When, back in May, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the then Rt Hon Michael Martin MP was forced to resign, and a new Speaker was elected, we were promised a new broom attitude. No nonsense would be tolerated after what most people could agree was the inauspicious Speakership and humiliating removal of Martin.
So after what most people would describe as an unsatisfactory election, with Labour voting for the Tory that Tories love to hate, we got Mr Bercow. Was this the new broom we were promised?
Well, as far as expenses go, it would seem not. One of Mr Bercow’s first jobs was to appoint himself a “special advisor” (at £107,000 a year), whose job it is “to raise his personal profile”. As fellow blogger Tory Outcast asks... what for? He’s not there to have a personal profile. He’s there to be Speaker. Mr Bercow also seems to have ruled out any kind of retribution for the house flippers of the Duck Parliament. (In one way, not surprisingly since he is one himself; but in another way very surprisingly since there are two inquiries and a commission dealing with that issue, not to mention the law!)
New FOI revelations show that Mr Bercow has spent, in the first 6 months of his tenure of the office, £45,000 on doing up his grace and favour pad, Speaker’s House, despite the fact that Mr Martin spent a king's ransom on it. Apparently within days of his election his wife was sending emails saying that the wallpaper was very “boardroomish”, and demanding a bigger television and a dvd player for the children.
Hello, I thought: Could you not have bought one of your own? I mean just because you are living at our expense doesn’t mean you can’t make some sort of contribution. (In most cases when people are in state-owned housing, decorating it to their taste is their job.) Bring your own telly for the kids, don't expect us to buy them one; maybe you could bring your own clothes too?
Mr Bercow also spent £3,600 on a visit to Rome to attend the G8 Speaker’s’ Conference... what the hell is that for? In what way does this conference benefit the taxpayer? Still, Rome is nice, no one could deny that.
So! As usual with Westminster, we were cheated. Nothing is too good for the Bercows. We thought that change was the order of the day, and we were wrong. Same old, same old from Mr and Mrs Bercow. I wonder how quickly he can be got rid of?
Perhaps we should have a Westminster composed of individuals who are self financing and claim nothing from the state..
ReplyDeleteThere lots out there able and very willing to do so
Are you volunteering Mr Mxyzptlk?
ReplyDeleteI think that's how it used to be, and of course, we all know that meant that the only people who could afford to be there were the landowners, or top barristers who made their money elsewhere.
In fairness we need a parliament that is well paid for what they do, and given reasonable expenses, like anyone else should get for carrying out their job.
The job is not professional, so I'm not sure why people think that they should have a salary like that of a large comprehensive school headmaster. It's not managerial; they only have a couple of staff, fewer than most corner shops; it's not intellectual, they aren't required to think as the party does all that for them and they need absolutely no qualification whatsoever.
They have long holidays and pretty much total freedom.... Och Niko, there's a whole post in this, don't you think?
I wonder how much a "non-reform" candidate for speaker would have cost us?
ReplyDeleteThen again, I doubt we'd notice, they're all proving to be crooks.
QM... It seems that they will say anything to get the job, then then get in and it's "to hell with all that".
ReplyDeleteBut what can we do....? Nothing it seems.
Absolutely. It's pathetic. Sadly the introduction of an independent conservative candidate in Buckingham is likely to split the anti-Bercow vote and let him back in.
ReplyDeleteHope (probably in vain) that Cameron has the guts to get rid of him anyway
Thanks for the link
Welcome to Munguin's Republic Tory Outcast and thanks for your comment. Your post on Bercow was excellent. I haven't the foggiest idea why he is bigging himself up as a person or personality. He's the Speaker. That's all he needs to be.
ReplyDeleteHow can Cameron get rid of him though? It seems to me that he's the Speaker till he decided it's time to go to the Lords...
Oh for an end to all this..... or the return of someone like Betty Boothroyde.
Bercow is a damn good MP, for his constituents, and he is what the party needs more of! We need more leftwing leaning Tories: Cameron needs to rebuild the leftwing of the party which gave us MacMillan, Heath, and other great legends.
ReplyDeleteOh and Tris I responded to the article you refered me to [and thanks my hangover wasnt too bad!]
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm all for left wing Tories Dean. I'm just not for ones that seem to think they can spend my money like it grows on trees. It doesn't.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your head is better... LOL. I'll pop over and look at your response... I thought you'd be interested in it.
So much for change, the 5.3 speaker should stand down (well jump down) at the next election.
ReplyDeleteAll this money he is earning on the side is a disgrace when effetely he is one of the most powerful midgets in the UK.
I don't like his voice, to toffy and snobby, no my sort of mantra, naws it? wull dy yeh?
Spook:
ReplyDeleteSome times you are that common..... so ye are.
I was thinking that his wife is a bit good looking and wondering what she saw in him....
Tris..
ReplyDeleteHmm, I dont think his wife can see much of him at all unless she gets down on her kness. She is huge and he is tiny.
Ew er Spooky. That paints a picture I wish I'd never thought of.....
ReplyDelete