Baroness UddinThe general public can be forgiven if they believe that the purpose of the House of Lords is for members to fill their pockets at the public expense. Especially, when they see that those who are involved in this public scandal adopt the attitude that anything goes. There is a distinct lack of any public accountability when it comes to dipping their light fingers into the public purse.
It appears as though those in a privileged position are claiming that Parliamentary priviledge permits them to get away with wrongdoing. I for one do not accept this position because, in effect, it means that the transgressors are above the law. However, under the Rule of Law we are all equal under the law. It offends against the law for the House of Lords to claim that they are judge in their own cause. This only produces a bias in their own favour.
For example, take the case of Baroness Uddin. "Uddin, the first female Muslim peer, had been the first peer to be exposed for wrongly claiming a generous allowance which helps members of the Lords pay for accommodation in London. Peers can claim £174 a night if they live outside the capital.
She had lived within four miles of the House of Lords for 20 years but she has claimed almost £200,000 by saying that her main home was outside London. Before 2005, she claimed her brother’s home in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, was her main residence and then later she bought a flat in Kent that neighbours say was left empty and unused".
By any standards this is an abuse of the system. Quite clearly Baroness Uddin does not and has not ever lived outside of the capital of London for the purpose of Parliamentary business. It is a fraud to claim otherwise. It is no good the House of Lords authorities claiming that members cannot be questioned because it is a question of honour. It is a honour to serve the public: It is not a honour to steal from the public purse like a common criminal!
A system lacks legitimacy and accountability when such as Michael Pownall, the Clerk of the Parliaments, perverts the course of justice in an attempt to protect corrupt members of the House of Lords from facing prosecution. It exposes a conspiracy between Michael Pownall and Baroness Hayman, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, and those other members guilty of milking the system in an attempt to cover up wrongdoing. I challenge Michael Pownall that there is no public power for him, in effect, to make a law by memo which binds the country to obedience. Nobody is bound by a secret law. To abide by the law, it is required to be published. At the very least, Michael Pownall is guilty of a misfeasance in public office.
It is one thing to provide allowances from the public purse for those who genuinely live outside London so that they do not lose out by providing a public service, and quite another for those who abuse the system and those who allow the abuse of the system.
Related links...
A shameful day for the House of Lords
Lords backed me over second homes rule, says Clerk of Parliaments
Harmful rows over money will go on until standards authority steps in
Lords place themselves beyond reach of the law
No comments:
Post a Comment