February 4, 2010
Well, the Legg report inot MPs expenses is out, and nearly half of them have to pay money back.
To my surprise, Kevin Barron isn’t one of them – the report says “Mr Barron has no issues”
So it seems that an £8,500 printer really is absolutely necessary for Kevin Barron’s work as an MP, in which case I wonder why not all MPs have one. It also seems that he really did need to spend £850 on new cameras in three years – he simply couldn’t represent us without them. And yes, it seems it is essential for every MP to have almost £7,500 worth of office furniture, as well as £200 a month on petty cash without a receipt to be seen (£200 month only works out as one month’s extra salary a year for someone on average wages after all).
It’s fine that he has claimed over £1,000 for websites that didn’t exist for very long, if at all, from companies that don’t seem to exist who seem to have employed Kevin Barron’s son Robbie to register domains at a cost of £10.
And claiming £1,000 or so from the public purse for the completion of your personal tax return is, it seems, fine – if you’re an MP. It’s not even a tax-deductible expense if you’re self employed, but if you’re an MP you can get the taxpayer to pay for it all.
And it turns out that it’s ok that Kevin Barron hasn’t to my knowledge submitted any statements for his mortgage, leaving the mystery of why the documents he has submitted suggest the amount he has borrowed (and which we are paying the interest on) had risen by £38,000 or so.
February 2, 2010
CREDIT ratings agency Fitch yesterday warned that the government’s budget deficit reduction plan is too slow.
The agency says the Treasury needs to be more aggressive in reducing the spiralling budget deficit, which stands at £178bn. Alistair Darling announced plans to halve the deficit within four years at the Pre-Budget Report last year. Total UK debt is expected to rise to £1.4 trillion in that time.
Fitch is often the first of the big credit rating agencies to downgrade the debt of sovereign nations. Rival ratings agency Standard & Poor has already placed the UK’s triple A credit rating on “negative watch”.
Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, also underlined the high stakes involved in the pre-election Budget. He warned that both Britain and Europe faced a phase of “rapid relative economic decline” if governments failed to cut spending.
Fitch warns UK over debt | City AM
All this sniping between the two main parties about who is going to cut what is ridiculous because they seem to be trying to score points by claiming the other party will cut too much.
Hello.
You can’t cut too much. We are crippled by debt – look at this graph of public and private debt as a percentage of GDP (from order-order.com)
Yet again we lead the world – and it couldn’t be clearer that what we once called Labour’s Economic Miracle was financed by borrowing money. Nothing more, nothing less.
So really, talking of cutting a billion here or a billion there as though it were a bad thing is not helpful. It’s like trying to clear your £5k credit card bill by giving up penny chews – sure it’ll help, but not very much – and it won’t help at all if you’re still borrowing more money to pay the mortgage you can’t afford, which is basically what the government is doing; the current budget deficit is £178 billion. That’s how much money the government will be short of this year – another lump to add to the national credit card.
It our national credit rating is downgraded from it’s current triple-A rating, we will have to pay even more to borrow the money we’re living off. Happy times.
So, yeah – cut away, please.
February 2, 2010
Gordon Brown will today announce legislation guaranteeing a referendum on voting reform. In a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank the prime minister will announce plans to ensure those elected to parliament in future will arrive with the support of over 50% of voters, one method of cleaning up politics just days before public anger over expenses abuse is likely to be revived.
…
The issue of electoral reform has set most of the cabinet ‑ who decided to act now to bring in the alternative vote at a meeting last year ‑ against the whips office and a portion of the parliamentary party who believe the issue will divide Labour.
Gordon Brown to pledge pre-election legislation on voting reform | Politics | The Guardian
Hmm. The Labour Party has been in government for nearly 13 years, and I definitely remember them talking about bringing in some changes to the electoral system before the 1997 election.
Funny how they seemed to forget all about it when they looked invincible at the ballot box, isn’t it? They had plenty of time to bring in legislation to bring in ID cards, despite the massive costs and minimal benefits, but no time for the referendum on electoral reform they promised us 13 years ago though.
And now, in 2010, in the dog days of a government that looks like losing an election, they’ve suddenly remembered about that dusty old promise. They’re trying to dress it up as something to do with the expenses scandal, as though it wasn’t the poor MPs fault they were filling their boots whilst riding ‘the gravy train’ as Kevin Barron is alleged to have called it, it was simply because they hadn’t been endorsed by more than 50% of the electorate, bless them (although as Kevin Barron received 55% of the vote in the Rother Valley, he has no excuses).
Anyway – whatever the reasons are for bringing it up now, with no more than 5 months of the parliament left, one wonders what our MP, Kevin Barron, makes of it? The article above suggests it is a divisive issue within the party, but Kevin Barron – despite his protestations to the contrary – represents us. So I think it’d be nice to know what our representative thinks about such a major constitutional change. I’d ask him, but he completely ignores me. I only voted for him but have the temerity to expect something in return you see. Anyone else want to ask him what his views on electoral reform are?
