Leslie

I am interested to see what Snetters think of Parliament voting that MPs should not be subject to the Freedom od Information Act.

Les

pslewis

I think they should be as open to scrutiny as I am when it comes to Public Money!!

I sign for over £5million of your money each year - I am subject to audits and accountability.

They should be also!

Iwan

There should be one rule for all IMO.

David Lock

Disgrace.


But I think the Lords will stick the knife in.

speedking

Sets a bad example IMO. We pay for govt. and it should be accountable.

Geezer

It's an utter disgrace. Things like this should not eb something that MPs can decide, like their own pay.

Tw@ts

Geezer

PeteBrant

Agreed, and is precisely this sort of thing that makes me:

(i)Thankfully we have a second chamber
(ii)Despondant as to the gradual erosion of the House of Lords into a second elected house with all the short-termism that inevitably leads to.

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

Again greatful we have a house of mainly alleged "toffy nosed, unelected snobs" who seem to have a far better grasp on what the british public want than any of the so-called "commons".

The only groups who should have exclusion from FOI in my mind is the Police, Security Services and Military.

scrappydoo

Leslie
I was going to post up the exact same thing but you beat me to it. lol..

Governments are historically recorded as being the most corrupt therefore it would be a very grave mistake to exempt them from the FOI given their past and present situations.

All this pales in comparison to the EU crap thats about to hit us unless we all stand up and get counted. People are so unaware of this and the broader scope it has on all our lives.

The Real Face of the European Union

swampster

iTrader: (1)

As for the House of Lords stopping it.. well we've all seen that doesn't necessarily work these days. They'll just whip out the Parliament Act and force it through if they really want it citing the need to not allow all them terrorists to find out how much has been spent on brandy, cigars and ******!

The Zohan

Er, yes, agreed!

Is this the same PSL?

SJ_Skyline

My god, I am in agreement with PSL....

I think I had better go and have a stong cup of tea, I feel quite shaken

PeteBrant

The Parliament act is only used very very rarely. It has only been used something like 7 times since its inception in 1911/1949.

(however, of 7 times, 3 of them have been by this government; proportianal representation in European elections, the lowering of the age of consent for gay and lesbian relationships to 16, and the fox-hunting ban)

Politicians would far rather have concensus when passing laws. In order for the Parliament act to even be thought about, it has to go back to the lords three times.

Nimbus

When I heard about this on the news, the reason quoted by one MP was that they wanted to ensure anonymity with regard to peoples correspondence with their MP. If this is the case, why can't they make the bill only apply to this, and not their spending of OUR money as well?

I was going to say that this was shocking, but to be honest it's sadly all I expect of politicians these days...

Leslie

Not surprised to see the reaction on here. I also think it is quite disgraceful, this is taxpayer's money that they are creaming off and we have a right to know how it is spent. It just seems yet another indication of the slough of corruption that politicians seem to be sinking into these days.

I note that the man who put up the bill (Conservative) has been reported as buying a quad bike on expenses since he says he needs one to get around his constituency!

I also think that Scrappy Do is also right when he warns us about the real corruption when our brave so called leader signs us up shortly to the the Eu constitution against our will which has been resurrected under a different name so that he can pretend that a referendum as promised, or parliamentary debate is no longer necessary!

I find this affair frightening in that the Speaker and the deputy speakers colluded to prevent back benchers from speaking about this bill in the House, also effectively pushing the bill through and that the NL MPs were under a 3 line whip to vote for the government on this. The Speaker and the deputies run the House of Parliament Commission which is responsible for administering MP's expenses!

Les

SJ_Skyline

And the Government wonder why people are disillusioned with their performance and their policies

My MP was absent from the vote, I guess it's marginally better then voting for it so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt this time.

I recently read (can't remember if it was here or the Sunday papers) that there was something, like the EU constitution, proposing to make it illegal to be critical of the EU government...

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

It would be nice if we went back to the stage when only pillars of the community stood for government, in it for their constituencies own good not personal gain. it will never happen though

PeteBrant

Go back to?

In what era did these "pillars of community" stand for election?

swampster

iTrader: (1)

Yep, I know what the Parliament Act is about etc... but my point was, this Government seem to have no problem using (as the figures clearly point out) simply to get their own way on more generalistic policy, rather than using it as intended... i.e very rarely and on matters of grave national importance.

Based on what it has been used for so far, which while important to some sectors of society, I would hardly call them grave, I'm pretty sure if the lower house is pretty much in agreement over this (and almost certainly will be.. shock horror), they will have little conscience about using it again for something like this.

Leslie

It was not so long ago that people used to make their fortune in business, and when they had made enough to live on, they would often stand for Parliament, not to make money but to put something back into the country and in the spirit of doing a bit of good for the people.

MP's salaries were comparatively low in those days, certainly not in the almost £ quarter billion class as they are now with only £60K being eligible for taxation! These MPs would be regarded as "pillars of society" quite rightly since what they were doing was for genuinely altruistic reasons. They were honourable men.

This may well be unimaginable in present times especially when we see the depths to which most politicians have sunk into these days. Unfortunately the example set by these so called world leaders is an encouragment for the rest of the country to behave withi the same corrupt ideals!

Les

Chip

Which is good reason for keeping this house going. If Blair had his way he would have abolished it a few years ago.

Chip