Lord Bhatia faces probe for Reigate flat

Just when we thought the ‘silly season’ was about to start in earnest the Times revealed over the weekend that Lord Bhatia 77 who was made a peer by Tony Blair in 2001 but sits on the neutral crossbenches could face a possible police probe following allegations surrounding his claims for his two bedroom apartment occupied by his brother.  Lord Bhatia nominated this apartment, as his...
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John Bercow’s ‘Pay Cut’

The Sunlight Centre has recieved a rapid response to our FOI request on Mr Speaker’s pay.  John Bercow’s total pay is £141,647.  His salary consists of £64,766 for his salary as an MP for Buckhingham and £79,754 for his salary for the office of speaker.  Both these rates are agreed by the House of Commons after having recieved advice from the...
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LibDems: Inquiry? No need for an inquiry here!

There has not been much movement on the case of Lord Rennard since the Sunlight Centre reported him to the Committe for Privileges, but one might at least expect the Lib Dems to be doing something about allegations of serious corruption by its own former CEO. Nothing of the kind. This from Agent Orange: Lib Dem News reported on Friday that Party President Ros Scott has co-hosted a second party...
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Crippled Parliamentary Standards Bill becomes Law

Gordon Brown’s face-saving measure to persuade the public that something has been done about the expenses scandal yesterday passed into law.  The shoddy bill, which the Lords criticized as one "drawn up in secrecy" – and for which the government didn’t even consult John Lyon, the Commissioner for Standards – had most of its teeth removed before it was...
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Sunlight launches Sponsorship Campaign

Chris Galley research director of the Sunlight Centre writes on The Red Rag with an update on the "Bringing Jacqui to Justice" campaign for a private prosecution of Jacqui Smith MP: "We are very happy that the first day of fund raising collected something like 100 donations online and raised £7,000. We wait to see what the post brings tomorrow, most donations are coming in...
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