Curious how fast the BBC latched onto the story about Tory ‘Lord Moat’, Douglas Hogg. This is the same BBC that stubbornly resisted the tidal wave of censure for Jeremy Corbyn due to his close links to those very dubious friends and honoured citizens. It was only when the coverage from those other sources became embarrassingly widespread and relentless that the BBC realised it couldn’t sit this out and decided to investigate Corbyn’s curious comrades.
Funny how the BBC is always so reluctant to expose such people…Lutfur Rahman being another one that the BBC held back on for a long time.
Wonder what the link is? Both hard left Labour, both with dodgy links to Islamist extremists. Yes, I wonder.
Sorry Alan but I can’t accept this.
What Hogg did in expecting the taxpayer to pick up the tab for cleaning his moat was ridiculous. If I remember correctly an unapologetic Hogg claimed that the media were picking on him because they were jealous because he lived in a big house !
They have failed to report that the expenses scandal was entirely the fault of the lying & corrupt Tony BLiar who told MPs they couldn’t politically have a pay rise, so it was up to them to make up the shortfall in their expenses.
As for Corbyn, they have gone some way in reporting his dubious associations, and they certainly have gone for him over allegations of anti Semitism.
I’m pretty sure that Corbyn is not the candidate the BBC would wish to see as the winner, and yet there’s an inevitability about it which the BBC doesn’t want to oppose.
I’d like to see more of a focus on the hypocrisy of those sanctimonious Lib Dems. The great statesman and moral arbiter Ming Campbell has his snout in a deeper trough for no valid democratic reason so that he may opine loftily to us. ‘Thank-you for your views, your Lordship.’
Absolutely, my ex Lib Dem MP Don Foster, who stood down in 2015 has always been vehemently been anti the HOL, yet more than happy to take up his peerage, claiming he will vote against it given the chance. Yea but more than happy to leech off the taxpayer ’til then (if ever) eh Don?
The lib Dems have ruined the city of Bath, a city of student accommodation.
Hypocrisy in action…
What happened to Bliars expenses whilst in office,shredded I believe. Which by law is illegal as they have to be kept for 5 years I think.
Dear old Auntie has been shafting the people of GB for a lot more than a Moat cleaning service.The government will do nothing about the BBC as they both belong to CP.
Political idiocy though eh Alan?
That load of sackshit from the Dung Parliament of 2005-10 should be getting used as fuel oil or landfill-NOT getting yet more chances to screw us over from the bloated pointless House of Lords(as it stands).
Cameron has made a big error-that he chose to try and reward the likes of David Laws will not be getting forgotten before the election.
Corbyn has got clean hands in comparison to pasty taxing, wisteria-claiming Cameron…and Cameron is only daring us add fuel to Corbyns brazier…smug, complacent stupidly bad politics.
The BBC, of course use their cats eye to get at the useless Hogg Senior…but the public DON`T get reminded of Blunketts or Morleys, McShanes or Joyces…and HE ought to know that if he wants to play politics.
This is a gift to Corbyns crew-and bloody stupid,seeing as I want labour to dissolve or stay out of office for a lifetime.
What Douglas Hogg did regarding the expenses scandal was unacceptable but didn’t come close to some of the other claimants.
If two people were caught thieving, one from a bank, the other from a local sweet shop, all sense of justice would lean towards the bank robber being dealt with as a priority and with a severity not seen in the case of the “lesser” crime.
Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary at the time, stole over £100,000 from the taxpayer by pretending that a spare bedroom in her sister’s house was her main home. When discovered she lied to try and cover it up claiming that she actually spent the majority of nights with her family in the Midlands and claimed the investigation only came about because she was a woman. She was finally nailed when the special protection unit assigned to her produced their official records of her whereabouts, proving that she was in fact guilty as charged.
Her equally odious husband became notorious when it was discovered that he was claiming for the rental of pornography and Jacqui was claiming it back on her expenses. The very suggestion that she knew nothing about either the expenses being claimed or the regular consumption of pornography at her home is laughable but that didn’t stop her pretending it was true.
Her husband had form – he was exposed as a charlatan who regularly wrote to local newspapers under a pseudonym praising Jacqui and applauding her political achievements……….this didn’t prevent her employing him as her office manager at a cost of £40,000 per annum – all charged to the taxpayer of course.
