[dentstudent (OP)]

It seems from my distant point, that the UK is on the verge of political collapse, and that at any time, another member of parliament will resign as a result of "Claimsgate" (I've just coined that - I haven't seen it anywhere else, so I have copyright  []). It seems that noone is actually competently running the country anymore and that there is a high level of discontent with the current incumbent(s). So, how far can it all go?

Is it only the PM who has the capacity to call an election? If the labour party have a vote of no confidence in the PM, then there would have to be a new leader, and hence a general election, wouldn't there?

At what point can someone step in and say "Right. That's it. You've had your chance, now bugger off.", or do you lot have to wait until the end of the 5 year cycle? (Whenever that is...)

[Don_1]

Sadly the PM can stay as long as he decides up to his 5 year limit. A vote of no confidence should unseat him, but Labour will rally around to save him, or they they know damn well, they will lose their seats too.

Contrary to popular belief, the Queen cannot dissolve parliament without the say so of the government.

Even if we do have general election, what good will it do? Our choices will be between one bunch of grasping liars or a bunch of lying graspers!!!

[Don_1]

Our MP’s have brought a shame on this country unequalled throughout our history. They have proved themselves the most dishonest, dishonourable, and shameless dregs of society.

While some may not have been jumping on the gravy train, it must be assumed that they were aware of their colleagues’ blatant dishonesty and are therefore complicit in their dishonesty.

How can these men and women blame the system? How can they have the bare faced nerve to call for the blood of the Speaker? The words ‘pot’, ‘kettle’ and ‘black’ come to mind.

I think we need a constitutional amendment to return the power of dissolution to the ruling monarch and to ensure that the Privy Council does not have any sitting MP’s on it.

As for the bunch in parliament, they should all be tied up in Traitors Gate, and let the Thames decide on their fate.

[rosy]

Hmm. Certainly the MPs should have fixed the system years ago, but also...
I think really the fees office have to be sacked en masse. They have clearly been suggesting all these bright ideas to the MPs. MPs DO go into politics in hopes of making the country better, they arrive at Westminster and are surrounded by the hocus pocus of the house of commons and they suddenly have to spend a vast amount of money on doing their new job whilst figuring out how to best serve their constituencies, how to balance constituency work with their role scrutinizing legislation etc etc. I actually entirely believe people like Clare Short when they say that they gave their mortgage paperwork to the fees office and assumed they'd be paid the amount they were entitled to.
That Michael Martin has resigned is right and proper, there was clearly an shocking lack of scrutiny of the fees office, which was his job. The cleaners of moats and swappers about of first residences will face the wrath of their constituency parties and their electorate, I don't expect to see them back this time next year. But I also think that the media hysteria has been over hyped. A small number of MPs were basically on the take, swapping homes about to get two free sets of renovation work needs to be ruled out, the regulations must be tightened up, but the idea that MPs are all out for what they can get is frankly implausible. Many of them have given up much better paid jobs to enter parliament... I'm deeply suspicious of career politicians,  but that's for other reasons entirely.

[Don_1]

Hmm. Certainly the MPs should have fixed the system years ago, but also...
I think really the fees office have to be sacked en masse.

It is not the system which is at fault, so much as the thieving b*****ds who have exploited it.

Yes, the Fees Office has a great deal to answer for, but they are a bunch of juniors who have been bullied by the likes of the Justice Minister (a contradiction in terms, it appears).

And what of those who have been claiming for mortgages which have been long paid up??? I'm sure they would have noticed if £10k + had gone missing from their bank account, yet they claim they did not realise it had been paid in, did they???!!!

I will grant you there are some, the likes of Vince Cable, who should not be tarnished by this sordid affair.

[Bored chemist]

Re " If the labour party have a vote of no confidence in the PM, then there would have to be a new leader, and hence a general election, wouldn't there? ".
Tony Blair is no longer the leader of the labour party or the PM, but we didn't have a general election.
Just to prove that I'm not biassed the same was true when Major took over from Maggie.

Ordinarilly I would be biassed but, at the moment it looks like most of the politicians are hopeless crooks.
Incidentally, the fees office might have said the claims were OK but when it comes down to it does someone who thinks the taxpayer should foot the bill for cleaning their moat really warrant a place in any sort of government?
Also, if they are not prepared prepared to take responsibility for their own actions, they deserve to be chucked out.

[Don_1]

Here here......

mumble mumble horizon mumble horizon WHhhhhaaaaa.

Just practicing, I may stand for election, so I need to know what to say when in the H of C.

Douglas Hogg has announced he won't be standing for re-election...... WHO IS THAT LOW LIFE KIDDING!!!!! After having his moat cleaned at our expense, did the ponce think anyone would vote for HIM!!!!!!!!!!!

[rosy]

Actually, given my grip of my own financial affairs, I can entirely believe someone might not notice they had paid off their mortgage. Since I have more coming in than I need to live on (not all that much, but then nor is my lifestyle expensive), I occasionally check that the utilities payments look plausible but I very rarely check that an incoming BACS payment is correct, I tend to assume that the university are in charge of paying me the right amount. Other than that, I transfer some money to a savings account and ignore the problem.
The MPs who have been playing the system by re-assigning their primary residence and/or living on someone's floor and claiming second home allowance for the family house deserve all the scorn poured on them and, in fact, deserve to be prosecuted.. however, if they haven't broken the letter of the law they won't be, and nor should they be (if they have, I hope the book's thrown at them).
In the long term, the advent of the FOI legislation will see to all that. Public scrutiny will ensure that they can't indulge in the letter-of-the-law connivances that have occured to date. Which is all good.
But I hope the hysteria won't mean that the rules are made too difficult to obey, because I don't want to see national politics being henceforth restricted to those with private means, trade union sponsorship, or a constituency in London. In the past, some Scots MPs who could charge for transport but not a London flat, used to travel to and fro on the sleeper trains in order to be able to have a day in parliament without having to pay out of his own pocket for a London base. I wonder how useful he was in committees after that sort of night's sleep?

I'm pretty angry, however, at the way the two peers who offered to sell - that's *sell* - their influence in the committees have more-or-less disappeared under what is actually, although corrosive and disgusting, not making a huge difference to the way the country is run. And frankly, that's what I care about.