Another Sunday, another Lord, or in this case Lady, exposed for troughing.
It’s not a question of “if” these days, it’s a question of “which one?”.
This week’s charmless upper-class villain is the unlovely Baroness Goudie, a Labour donor and (you’d never guess this one) close friend of the Prime Minister and Mrs Prime Minister.... well, well!
It seems that the Honourable and Noble Lady (ha ha ha ha ha) was born, and has lived all her life in London, where her two sons were raised and where her husband works as a ‘leading’ barrister. However, according to the “Sunday Times” the Baroness tells the Lords her main address is 400 miles away in a Glasgow apartment block. (Handy for the by-election perhaps?) Unfortunately for her, her neighbours say that she is rarely there. Strange that, considering it’s her main home.
On the other hand, happily for Goudie, this has allowed her to claim subsistence allowances under the ‘accommodation costs for peers who live outside of the English capital and need help (if you please) to meet the cost of accommodation there’ scheme. In this particular case the “subsistence” ran to the tune of some £230,000. Now, just imagine for a minute what a judge would do with a social security fraudster who had diddled the DWP out of that kind of lolly.
And there’s more.... It seems the Baroness is a trustee, along with Lord Paul (you’ll remember him from a couple of weeks ago; he lives in a cupboard in an hotel in Oxford and did us out of £38,000) of Sarah Brown’s Piggy Bank Kids charity. I can’t help thinking that Sarah might want to check a little more carefully the financial probity of her trustees.
Goudie’s connections with London are reflected in her title Baroness Goudie of Roundwood in the London Burgh of Brent (nothing about the Gorbals there then). She and her husband used to live in Hampstead but moved in 2002 to Belgravia. No wonder they can afford to live in one of the most expensive areas of London when we are subsidizing her to that extent.
OK... I’ve laughed a bit at her nobleness, but in honesty, how much longer is this going to go on? How much longer are we going to accept that these people are robbing a broke country blind while decent hardworking people are being made jobless, and losing their homes and families? What can we do to rid ourselves of this kind of lowlife at the supposed top of our society?
There are 724 members of the House of Lords, so if they all cost us £230,000 that is a grand total of: £166,520,000. My God, that makes the Royal family look reasonable or at least it would if we knew what the Royal family’s expenses were. But we don’t because they were exempted from Freedom of Information legislation, just like Gorbals Mick wanted to exempt MPs expenses from said legislation. So probably the Royal Family’s expenses bill is enormous. I am amazed that we can afford Trident’s replacement or bankers bailouts what with these gigantic expenses bills to foot. Just as well Scotland has got all that oil that can be used as collateral when UK plc needs to borrow the astronomical sums needed to keep these useless arseholes in gravy, moats, crowns and ermine.
ReplyDeleteI really believe that you couldn't make this up. All the lords and ladies, the MPs, the royals and the top people in places like the BBC taking the mick out of us on a daily basis. Stealing money left right and centre and believing it to be their right; indeed getting quite indignant when they are told to pay it back by the likes of Legge. They are utterly without shame and seem to be completely oblivious to the contempt in which they are held by struggling "ordinary" people.
ReplyDeleteThe whole of the London establishment appears to be corrupt from top to... well..... just under the top.
One of the things that angers most me is the indignation of those who were not, or say they were not on the fiddle. 'People are tarring all MPs' (and I suppose Lords) 'with the same brush', they complain.
As if they hadn't done that to every benefit claiment over the years, so that a guy thrown out of work is ashamed to be seen going into Jobcentre.
So tough cheese I say... As my gran would say: Whit's gaed ta gie's no ill tae tak.
As my American fiends might say 'suck it up baby'.
(Sorry Danny)
Disgusting people with no honour or sense of shame. Day after day the revelations pour out and nothing happens. I am amazed that the peoples of the UK haven't taken to the streets to force these thieves out. This absence of public action can only embolden the crooks to continue in their crookery. The UK is a failed state.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post.
ReplyDeleteLabour: party of the working class. Hhahahahahah..
sorry. My sensible point is relatively simple. If Labour are a partty believing in leftwing social-emocracy, class solidarity or even socialism why on earth dont they treat people like this lady or Lord Kinnock as 'class traitors'?
Answer: its all just empty rhetoric, keeping the poorest poor, dependent on statism creates a voting base which these people can always take for granted in General Elections. It sickens me, as under this 'Labour' government social-mobilitty has all but collapsed, which rather proves my point.
I just cant believe how they people can sleep at night. It appears the richer the spiv the more they claim.
ReplyDeleteGood point though Tris, if someone defrauded the DWP out of this amount of money then they would be behind bars. In fact people have been sent behind bars for less than £1000.
Maybe she is saving yp her expenses so she can buy the grand title of Miss Gorbals
AMW perhaps these people make full use of sleeping tablets to combat their conscience ridden insomnia?
ReplyDeleteNot full enough use Mr MacKinnon-Thomson!!
