I blogged on this story earlier in the day, but there are fact that have since emerged and I feel that we actually have something quite serious going on here... so I hope you’ll excuse a second story on the same subject.
When the three MPs in the dock requested that they should not in fact stand in the actual dock like common criminals but sit on the body of the court like they were spectators, and then proceeded to put forward a defence that they did not recognise the jurisdiction of an English court over them but, because they were politicians they should be judged by THEIR peers, not by OUR peers like us ordinary people are, there was an element of the surreal about it.
There they were, three fat cat MPs who had been on the fiddle because they thought no one would ever find out, had been brought to book, just as if they were common criminals. But they were going to try one last gasp attempt to get off with it; one last throw of the dice and use of the “get out of jail because you’re an MP” card that is the Westminster Monopoly set.
So we all had a little laugh at the pathetic low life and watched as the first part of their plan fell apart. “Can we sit in the posh seats?” they asked, expecting, no doubt that the judge would say "Yes Sirs". But he didn’t.... and so we thought: Nice one. Hopefully the rest of it will fall apart too. The use of some ancient Bill of Rights is a bit of a laugh after all....they can't be serious......can they?
Until just a few moments later, the announcement came that the estimable Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions in England, had had to drop the case against Uddin of the other place, because of a ruling by some official of that House that its members could call their first home a place that they only visited once a month. Possibly only for a few minutes. It certainly must be so, because it would be cold comfort farm if we visited Mrs Uddin’s first home for any amount of time... given that there is more or less no furniture. Paul, that well known Labour donor who has also been let off fraud charges, might have difficulty visiting his first home as he’s never actually been there. He owns it, but it’s a staff flat in one of his hotels currently occupied by one of his staff.
Clearly the joke that had been the MPs trying to put themselves above the law has become reality with the people of the upper chamber. It has put Keir Starmer in a position where he cannot prosecute people who are quite clearly guilty of an offence. Uddin will be disciplined by the House of Lords whose maximum penalty is to ask her not to attend the House for 6 months!!!
In short, a ruling by an unelected official in the House of Lords has put the members of that House above the law that the rest of us live by. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands, indeed millions of our pounds have been taken under false pretences by this unelected and largely useless body of fat cats and we can't do diddly about it.
Are we just going to sit here and take this?
When the three MPs in the dock requested that they should not in fact stand in the actual dock like common criminals but sit on the body of the court like they were spectators, and then proceeded to put forward a defence that they did not recognise the jurisdiction of an English court over them but, because they were politicians they should be judged by THEIR peers, not by OUR peers like us ordinary people are, there was an element of the surreal about it.
There they were, three fat cat MPs who had been on the fiddle because they thought no one would ever find out, had been brought to book, just as if they were common criminals. But they were going to try one last gasp attempt to get off with it; one last throw of the dice and use of the “get out of jail because you’re an MP” card that is the Westminster Monopoly set.
So we all had a little laugh at the pathetic low life and watched as the first part of their plan fell apart. “Can we sit in the posh seats?” they asked, expecting, no doubt that the judge would say "Yes Sirs". But he didn’t.... and so we thought: Nice one. Hopefully the rest of it will fall apart too. The use of some ancient Bill of Rights is a bit of a laugh after all....they can't be serious......can they?
Until just a few moments later, the announcement came that the estimable Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions in England, had had to drop the case against Uddin of the other place, because of a ruling by some official of that House that its members could call their first home a place that they only visited once a month. Possibly only for a few minutes. It certainly must be so, because it would be cold comfort farm if we visited Mrs Uddin’s first home for any amount of time... given that there is more or less no furniture. Paul, that well known Labour donor who has also been let off fraud charges, might have difficulty visiting his first home as he’s never actually been there. He owns it, but it’s a staff flat in one of his hotels currently occupied by one of his staff.
Clearly the joke that had been the MPs trying to put themselves above the law has become reality with the people of the upper chamber. It has put Keir Starmer in a position where he cannot prosecute people who are quite clearly guilty of an offence. Uddin will be disciplined by the House of Lords whose maximum penalty is to ask her not to attend the House for 6 months!!!
In short, a ruling by an unelected official in the House of Lords has put the members of that House above the law that the rest of us live by. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands, indeed millions of our pounds have been taken under false pretences by this unelected and largely useless body of fat cats and we can't do diddly about it.
Are we just going to sit here and take this?
....................................
Pictured: Baroness (like she deserves that title) Udders, who is apparently relieved... you bet you she's relieved. Aren't you just sweetie? She's got away with £100,000 of our dosh, just like her mate ex-Home Secretary Smith, the dodgy lodger.
