With the furore about MPs’ expenses raging in the media, it’s somewhat disappointing to see that Boris has followed suit with his former colleagues and attempted to cheat the system for as much as he could get his grubby little mitts on.
What’s that, you say? He hasn’t?
Oh.
Yes, Boris appears to have come through the scandal completely unscathed, gently deriding those who did exploit the expenses system and quipping like a pro along the way. The soundbite of the week has to come from his defence of bike-riding:
Unless you’re completely insane or devious or a Liberal Democrat then there is no way you can fiddle your bike expenses.
I know that many people (including the folks at BorisWatch Towers) were shocked at the level of dodging and diving that appears to be a regular part of MPs’ expense claims — at times, it’s seemed like a parliamentary remake of Minder — and so it’s nice to see at least one high-profile figure who doesn’t have financial skeletons coming out of his closet.
And let’s face it… if there was anything to dig up, it would have been plastered over the front pages by now.
[sarcasm] None of that matters though because he knew a mad man. Once. Long ago. [/sarcasm]
We all knew that Boris was straight as a die. I don’t actually agree with David Cameron when he says he does not want his shadow cabinet to have second jobs. If shadow ministers (and Boris) want to beaver away in their spare time, surely that is up to them? If Cameron didn’t trust them to do a good job in whatever role he had given them, surely that means he picked the wrong man for the job? There has to be some trust surely, you can’t regulate too much.
“They work for you” tells us that Boris Johnson was the number 1 spender of additonal expenses for the two years before he was elected to be Mayor of London.
Additional Costs Allowance £23,083 (joint 1st) £22,110 (joint 1st) £19,326 £20,780 (joint 243rd) £20,333 (joint 3rd) £14,934 (523rd) £10,614 (554th)
Still the Telegraph (for whom he writes and that pays him some fees to do so) has made no mention of his expenses yet. Why might that be? Boris fared pretty well from 2003 and yet, so far, has not been the subject of scrutiny.
What did the Mayor spend such a lot of money on from the list that he came first in 2007/8 and 2006/7?
I think Londoners need to know if they can trust the Mayor’s use of public money for his private gain – if there is any.
“Additional Costs Claims Guide (the “John Lewis List”)
Staff are instructed to use the list as a guide when assessing whether purchases are allowable under Green Book section 3.14.1 – non-allowable expenditure: “furnishings (inc white goods, TV/DVD) or fittings which are antique, luxury or premium grade”, and section 3.10.1 – allowable expenditure: “Members should avoid purchases which could be seen as extravagant or luxurious”.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/HofCClaimsGuide.pdf
Sincerely,
(Earlsfield resident – ex teacher living on pension income of less than the Mayor’s “additional” annual expenses – and being taxed on it.)