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MP repays £300 in expenses (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
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MP repays £300 in expenses
4:46pm Friday 5th February 2010
North Wiltshire MP James Gray has repaid £324.84 of expenses despite saying he doesn't owe it.
The Conservative was one of 389 MPs to receive letters yesterday ahead of the publication of a report into the expenses scandal.
He said: “When I was advised that I should repay a total of £324.84, there having been an apparent overpayment with regard to rent over a four year period on my second home, I of course did so immediately.
“It is a mystery to me how the authorities arrived at that figure, since I had always meticulously paid the rent by direct debit and reclaimed precisely the same figure, but it being a small sum, I decided to pay it rather than dispute it in any way.”
Sir Thomas Legg, who published his report on the expenses scandal on Thursday, recommended that 389 MPs return a total of £1.12 million of second home expenses after auditing claims dating back to 2004.
The Legg review cost £1.16 million, more than the amount demanded from MPs.
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Your Say YourGazette
Hairy Bloke, Westbury says...
5:32pm Fri 5 Feb 10
.
Yeah to you as it's other peoples money anyway. Tosser
Locksmith, North Wilts says...
6:04pm Fri 5 Feb 10
JesseLake, Chippenham Cepen Park South says...
6:07pm Fri 5 Feb 10
lordbuckethead, chippenham says...
6:23pm Fri 5 Feb 10
Nice man. . .
http://iaindale.blog
spot.com/2009/05/exc
lusive-james-gray-ph
oto-of-dying.html
Nick Taken, Trowbridge says...
7:05pm Fri 5 Feb 10
Stage 1: Mp's fleece the taxpayer anyway they can and under advice from other Mp's.
Stage 2: They get greedy through lack of morals over time degrading and get caught with mits in the public cookie jar.
Stage 3: Public anger rises, pitch forks are dusted off and the Mp's know they risk a revolt that would empty parliament of them all overnight.
Stage 4:A few heads roll, a few look like they will, many are tarred but most claim innocence.
Stage 5: Seek an independant enquiry ASAP or risk a revolution.
Stage 6: Independant enquiry (6 months later - a nice resting period for any hot pie) says all Mp's should pay back all monies deemed excessive retrospectivly.
Stage 7:Mp's claim human rights breaches, appeal and refuse to repay knowing full well that the justice system cannot cope with a mass refusal to pay back our money. It would take too many years and cost more than they owe.
In the meantime, business as usual.
The people and the media will forget and time heals everything.
They make sure that they get time under the guise that they are doing something about expenses with enquiries, debates and appeals.
This MP should do as he is told without question as should the rest of the Mp's.
Every time an MP says 'I'll pay but I dont know why' or 'it's unfair and wrong' another seed of doubt is cast and after a while it's all doubtful and then.... it never happened.
Business as usual.
Not Kate Price, Warminster says...
8:13pm Fri 5 Feb 10
I am told the television appeal is scheduled for next week but I'm not sure if it's a con because I have been asked to send the cheque to the House of Commons. I contacted Westminster and someone said I needn't worry as long as I leave the cheque blank for administration purposes. Is this all above board?
Chlamydia Fannyrot, Phone Box Eden Vale says...
8:23pm Fri 5 Feb 10
codgod, Spud lane says...
9:15pm Fri 5 Feb 10
Triton, Calnetalk.com says...
10:05am Sat 6 Feb 10
codgod wrote:Very good point! The vast majority of people reading this topic would have claimed for as much as they could "within the rules". Taking money is utterly classless.
Oh come off of it.....we would all bloody do it given the opertunity...anyone who says they wouldnt is a bloody liar. From what i have seen and heard he seems to be an ok kind of guy and the fact that its only £300 kind of proves he wasnt claiming for much unlike some of these other rouges.
Old retired bloke, Devizes says...
10:56am Sat 6 Feb 10
Triton wrote:Maybe, but the point is if you or I got caught there would be no opportunity to pay the money back with no questions asked, we would be arrested and prosecuted - just like the advert says. And it wouldn't matter how small the amount was. Bunch of thieves - sack 'em, prosecute 'em and then make them pay the money back!!
codgod wrote: Oh come off of it.....we would all bloody do it given the opertunity...anyone who says they wouldnt is a bloody liar. From what i have seen and heard he seems to be an ok kind of guy and the fact that its only £300 kind of proves he wasnt claiming for much unlike some of these other rouges.Very good point! The vast majority of people reading this topic would have claimed for as much as they could "within the rules". Taking money is utterly classless.
old bert, beanacre says...
5:57am Sun 7 Feb 10
The Maxter, Chippenham says...
7:35am Mon 8 Feb 10
MP James Gray
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mld1, chippenham says...
4:53pm Fri 5 Feb 10