It was interesting that the media didn't follow up on the real reason that the 3 troughing MPs didn't want to sit in the dock of the court. As commoners from the House of Commons they were actually trying to establish themselves as freemen of the land who didn't recognise the court and were wanting to be tried under common law. This would stop them having to recognise the contract between their person and the state and goes back to admiralty laws in the 1700's. This has recently had courts tied up in knots over non payment of tv tax and parking tickets etc by people now using that law. The govt would be terrified if it became more known in society. Bloggers like Ranty and OH have had fun with it. Some of the stories are hilarious and worth checking out on youtube etc.
ReplyDeleteAye Tris, we really do need to get some mass movement organised to tell these people enough's enough.
ReplyDeleteOne thought I had was to ask bloggers to send a questionnaire to their own PPCs and publish the responses with the name of the constituency in the title, thereby anyone can find it if they live there. Of course some constituencies wouldn't be covered but we could organise something among us all.
And the readers of the Daily Mail and the outraged of Tunbridge Wells think that nepotism and corruption only happen in foreign countries?
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the consensus that the three MPs are being hung out to dry and that is not fair. It is every man jack of them that have dirties their fingers that ought to be in the dock.
Annon: where about on you tube?
I forgot to say anything about the Baroness Udders. I just can’t understand why the British are so complacent about these unelected lobby dossers. Why are there no marches and why are no windows being broken about this? If we were in France do you think they would put up with all this crap and thievery so blatantly in the public eye?
ReplyDeleteFine post as usual.
ReplyDeleteThe disgusting farce that is the house of so called lords should convince us all that it, the honours and patronage system, an unwritten constitution and the monarchy (spit!) are so archaic that they should all be rescinded forthwith.
I suspect that the only chance of that happening will be through the break up of that rancid old beast, the united kingdom (spit!)
Bring on an independent republic and bring it on soon.
Thanks for the heads up Anon.
ReplyDeleteThere's a part of me that thinks this is too funny for words and another part that is simply incandescent with rage that these people, MPs or Lords, who have the bloody cheek to steal money from us and then, as MPs, claim that they are above us (for despite what they say, that is what they are claiming), and as Lords actually have some flunky write a memo which clarifies the law to such an extent that the DPP doubts whether he can touch them because it is so complicated.
It wouldn’t be complicated if it were me, or you, or Mr Starmer himself, or come to that Iain Gray or Alex Salmond.
This flunky has declared that the rules are that they can set up an address outside the M25 and we have to pay them £175 a night so that they can maintain their real houses, ones that they have lived in all their lives....... We’re being taken for muppets by a pile of aristocrats.
You hatch some pretty good ideas don't you SR... It must be that fine Scottish country air.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to send each of the people who stand in Dundee East a set of questions asking them how they feel about expenses and how they feel about an unelected house of supposed aristocrats with titles and rights that remove them from normal life.
To get a wide range of questions maybe it would be a good idea for you to post on it and we can get some questions to ask (so that they are all the same). I suggest it be kept quite short and simple. PPCs and their staff/volunteers won't want a big job at a busy time.
Not laziness on my part, btw, it's just that you have far more readers than we do.
This is a fine way to use the internet. As my mum said when we were talking about it last night. These people don’t seem to realise that the world has changed. The net has, for all its faults we have been hearing about over the last few days, given people far more of a voice.....
You know Munguin. I think there is corruption everywhere.
ReplyDelete"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad man." John Emerich Edward Dalberg, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902), British historian. Letter, April 3, 1887, to Bishop Mandell Creighton. The Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton.
So, it was probably ever thus. But you're right, there is a snugness about Brits (and possibly other nations) that it is only to be found in foreigners.
I suspect you're right about the French having a bit of a real protest about this. They are a far more politically aware lot, I found. Everyone talks politics...even "les chavs" s'interessent dans la vie politique.
It's just a very different way of life.
Maybe it's because it's a tad cold to go on marches here, and if we made a mess by burning cars and throwing rubbish, it would still be there on our streets a year later as we waited for the council to clear it up! LOL
We did go through a period of trades unions having a huge amount of power and striking, sometimes over political issues, but Mrs Thatcher put a stop to all that nonsense. A supine people, a supine press... makes for easier governanc
Naldo. Thanks. I take that as a great compliment coming from you.
ReplyDeleteYou’re right. Farce is the word. Why can’t we leave the 17th century behind, crimson robes, powdered wigs, noble members, ermine collars... what a way to run a 21st century country. The likes of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein left all that stuff behind centuries ago.
The best thing to do is for US to leave it all behind and create our own Scottish republic, or if that’s not what the people want, at least a modern Scottish monarchy without all the hangers on...
If people want all the robes and costumes there’s plenty of theatre pieces, or indeed some churches where they can get that. Government is too important for that.