February 2, 2010
“If I had a message for my constituents in Rotherham it would be drink responsibly and the recommended amounts per day.”
Rotherham Advertiser
Ok, so that’s me being cheeky because I have drunk a grand total of 18 units since last July – I’m really linking to this because The Advertiser has a poll to register your views with regard to the introduction of a minimum alcohol price. At the time of writing, 44% of respondents to the poll are in favour, and 57% have selected options that indicate they are not in favour. (It’s not my maths that are wrong by the way, it adds up to 101% on the Advertiser website.)
February 2, 2010
Kevin Barron will be speaking for the motion:
“This House would rather be unwell in Britain than America.”
Oxford Union: Hilary Term 2010
on Thursday. Nice that he is sharing his views with Oxford undergraduates (as I recall from my time in Oxford, the Union doesn’t allow guests, but I could be wrong – I doubt they’d welcome a delegation of Yorkshire folk though).
It’s a shame we only get to find out what our MP is up to via the power of google. Kevin – we’re interested in what you are doing in your role as our representative – and let’s be honest, you’re invited to this debate for no other reason than because we elected you. Why don’t you update your expensive website, now you have it?
February 2, 2010
Too often, politicians are elected on a raft of promises, many of which become forgotten after an election.Because of this I want to give you a signed contract, which I make with you, the constituents of Rother valley.
Lynda Donaldson
Lynda Donaldson is the Conservative Party candidate for the Rother Valley seat at the next election. As her party don’t have a manifesto yet it’s hard to question her on things, although I have found that she is quick to respond to emails, which to be fair will perhaps be less in volume than they wil be if she is elected. Still, our current MP Mr Kevin Barron doesn’t reply to emails at all, so Lynda is to be commended.
Anyway, she has no party policies to put forward yet, so instead has made up a ‘contract’ with her electorate, which you can download from this link.
February 2, 2010
The Scottish government has welcomed a call for minimum alcohol pricing made by a House of Commons committee. Westminster’s health committee made the recommendation after claiming the drinks industry held more power over policy than health experts. … The recommendation came in a report published by the cross-party Commons health select committee, chaired by Labour MP Kevin Barron.
BBC News – Commons committee backs minimum alcohol pricing
There is no doubt that increasing the price of goods reduces the demand for them, it’s a principle that is fundamental to our understanding of economics. The questions are more to do with how will this reduction come about? Will those that are drinking to excess cut back to a healthier intake, or will those who are occasional drinkers become less occasional drinkers? One won’t necessarily be able to tell from the sales figures, but I guess the NHS will be able to tell.
One has to conclude that the consumption of alcohol to excessive levels is seen as rational by those that do it – perhaps the risk to their health is considered a price worth paying for the ‘rewards’ of escapism or social inclusion. Such people will still seek those ‘rewards’ once alcohol goes up, and as long as they value them more highly than the alternatives, they will continue to drink.
We’ll see what happens
February 2, 2010
Jim Cunningham, MP for Coventry South, and the Right Honourable Kevin Barron, MP for Rother Valley, were announced as winners of the Diabetes UK Parliamentary Champion Award at the House of Commons on Wednesday 27 January.
Diabetes UK Announces Parliamentary Champion Winners
January 18, 2010
It would appear that there is going to be a UKIP candidate for the Rotherham seat at the general election, and that candidate is Caven Vines, who has a website at http://www.cavenvines.com/.
Now one expects UKIP candidates to be somewhat less than mainstream, but Mr Vines it seems is something of a ‘character’ even by their standards.
Over an image of a goldfish leaping from one bowl to another, Mr Vines has the text:
I am fed up with our town and country
being ruled by a set of Selfish Greedy Politicaly Correct Morraly Corrupt people
Like this gold Fish I want us to Leave the Old Murky Waters Created by the Above
And move to the Clear vision and bring England Back to being English
And having one set of Rules and Laws for all and stop Pandering to the Muslim Extreamists
Which is a fairly standard jingoistic simplification / misrepresentation of the issues, with added appalling grammar.
He even goes so far as to make up his own words on his homepage:
Time has come to say enough is enough we are fed up of working hard only to be taxed taxed taxed to pay for all these undisrable scrounges and Hate spreading Muslims.
You see, Mr Vines clearly has an eye on the bigger picture here – all Muslims, it seems, are ‘hate spreading’ – or at least he implies that all Muslims that are being ‘paid for’ by the state are – and by extension, the cost is a significant proportion of government spending.
Hmm. Don’t get me started on religion (oh go on then – they’re all as bad as each other) but Mr Vines for me – despite his unpleasant, ill-informed views, falls not in to the ‘dangerous’ category, but merely in to the ‘funny’ category. Please, people of Rotherham, don’t vote for this man.