Jacqui Smith should be in prison, instead she continues to suck on the taxpayers teat and walked into another public sector job as Chair of a hospital trust. She is regularly seen as one of the talking heads who review the newspapers.
Let’s get our priorities right.
But the difference is that Jacqui Smith has not been appointed to the Lords.
I remember the BBC’s coverage of the expenses scandal at the time and it was far more about moats and duck houses than second home scandals, mortgage fraud and fictitious claims for translation services. There was hardly a mention of Elliot Morley whose defence was so unbelievable he should should have been crucified by any satirist worth his salt. But then the likes of The News Quiz and The Now Show are not satirical, they’re unadulterated leftist propaganda broadcasts.
You`re right Mr Option.
Smith,Pryce, Huhne, McShane etc ARE worse in “real terms”…no doubting that.
But the duck house stuff sticks and stinks…and Corbyn will rightly be able to make hay with that.
To be fair as well, even those politicos I despise like Hilary Benn and Harriet Harman were not coating their tennis courts like Letwin,not claiming for trouser presses and duck houses like Huhne and Viggers.
And , were I a Lefty(and I used to be…big time)…I`d knock the Tories around the ring over giving Lordships to nomarks and oilskins like Campbell, Blunkett and Hogg Snr.
The likes of Darling and Hague are fair enough…but a Laws is no better than a Sewel in terms of morality.
Camerons the politican-HE should know how this looks-and the fact that he`s “relaxed” about the BBCs inveterate 24/7 lefty agitations means we`ll end up with Corbyn or something worse if he doesn`t get a grip on how all this looks to us here in the real world.
My Two Euros anyway!
And, of course, Hogg and Viggers did repay their £2200 and £1680 expenses for their outrageous claims. However, the egregious Jacqui Smith did not. She stole from the taxpayer £100,000, which is 40,000 % (yes, forty-thousand percent) more than Hogg or Viggers, yet was not prosecuted and sent to jail. Every time I see that appalling woman appear on TV, all I can think of is the £100,000 she stole from me and you.
I think you will find the problem with the H of L began when one party decided to whip its supporters to oppose legislation which was in the manifesto of the winning party in the House of Commons. Consequently with a change in government the new government party will need to bolster its numbers in the Lords
There was a convention that they were there to advise, revise and ask the H of C to think again, particularly as they had people of probably broader and greater experience of many matters than those in the Commons who we know have rarely actually done anything in life apart from politics.
The last thing we need is an elected House of Lords, who would of course then claim they have the right to block legislation, but also want salaries, staff etc.
I think MP’s from all parties were implicated the expenses scandal and no doubt some were more guilty than others. I agree Jacqui Smith was one the worst. But the problem with the “moat”, in terms of left wing stereotypes of Conservatives, was it’s sheer stupidity. After all, who would have a moat, other than the Lord of the Manor.
I can’t really say whether the BBC are using this as a way to deflect attention from Corbyn’s dubious associations. It has been discussed by the BBC – perhaps not as rigorously as it should be.
What I find much more worrying is that much of Corbyn’s support may well be coming from people because of these associations, not in spite of them. In this the BBC is culpable, in its relentless and one-sided criticism of Israel and apparent promotion of Islam at every opportunity.
Baroness Uddin c£250K + council house.
Lord Ahmed killed another motorist whilst texting and driving.
Oona King humiliated by Galloway.
Jeffry Archer, where do you start?
Warsi, never even been democratically elected by the voters.
Ashton ditto.
Kramer, bounced out by Tristram Hunt, now minister for transport.
It goes on and on. In a democracy you can vote them in and vote them out ! Even when released from prison they return for their £300 + ex’s.
We need an unelected second house overseeing the lower one, otherwise people like Tony BLiar will be able to get all his crazy legislation passed on a rubber stamp.
Is that what you really want? The sordid whipping system ensuring that party members vote the correct way or are deselected come the next election?
Remember if politicians want it, then there’s a pretty good reason why the people should be opposed to it !
I think that, in terms of money, Labour stole about 3 times as much from the taxpayer that the evil Tories stole. Unfortunately , I cannot find the source for that, so I may be wrong. However, if anyone had listened to the BBC, they would think that the Tories were worse. Bias ?
Labour had a lot more MPs doing porridge than the Tories had.