Colin Bloom » expenses

Is there a whiff of hypocrisy about the BBC at the moment?

Colin Bloom — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:44:02 +0000

It was reported on the radio this morning that the Director General of the BBC Mark Thompson earns in pay and benefits about £800,000 per year. His monthly income is the same as the annual basic salary of an MP!

In fact, the top hundred earners in the BBC all get paid many many times what an MP earns.

I don’t know whether the DG and his senior staff are worth that much or not, I have no problem with people being paid well, but it helps get the accusation that MP’s all have their noses in the trough in perspective doesn’t it?

The BBC and their expenses

Colin Bloom — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:41:24 +0000

Now it’s the BBC’s turn to have their senior executive’s expenses claims exposed for all to see.

Read the full story here.

As I have said before, I have found the past few months quite sickening and extraordinary. The sooner these problems are dealt with and the sooner these issues are cleared up the better it will be for everyone. I’m sure the 2,000 steelworkers laid off yesterday would prefer it if the political classes would concentrate a bit harder on sorting out the mess the whole country is in, not just their own issues.

However, the BBC has made a start but this does not go nearly far enough. Politicians have learned the hard way that there is no point being half-hearted when it comes to disclosing how public money is spent. We need full transparency so that licence fee payers know what their money goes on. We then need the National Audit Office to assess whether this delivers value for money.

End Expenses Censorship

Colin Bloom — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:31:34 +0000

Oh, and David Cameron agrees.

Read it here.

MP’s to debate having a General Election now

Colin Bloom — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:08:43 +0000

MPs are to debate a call for the immediate dissolution of Parliament and a subsequent general election in response to the expenses scandal.

The SNP and Plaid Cymru have tabled a motion calling for dissolution, saying the government has lost authority and an election is needed to regain trust.

The Conservatives and Lib Dems, who both want an immediate election, have signalled they will vote in favour.

But the motion is set to be defeated by Labour MPs in an early evening vote.

Read the full story here.

We can only hope that there are enough brave Labour MP’s who will do the right thing. However, given that they gave Brown a standing ovation at their PLP meeting on Monday night, they are extremely unlikely to.

UPDATE: The motion was rejected by 340 votes to 268.

No surprises there then!