Baroness Scotland Broke Employment Laws

Posted on Sep 17, 2009 in frontpage, projects It was reported in the Daily Mail today that the Attorney General Baroness Scotland has been employing an illegal immigrant for the past six months.  Loloahi Tapui 27, from Tonga worked in Baroness Scotland’s home as her housekeeper.  Even unknowingly employing an overstayer is still an offence punishable by a fine up to £10,000 under legislation that Lady Scotland helped...
read more

Peer In Charge of HOL Expenses Reform Claims £200,000

Posted on Sep 7, 2009 in frontpage, projects Baroness Hayman, the Lord Speaker who is in charge of the House of Lords expenses reform it has been reported in the Times at the weekend that she has claimed £200,000  by designating her home in Norfolk as her main address She receives £38,000 a year to help with the cost of accommodation in London, on top of her £108,000-a-year salary. Before she became Speaker, she...
read more

Double our salaries, says Tory MP

Posted on Aug 19, 2009 in blog, frontpage The Evening Standard has a front-page splash today about Tory MP Patrick Cormack suggesting the best solution to the expenses crisis is to simplify the system by taking away most allowance. To support this, he says, "the salaray of Members would have to be doubled at least." Of course, Cormack actually said this about two months ago in his submitted evidence to the Committee on...
read more

Has Mandelson broken the Ministerial Code?

Posted on Aug 18, 2009 in frontpage, projects The Sunlight Centre for Open Politics has today placed a complaint with the Cabinet Office querying Lord Mandelson’s Corfu meeting with Colonel Gadaffi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gadaffi just days before the announcement was made that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was to be sent home on compassionate grounds as he is suffering from terminal cancer. Officials in Scotland, where the final...
read more

Whistle-blower protection not enough

Posted on Aug 12, 2009 in blog, frontpage An article by Chris Galley, our Research Director, appeared on the Index on Censorship today in response to the Public Administration Select Committee’s newly released proposals to protect civil service whistle-blowers: When it was discovered, in November last year, that I was the source of a series of Home Office leaks that caused considerable embarrassment to the government, the police...
read more

John Bercow’s ‘Pay Cut’

Posted on Jul 23, 2009 in blog, frontpage, projects, Uncategorized 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...
read more