked off today, thanks to a careless comment by Lib Dem Councillor Ric Morgan. According to the Echo, Cllr Morgan referred to the new Mayor, fellow Liberal Democrat Councillor Brian Smith, as a “nob”.

In the letter published in the Echo last month, Cllr Morgan said that he had been working at the Festival of the Air whilst the “nobs” ate lunch at the Cliffs Pavillion on the Bank Holiday Monday.

By “nobs”, Cllr Morgan meant Mayor Smith, and two other people, who were attending a council lunch event.

Since then, Cllr Morgan has refused to apologise for the comment, saying that it was not meant in the way it has been taken to.

The Tories are having a field day with this nob-wielding. Naturally, they are taking it to mean “penis” rather than a posh person, and laying on the criticism.

Apparently, flinging “nobs” around brings the office of Mayor into disrepute.

Poor West Shoebury Conservative Councillor Derek Jarvis is upset by the whole thing. He was at a similar lunch event on the Sunday of the festival, and said he felt hurt to have been included in the nob-group.  

He told the Echo:

“Never in my years as a local councillor have I heard of a councillor calling a current serving mayor a nob publicly, especially as they belong to the same party.”

Presumably, this means that councillors may quite often call the mayor a nob in private, or in public if that mayor is no longer serving.

“The mayoralty is a fine office and a tradition that should be respected by all councillors and not brought into disrepute in this way.”

So, of course, it’s dictionaries at the ready. Cllr Morgan appears to be one of those old-school type chaps who will use a word according to its less-known or less-used definition, even if most people would take it to mean “willy”, and even if it makes you look like a fool in the local paper. Then, of course, people know that you are knowledgeable about things like old definitions of words, and, presumably, trust you more as a local representative.

“Councillor Jarvis should check his dictionary,” said Cllr Morgan tartly to the Echo, “the term ‘nob’ is an old fashioned term for a socially exalted person.”

Well, that’s alright then.

Still, it’s not too bad, because the nob in question, Mayor Brian Smith, said he knew all along what Morgan was driving at, and was flattered by the comments.

He said that being a nob was “quite an achievement”, as it means you are a “well-respected member of the establishment.” 

June 19, 2009
Categories: Cllr Ric Morgan . Tags: , , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: 3 Comments

Rival candidate demands expenses explanation from Amess

 Southend West Conservative MP David Amess’ expenses were published yesterday on a government website.

Since then, rival candidates for his seat have called for explanations of his expenditure.

Liberal Democrat candidate Peter Welch sent a letter to Mr Amess last night, outlining his questions about the expenses.

Mr Welch wrote:

“You are one of a group of just 32 MPs to have claimed the maximum for food; £400 month in, month out, with no sign of a receipt, and regardless of whether parliament was sitting or not.

“Your charge for mortgage costs is £600 month in month out, and again no document has been published to support this claim.

“All the other claims are for round figures below the £250 point where receipts have to be produced (I note that some bills are available).

“Essentially you appear to have received around £60,000 over the last three years, without being required to publish supporting documentation.”

Mr Welch went further to question Mr Amess’ other expenditure, as outlined in his Incidental Expenses Provision paperwork.

Here, Mr Welch had further questions about the services Mr Amess had paid for on government expenses:

“There are regular payments to something called ‘Westminster Consultancy’ for sums in amounting to tens of thousands of pounds,” Mr Welch writes.

“The published invoices are handwritten, do not give a VAT number, and give only the vaguest indication of the services provided.

“Who is ‘Westminster Consultancy’? What are their tax arrangements?”

Further, Mr Welch raised questions of the propriety of the money Mr Amess has paid to the Southend West Conservative Association:

“There are regular payments to Southend West Conservatives.

“These have risen from £3500 in 2004/2005 to £4750 in 2007/2008.

“The payments are said to be for the cost of the use of the hall and office space.

“But the accounts of Southend West Conservative Association do not provide an explanation for such an increase in costs, do not explain why these figures should be charged, and do not record any such income in 2004 or in 2005.

“Where did the money go for those years?

“Does the money you have passed from taxpayer to your association really represent State Aid for your political campaigning?”

Mr Amess gave the following statement in response to questioning from CouncilBust.com over his expenses in general:

“All the claims that I have made since I was first elected to Parliament in June 1983 have been made in good faith and I have always consulted the Fees Office about their appropriateness. 

“The range of allowances has also increased. 

“I absolutely agree with David Cameron that we have to acknowledge just how bad this situation is and just how angry the public are. 

“We have to start by saying the system we had and used was wrong and that we are sorry about that. 

“We should support an independent audit. 

“That would be a step towards rebuilding the trust between Parliament and the people it’s meant to represent.”

June 19, 2009
Categories: David Amess MP, MP Expenses . Tags: , , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: 2 Comments

Amess’ expenses published today

 Conservative Southend West MP David Amess’ expenses were published today on a government website.

Mr Amess’ expenses claims forms, invoices and receipts are available for download in PDF format to the general public.

According to his paperwork, Mr Amess claimed exactly £250.00 in petty cash every month in the year 2007-2008, for which he did not have to produce any receipts.

Mr Amess also claimed expenses for a payment of £1,500.00 made to a company called Westminster Consultancy in March 2007 for “research for questions and speeches” according to an invoice.

The invoice contained no details of the address or VAT registration number of Westminster Consultancy, and the company does not appear to have a website.

Mr Amess was not available for comment when CouncilBust.com staff contacted his office earlier today.

Peter Welch, Liberal Democrat candidate for Mr Amess’ seat, told CouncilBust.com of his frustration that some information in Mr Amess’ paperwork has been blocked out with black boxes:

“Taxpayers are furious about the blacked-out non-publication of MPs’ expenses, and David Amess will face more calls for his resignation as a result.

“The long-awaited publication of MPs’ expenses has been an anti-climax so far.

“The things we need to know are obscured by heavy black masking. We are as much in the dark as ever.

“But at least the rules are now in the open, and they will have stunned taxpayers, and most private and public sector employees, used to justifiying all their claims for expenses.

“MPs seem to have the laxest rules imaginable; they don’t need to justify any expense under £250.00.

“They can put in a claim for £400.00 a month for food, with no justification whatsoever.

“In the few instances where a bill is required, they are allowed to censor the details put into the public domain.”

June 18, 2009
Categories: David Amess MP, MP Expenses . Tags: , . Author: ottermojo . Comments: Leave a Comment

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