Dear Theresa May,
Congratulations on beating the man you have just sacked from the Cabinet in the Tory leadership election.
I’d like to offer you the opinion of a rather uneducated old fart, who, incidentally much appreciates his pensioner’s bus pass, on a few of your selections for your new cabinet ministers. I understand his opinion is of no value or consequence, benefit or interest to you (Or any of your cabinet or MP’s), but the new growth in distrust of the aforesaid personages, has encouraged me to be bold.
Also, my not having long left to live, had a bearing on this decision too.
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Philip Hammond Brexit Remain Supporter
New Chancellor of the Exchequer
Millionaire Hammond is worth around £8.8m but avoids tax after transferring property as a “gift” to his wife. This Essex boy has never had a proper paid job
He recently stepped in over ‘very disappointing’ plans by new Chinese owners to hike membership fees at Wentworth golf club. Long-time members of Surrey-based golf club have accused the new Chinese owners of using an eye-watering fee hike to get rid of them and turn the club into a preserve of the global ultra-rich. If he fails on this, you can always buy the support of Tony ‘I ain’t rich enough yet’ Blair and William Hague by buying them a two-year membership of the club. Although I’m uncertain if Hague’s wife Ffion is still a Barclays Bank Advisor, but as he and she he joined a lavish Italian trip, one of Europe’s most expensive hotels, where rooms costing £1,000 a night and paid for Barclays executives on a black day for global markets, I assume she will not give up these perks and of course the pay for being an Advisor to Barclays Bank: (£86,000 per annum, tax free?) You know the one, that the Tory Government rescued financially?
MY VIEW: He is the second richest member of the new cabinet, with a net worth of £8.4 million, just under Lord Strathclyde with £9.6 million. Mr Hammond is said to have achieved his worth from stakes in a health care and nursing home developer and “consultancy work”.Within six months, he will be blaming the Brexit Leave Supporters for the country going broke. Only joking – am I? I wish him well and I appreciate that his lock on the front door of his third home costs more than my house did. I just wish he was not so rich that if he fails he will not suffer financially at all – just Jealous Theresa, yer know!
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Boris Johnson Brexit Leave Supporter
New Foreign Secretary
Royal-blooded, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born in New York City to wealthy upper-class English parents in June 1964), Johnson was educated at the European School of Brussels, Ashdown House School, and Eton College.
Boris is, albeit, distantly related, to the present Royal family, and also to the Royal Houses of Europe, including the Swedish and Dutch Royal Families, as well as the Romanoffs.
So, we can see why you have chosen him to be your Foreign Secretary. Also and as well besides, we understand.
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Amber Rudd Brexit Remain Supporter
New Home Secretary
Who, as Energy Secretary who Labour claimed misled MPs about meeting mandatory EU energy targets on renewable power, is a buxom lass, and it is easy to see why Theresa has opted for her for her new as her new Home Secretary.
As Energy Secretary, she came under fire for failing to reveal close links to a top lobbyist in official parliamentary records. Under new rules brought in for this parliament, MPs must officially disclose all family members engaged in lobbying the public sector.
The Hastings & Rye MP, also Billed the taxpayer £173,367.16 over the 2014-15 period placing her in sixth place out of the 16 county MPs. She claimed the bulk of her expenses on staffing costs – £137,127.53– as well as £22,794.66 on office costs, £10,330.79 on accommodation, £2,854.18 on travel and £260 on ‘miscellaneous expenses’. So she’s cunning, greedy and not afraid to fiddle if given the opportunity.
Worked as a financial journalist and venture capitalist, after working in New York and London for J.P. Morgan & Co. So, she’ll be perfect for the position as Conservative Home Secretary.
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DavidDavis Brexit Leave Supporter
Brexit Minister Secretary
David Davis, the former shadow home secretary, who grew up on a council estate, spent more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on home improvements in four years, including a new £5,700 portico at his home in Yorkshire.
