Friday 22 May 2009

Patrick McLoughlin MP - a call for his immediate resignation from parliament

At last Patrick McLoughlin has been forced to admit the details of his expenses including the amount he pays his own wife for some part-time secratarial duties (an astounding £40,000 per year - I bet a lot of admins/secretaries would like that sort of salary). Lasy tear, of course, he refused to say how much public money he paid his wife and for what duties saying it was a private matter - this, of course, was sleaze at it's worst - hiding the truth from the electorate.

He's claimed for all sorts of running costs for what is really his primary residence in Derbyshire including decoration and a new boiler. I've lived in my house for 8 years, there's a few things needing attention, some decorating needs doing and I could certainly do with a new boiler - shall I see if my employer will cough up for these items?

Maybe it was reasonable that when he was a minister he had his London home as his primary residence (though I'm not convinced) but he hasn't been a minister for 12 years

Clearly McLoughlin's snout is deep in the trough and his lack of integrity has been exposed. I suspect that, instead of being one of the white knights being put forward by David Cameron to sort out the expenses mess, McLoughlin is now seen as one of the worst offenders in this sorry saga. The politics of me, me, me - the lesson the Cons (what an apposite abbreviation in this case) inherited from Thatcher.

If the man does have any scruples, somewthing which I doubt, he would (a) pay back all ridiculous amounts forthwith, including large amounts paid to his wife and (b) resign his seat immediately. Failure to do this should lead to his expenses being looked at even more thoroughly and perhaps with an eye to whether he has acted criminally.

It is time for a change.It is time to rid ourselves of this parasite. It is time to stand for political and public honesty.

Please, Mr. Loughlin, do the decent thing, resign now.


That article ends saying he will have two public meetings on Friday - one in Ashbourne and one in Darley Dale. 

Clearly Mr. McLoughlin can't be bothered to give much time to this important matter and his local constituants (remember he gets all his "local" publicity bumpf published in Surrey rather than use a printer in the Derbyshire Dales) and so is restricting debate to one evening's worth, called at short notice. Perhaps he is hoping people will miss the opportunity or, as is my situation, not be able to attend at such short notice.

I am also concerned about the safety of him having the two meetings so soon after each other: The first will finish at 7.30 then next start at 8 - according to the AA Route Planner these are 35 minutes apart which leaves little room for traffic lights, delays, waiting at junctions, etc. Now Mr. McLoughlin either has some magic up his sleeve, is going to cut short the meetings or is going to break the law to get between these meetings on time. I do hope the local police will be monitoring the speed of Mr. McLoughlin as he races from one meeting to the next. I'd hate that he did anything illegal....

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