All posts for the month May, 2009

Dave Cameron is decisive on MPs expenses

Yesterday I wrote

 

 David Cameron should remove the party Whip from the 3 worst offenders (according defined criteria, including failure to recognize their waywardness), forgive the rest (after appropriate admissions and apologies) and move on. That would set a clear precedent for the Prime Minister to follow.  

Further, it would also show David Cameron to be able to make decisive and bold moves for the sake of the country, even if it means losing some friends on the way. With unprecedented cuts to be required in public expenditure when he enters office, this would increase his stature for much bigger battles ahead.

 Today, David Cameron has made the decisive and bold move, in a way that improves upon my suggestion of yesterday, first in John Redwood’s blog, then enlarged upon on this blog. Iain Dale has a fulsome account of the speech here. What was missing from by post was that MPs should pay back expenses they claimed immorally (but not outside the rules). Also Cameron is more benevolent (he will only sack those who do not conform, not sack 3 as a warning to others). In addition Cameron lays down that principles are more important than rules, with a filtering of expenses before they are submitted. In all 3 areas Cameron has improved on my suggestions.

 The result is that the general principles will become more important than the individual rules. This is manic beancounting at its best!

 Furthermore, the way is clear to move on forward onto the wider issues, building on the experience to move forward. To quote David Cameron

” But when it comes down to it I think all of us want the same thing – we want to be proud of our Parliament and the people in it. We’ve got big, big problems in this country. We need big change.

If we win the next election, we’ll be asking the whole country to come together to show social responsibility, personal responsibility and thrift. So the least we can do is to ask Parliament to live by those values as well.”

by manicbeancounter on 12/05/2009  •  Permalink
Posted in MPs Expenses, Politicians, Uncategorized

Posted by manicbeancounter on 12/05/2009

https://manicbeancounter.com/2009/05/12/dave-cameron-is-decisive-on-mps-expenses/

MPs Expenses – Cameron should be Machiavellian

Just posted the following comment to John Redwood’s Blog

MPs Expenses are (highly symbolic) distraction. If each MP’s cost us £300k each, 650 MPs cost £195m, or 0.03% of total government expenditure. A 50% saving on MP’s costs will be less than 0.1% of the total we need to save. Conservatives should be Machiavellian on this. David Cameron should remove the party Whip from the 3 worst offenders (according defined criteria, including failure to recognize their waywardness), forgive the rest (after appropriate admissions and apologies) and move on. That would set a clear precedent for the Prime Minister to follow.  

Further, it would also show David Cameron to be able to make decisive and bold moves for the sake of the country, even if it means losing some friends on the way. With unprecedented cuts to be required in public expenditure when he enters office, this would increase his stature for much bigger battles ahead.

by manicbeancounter on 11/05/2009  •  Permalink
Posted in Credit Crunch, Gordon Brown, MPs Expenses

Posted by manicbeancounter on 11/05/2009

https://manicbeancounter.com/2009/05/11/mps-expenses-cameron-should-be-machiavellian/

Kelvin Hopkins – The Honourable Member for Luton North

As a break from all the revelations of MPs playing the system, please read this in today’s Telegraph.

 

A loose regime can only work for people with integrity. But a complex system will not only penalize the honest, but distract MPs from their proper role.

by manicbeancounter on 11/05/2009  •  Permalink
Posted in MPs Expenses, Politicians

Posted by manicbeancounter on 11/05/2009

https://manicbeancounter.com/2009/05/11/kelvin-hopkins-%e2%80%93-the-honourable-member-for-luton-north/

The Apologies on MPs Expenses

The Contrast between Cameron and Brown

 

–         Cameron seeks to bring his MPs into line, whilst Brown apologizes on behalf of all MPs

–         Cameron threatens action on those who have clearly broken the rules, whilst Brown is more for paying back the money owed.

 

That means, under Cameron, action is threatened, whilst under Brown the issue will be swept under the carpet. Could this be, if there is a consistent line between the parties, that the cabinet will suffer more than the shadow cabinet.