The former chairman of a Commons committee that keeps tabs on government spending also claimed more than £8,000 for over 5,000 gallons of heating oil. Claims submitted by Mr Davis under the Commons’ additional costs allowance system show that he paid £5,704 for the portico – an open porch that normally protects a property’s front door from the weather – in July 2006. The bill was “to supply and install a new portico to front door entrance, new matching gate and frame to court-yard and six-pane window to out building”. The Commons fees office agreed to pay the bill two weeks later.
Mr Davis spent about £5,000 on home furnishings, including £658 to decorate his kitchen and utility room and £640 on a flax carpet for the breakfast room. In 2008-09 he charged £46.33 for changing a lamp in a floodlight at one of his properties.
In 2009-210 his expenses were only £ 109,146.
Davis was raised on Aboyne Estate, a council estate in Tooting, South West London. After attending Bec Grammar School in Tooting, London, he went on to gain a master’s degree in business at the age of 25 and went into a career with Tate & Lyle. Another non-working for a wage MP.
August 2013: Figures from the body responsible for parliamentary expenses show that the highest expenses claimant in Gwent was David Davies, Tory MP for Monmouth, who claimed £40,241. But the MP said that he had not seen a penny of the money and that the term expenses had been used for too long.
He’s going to have a ball now he’s in power int he!
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Michael Fallon Brexit Remain Supporter
Defence Secretary
The MP retrospectively claimed £3,521 for legal fees and hundreds more for mortgage interest charges and utility bills — all personally authorised by the head of the fees office. Mr Fallon had previously claimed £1,000 a month in second home expenses to rent a property in Pimlico, south west London. Mr Fallon said at the time: “This was an inadvertent mistake for which I accept responsibility. The fees office proposed that the overpayment should be offset by other claims.”
The MP added that all his other claims “were routine costs properly authorised and allowable at the time”. He began making the excessive claims after buying the Westminster flat for £243,000 in June 2002 and designating it as his second home. Various other household expenses he claimed for after September 2004 included a £250 per month cleaning bill, which Mr Fallon reduced from £300 after being asked for a receipt.
Between 2002 and 2004, Fallon regularly claimed £1,255 per month in capital repayments and interest, rather than the £700-£800 for the interest component alone. After his error was noticed by staff at the Commons Fees Office in September 2004, he asked: “Why has no one brought this to my attention before?” He repaid £2,200 of this over-claim but was allowed to offset the remaining £6,100 against his allowance. After realising they had failed to notice the excessive claims, Commons staff reportedly suggested Fallon submit fresh claims which would “reassign” the surplus payments to other costs he had legitimately incurred.
In May 2005, he claimed £499 for a television, £69.50 for a digital box and £35 for a radio. Mr Fallon sold the flat in December 2006 for £295,000, making a profit of £52,000. He claimed £1,774.50 in legal fees relating to the sale. In the two months before the sale, he claimed £126 for boiler repairs, £170 for repairs to bathroom tiles, £282 for electrical repairs and £225 for carpet cleaning. He then bought another flat in Westminster for £728,000. Soon after moving in, he claimed £1,795 for a bed, £1,500 for curtains and almost £1,000 for a freezer, washer-dryer and deep cleaner. The claim for the bed was reduced to £1,000. He then began claiming the interest on the mortgage for his new flat, which came to about £2,100 per month — almost three times as much as at his previous property. Mr Fallon also shares a large house in his Kent constituency with his wife, Wendy. The house, which the couple bought in 1997, is about 28 miles away from Westminster. It is not mortgaged.
Mr Fallon is also paid as a director of three companies. His salary from one, a money broker, is reportedly £45,000. He also pays his wife from his taxpayer-funded office expenses to work as his secretary.
Fallon, is a board member of a leading brokerage firm that dominates the rates market and which has been asked to co-operate with the Financial Services Authority’s investigation into malpractice across the City.
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Liam Fox Brexit Exit Supporter
International Trade Secretary
In a less shameless world, Liam Fox’s career would have ended in 2011. Or to give him his full title, the disgraced former defence secretary, Dr Liam Fox.