ReplyDeleteScunnert: I think the British government has always relied on the fact that the Brits are too indolent to do much of anything about much of anything. Except for the poll tax riots we pretty much suck it all up, moan and then get on with it. Time we didn't.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dean.
ReplyDeleteLabour just play at being Labour. In the constituencies they have gone out of their way, it seems to me to keep the poor poor in order that they can convince them that Labour, the party of the working man, is the only sensible voting possibility for them. I wonder when people will see through it.
Spooky, she's certainly a runner for Miss Gorbals. I thought that photo would do things for you.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they have any problems sleeping at night. They really believe it is theirs as of right. It's time we disabused them of that notion.
I think we should note the next case of some daft lassie that's diddled DWP and write to our MPs and the PM asking why the good?? Baroness gets off free when the daft nedess gets the pokey.
Dean and Sophia:
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I'd be happy to put into the kitty to buy them VERY strong sleeping pills, and I'd happily use a shovel to insert them in your fat gobs. (Perhaps we should see if there is such a thing as sleeping suppositories?)
(Perhaps we should see if there is such a thing as sleeping suppositories?)
ReplyDeleteNo use then things, may as well shove them up your arse! ;o))))))))
LOL Anon... I suppose you might as well :-)
ReplyDeleteooh-er tris, now there's a thought.
ReplyDeleteI know that a rushed judgement is not always the best kind, but the length of time the Met Polis is taking is too long. Actions like the good Lady Goodie's look feel and smell like fraud. Others, like Morepay Moron and Cheator positively reek.
Old Mr Brown may wish to put this off until after his retirement (next May?) but in order for Westminster to have a future it is vital that the boil is lanced. We are resigned to this pathetic bunch seeing out their sorry terms, but I feel the coming election will have to change the ground-rules.
As if we care. Westminster is a stinking pile for stinking rubbish. Once again we look to Holyrood for a modern Parliament, and once again we are proud to be Scottish.
Well Sophia, you know me, I'm always glad to stimulate thought. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI just feel they are all taking us for muppets, because we're a lazy indolent lot that would rather go down the pub or to the bingo... or sit in front of the telly than actually DO something about their theiving.
As if we care... well, my only real care is that these lowlife criminals are costing me money. Her £230,000 had to come from somewhere, and some of it is out of my bank balance. (Not much of it, I grant you).
But you're right. Holyrood is not perfect but it leaves that pile of festering crud standing. We'll see a day when it is the only parliament in these islands that holds any sway over our lives...
Until then let's get looking for these suppositories, shall we?
Tris
ReplyDelete"stimulate thought", "sleeping suppositories" LOL
Sophia
"Once again we look to Holyrood for a modern Parliament, and once again we are proud to be Scottish"
Not sure about that. In my mind Holyrood is just as bad as Westminster, the only difference is Holyrood has already had an expenses scandal episode [David McLetchie, McCleash etc etc].
And lets not forget Holyroods construction debacle. My point is this comparison talk about Holyrood being a shing light to Westminster is rather jingoistic, it ignores Holyroods spectacular cock-ups.
Dean, I don't know what your laughing away at there. I DO like to stimulate thought.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I find the idea of sleeping suppositories rather LOLish though.... :-0
Dean MacKinnon-Thomson said...
ReplyDeleteAMW perhaps these people make full use of sleeping tablets to combat their conscience ridden insomni
....
You could be right but i suspect a good old fashioned hammer over the napper would be more prudent
Geez Spooks, there's no a lot of subtilty aboot you, but.... what a bra idea.
ReplyDeleteTris..
ReplyDeleteThe reason she and others get of with it is because most MPs, have something to hide from all parties. They are all in it together. Its like being back at School with the MP,s etc, think they can get off with murder.
Miss Gorbals might just become Miss castlemilk if she has to hand money back
Tris.
ReplyDeleteI aim to please!!
The thing is Spook they DO get off with it, and they DON'T have to hand back the big stuff... Look at that stupid woman Smith.... unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteErm... I bet you do Spookie.
ReplyDeleteTris..
ReplyDeleteAh ken it makes you sick. They slam up small time benefit cheats yet this lot get off with embezzling thousands.
Huh the mother of all parliaments, mir like mother of all scams..
Yeah Spook, and it's not just the money. It's the sheer sense of "entitlement" they seem to have. MPs wives are throwing a hissy fit because they suspect that there will be a rule that says that they cannot be employed by their husbands (and I imagine the other way round). They work for the government... civil service. I did a short term contract a few years ago for the Jobcentre, and there no staff were allowed to work in the same building as a relative. Why, if it's good for ordinary people, is it not good for MPs.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, if the greedy b***ards hadn't abused it by employing their wives/husbands part time at £30,000 to do a bit of filing or their sons at £15,000 for doing nothing at all, then maybe this wouldn't have been looked at.
What I mean is that they are complaining that they are going to be treated like other government employees... Bloody cheek.
(I don't think current relative/employees will have to be sacked, just no new ones employed.)