 

Might I suggest that Dave Cameron draws an unambiguous line and sidelines the worst offenders. This would leave the Labour party either with a many more sackings, or looking weak on unethical behaviour. The danger is the the Lib-dems would benefit at the expense of both. However, electorally, this may not matter too much, as the Lib-dems tend to lose seats in a swing to the Conservatives.

 

Please see below for the quotes on which this is based.

 

From David Cameron for the Conservatives then said (according to the Telegraph’s Benedict Brogan)

 

For MPs “stand up and explain why they claimed what they claimed”.    

“If there’s a case of someone who clearly did break the rules and that was totally unjustifiable then there may be a case for action.”

 

Further (quoted by the Guardian)

 

  1. “It is the responsibility of those we elect to behave properly. Not just legally, not just within the rules, but to the highest ethical standards. People who stand for public office put themselves forward as people who will rule over the rest of us.”    

 

From Nick Clegg for the Liberal Democrats also apologized for his MPs.

 

 

From Gordon Brown (according to the BBC)

 

          “I want to apologise on behalf of politicians, on behalf of all parties, for what has happened in the events of the last few days.”

 

   Further (in a speech to the Royal College of Nursing conference in Harrogate)

 

“Just as you have the highest standards in your profession, we must show that we have the highest standards for our profession.

“And we must show that, where mistakes have been made and errors have been discovered, where wrongs have to be righted, that that is done so immediately.

“We have also to try hard to show people and think hard about how a profession that, like yours, depends on trust – the most precious asset it has is trust – how that profession too can show that it is genuinely there to serve the public in all its future needs.”

 

The Contrast between Cameron and Brown

 

–         Cameron seeks to bring his MPs into line, whilst Brown apologizes on behalf of all MPs

–         Cameron threatens action on those who have clearly broken the rules, whilst Brown is more for paying back the money owed.

 

That means, under Cameron, action is threatened, whilst under Brown the issue will be swept under the carpet. Could this be, if there is a consistent line between the parties, that the cabinet will suffer more than the shadow cabinet.

 

Might I suggest that Dave Cameron draws an unambiguous line and sidelines the worst offenders? This would leave the Labour party either with many more sackings, or looking weak on unethical behaviour. Either way, it would strengthen Cameron’s hand as the more decisive party leader. The danger is the the Lib-dems would benefit at the expense of both. However, electorally, this may not matter too much, as the Lib-dems tend to lose seats in a swing to the Conservatives.

 

Please see below for the quotes on which this is based.

by manicbeancounter on 11/05/2009  •  Permalink
Posted in Politicians

Posted by manicbeancounter on 11/05/2009

https://manicbeancounter.com/2009/05/11/the-apologies-on-mps-expenses/

The three greatest obstacles to Britain’s recovery?

 

Posted to Daniel Finklestein’s blog, in answer to The three greatest obstacles to Britain’s recovery?

 

1. The ballooning deficit – Large tax rises and increases in interest rates will slow down any recovery. Real public expenditure cuts will only happen if we are forced to by the IMF.
2. The massive increase in regulation in the past decade means that the economy has not the flexibility to create new jobs quickly.
3. Most of the growth of the past decade came from financial services and the public sector. Neither of the sectors will create many jobs in the next few years. Neither are there emerging growth areas, as in the 1980s and 1990s (security, call centres, telecoms etc.)

Please note that the three are not mutually exclusive. The financial sector is going to be hobbled by increased regulation and government ownership. Whilst I am pessimistic about the ability of government’s to control expenditure, the public sector payroll will not be increasing much in the next decade.

 

It is possible to replace the third point by

 

3. The housing market. When housing activity increases, so does a large part of the retail sector such as DIY products, furniture and carpets. There is likely to be a prolonged slump, as the volume of house sales is constrained by current credit squeeze and the oncoming interest rate hikes. House prices are likely to continue to fall, as more buy-to-let investors either desire to, or are forced to sell up. Whilst house prices are falling, people will delay buying.

by manicbeancounter on 10/05/2009  •  Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by manicbeancounter on 10/05/2009

https://manicbeancounter.com/2009/05/10/the-three-greatest-obstacles-to-britains-recovery/

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