In March 2010 Fox appealed Sir Thomas Legg’s decision that he had overclaimed £22,476 in mortgage interest payments. Fox immediately repaid the money, then appealed the decision. Fox’s appeal was rejected and the decision was upheld by Sir Paul Kennedy, a former high court judge. Fox stated that his decision to remortgage his second home to pay for redecorations and claim the higher interest repayments on his expenses represented value for money because he could have charged the taxpayer for the decorating bills directly. In his response, Sir Paul Kennedy stated: “What you claimed was not recoverable under the rules then in force. I entirely accept that, like many others, you could have made other claims if the fees office had rejected your claims for mortgage interest, and that you may well have spent some of what you raised by increasing your mortgage on your constituency home, but the evidence is imprecise, and my terms of reference only allow me to interfere if I find special reasons in your individual case showing that it would not be fair and equitable to require repayment, either at all or at the level recommended.” This reportedly made him the Conservative Shadow Cabinet member with the largest over-claim on expenses, and as a result, he has been forced to repay the most money.
It was reported in June 2009 that Fox claimed expenses of more than £19,000 over the last four years for his mobile phone. Fox claimed the high bill was due to regular trips overseas, in his capacity as Shadow Defence Secretary and said he was looking for a cheaper tariff.
In October 2012, the Commons Speaker blocked the release of data showing which MPs were renting their homes to other MPs for financial gain. However, a study of parliamentary records was published in the Daily Telegraph. The study showed that Liam Fox receives rental income from his London home while simultaneously claiming rental income from the taxpayer to live at another residence.
In October 2013, Fox hit the news again, after documents showed he claimed 3p for a 100-metre car trip a year earlier. He also made an additional 15 claims of under £1 for car travel approved in 2012–13, two of which were for 24p and 44p. He told the Sunday People: “I don’t do my expenses. My office does them. But they are all done according to the rules for travel distances.
During October 2011 Fox’s relationship with a close friend, Adam Werritty, attracted extensive media attention and eventually led to Fox’s resignation. Werrity, some 17 years younger than Fox, had been best man at his wedding, had lived rent-free in Fox’s flat, and been involved with him in business and in the conservative Atlanticist think-tank The Atlantic Bridge. While Fox was Defence Minister, Werrity had visited Fox at the Ministry of Defence on many occasions, had accompanied Fox on numerous official trips, attended some of his meetings with foreign dignitaries, and had used official-looking business cards which said he was an “advisor” to Fox, all despite having no government post or security clearance. The media raised questions about Fox’s judgment in allowing this to happen, the nature of the men’s relationship, and the source of Werrity’s income.
Fox is a registered shareholder of the medical educational firm Arrest Ltd. His estimated wealth is £1.7 million.
Fox accepted a £50,000 donation from Jon Moulton, whose investment firm, Better Capital, later went on to own Gardner Aerospace, an aerospace metallic manufactured details supplier which includes component parts for both military and civilian aircraft. This potentially exposed Fox to conflict of interest but neither Fox nor Moulton violated any rules with this donation.
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Jeremy Hunt Brexit Remain Supporter
Health Secretary
Since first being elected to government in 2005, Hunt has been involved in a string of scandals which when put together outshine some of the bigger scandals on this list. Yet somehow the impervious MP has gone on to be rewarded with ever more responsibility. Here are some instances where other MPs and the public have called for the Teflon-coated minister’s resignation:
- · In 2009, he was forced to repay £9,500 of taxpayers’ cash after allowing his election agent to live rent-free in his subsidised home. This was after he had also breached the rules for claiming for a property that was his designated main home.
- · In 2010, it was discovered his former parliamentary assistant had been given a civil service job. The assistant was the daughter of a Conservative life peer who had also been the director of Hunt’s company.
- · In 2010, he apologised after suggesting hooliganism was to blame for the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.
- · In 2012, it was revealed he was a tax avoider (something Cameron said he would not tolerate) after dodging more than £100,000 in tax in a property deal.
- · Again in 2012, close links were discovered between his office and Rupert Murdoch’s company News Corporation. Hunt, at the time, was handling the company’s bid to take over BSkyB. It was found Hunt and his advisors had communicated sensitive information to Murdoch.
- · In 2013, the British Medical Association said he displayed “complete ignorance” after saying he thought the abortion limit should be changed to 12 weeks.
- · His expenses featured: 1p for a 12-second phonecall, £75 on five candles, £700 on signs for one of his houses and a whopping £3,180 on stamps, envelopes and labels (in one year).
Why is Hunt again in the cabinet? Labour leader Ed Miliband once said “it beggars belief” but maybe it has something to do with Hunt’s support during his buddy David Cameron’s leadership campaigns?
A definite bad move from Theresa, if she is wanting to regain the confidence and trust of the voters… but I don’t suppose she’s bothered about that!
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Chris Grayling Brexit Leave Supporter
Transport Secretary
Chris Grayling has claimed £104,183 of taxpayers’ money over six years for a London flat – even though he has a family home just 17 miles away from Westminster. And neighbours said they “rarely, if ever” see him at the Westminster flat where his postbox is packed with unopened mail.
On the eve of becoming an MP in June 2001, Mr Grayling, 46, paid £127,000 for the one-bedroom flat in a six-storey block, which has views of Westminster Cathedral and is only a short stroll from the House of Commons. But a local estate agent said the value of properties in the block had soared to between £210,000 and £330,000, despite the recession.
Our inquiry sparked claims from MPs last night that Mr Grayling would trouser a huge profit from the London property market, largely thanks to taxpayers’ cash. Mr Grayling is allowed to use his additional costs allowance (ACA) to pay for and furnish a second home – either in London or his constituency of Epsom and Ewell. Between 2001 and 2007, he claimed a total of £104,183 under the ACA – close to the maximum possible claim over the period of £122,710.
In 2009, Chris Grayling promised to sell his London flat and repay any profit to the taxpayer. There is no record of this repayment. Numerous requests for information from Grayling’s office have been met with a blank refusal to provide any further evidence. It’s quite possible the payment was made. The records we have are incomplete, having been destroyed under Commons rules. But his office’s refusal to provide any evidence of it suggests the old arrogance of MPs is reasserting itself as memories of the expenses scandal fade.
Just after the May 2005 general election, he claimed £4,250 for redecorating and £1,561 for a new bathroom. The next month he claimed £1,341 for new kitchen units. The month after that he put in a claim for another £1,527 for plumbing and £1,950 for further work.
He got himself caught up in the Fox/Werritty scandal.
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Priti Patel Brexit Leave Supporter
International Development
Her expenses in 2014 were £152,000 plus.
She employs her husband as her Office Manager on £50,000 a year.
On the IPSA granted MPs pay rise of over £7000, she did not comment on whether she would accept the rise or how she felt about it. But she did.
She once worked for lobbying firm Weber Shandwick, whose clients included British American Tobacco – the makers of brands like Dunhill and Lucky Strike. Patel then moved to Diageo, the British multinational alcoholic beverages company, and worked in corporate relations between 2003 and 2007, earning hundreds of thousand of pounds. While the company paid workers £15 a year. In 2014, she accepted a £2,000 donation from a tobacco supplier HT&Co (Drinks) Ltd .
The MP for Witham, supports the death penalty too. In the past she’s professed admiration for Ayn Rand, told reporters: “Murder should never be an alternative to an honest day’s work, which is why I’m strongly in favour of a reintroduction of the death penalty for low-earners.” She added, “A £100,000 earnings cut-off would ensure the most important members of society are not executed, and would also provide a deterrent for the poor and workshy who would rather be housed in jail to save money.”
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… I’m sorry, but I can’t write and research anymore… I’ve depressed myself…
Got a wonderful shower and freshened everything up. Carbolic soap and citrus gel used today.
A really slow start today, despite it being the best day for weather in ages.
Arriving at the bus stop for the return bus, I noticed the battered public bench near to it, had apparently not suffered any more damage?
Got settled in the shuddering second-hand £300 recliner to eat it, and the phone rang. By the time I’d half-extracted myself from the recliner, whoever it was had rang off.