Have I got this right, Garage has had his entire political career paid for by Europe, but thinks it's shit?

[Lanark2]

UKIP and the GREENS are the UKs voice in Europe, and Garage is paid by Europe.. But he is saying it's bad..he would have no political career without Europe.is he mental?

Whatever you think of him (and I am no fan), Farage was elected fair and square as an MEP and so should be paid for it like anyone else. I'm sure a lot of people don't like their employers!

If he was any other employee he would be fired. They don't take part in the votes, actively mock the whole system yet claim the full package of finances and expenses. Taking the piss really

Well that's democracy in action!

It is good that there is representation in the heart of the EU for such a widespread feeling of disengagement. At least he is sticking with his campaign manifesto which is more than can be said for certain other politicians in the UK... erm... have we got any honest mainstream politicians? Do Corbyn and Caroline Lucas count as mainstream?

If he was any other employee he would be fired. They don't take part in the votes, actively mock the whole system yet claim the full package of finances and expenses. Taking the piss really

But that is the whole point. Do you think there should be no eurosceptic MEPs of any country in the EU parliament? That they should be card carrying Federalists committed to the cause?

Nigel Farage has never made any secret of how he feels about the EU and has chosen to devote his career to fighting it. He was elected on that platform, along with other UKIP MEPs and MEPs from other parties (like Conservative Dan Hannan) and eurosceptic MEPS of other European countries, of which there are currently a record number.

Whatever you may think about Nigel Farage, he has never made any secret of his political motivations and has been democratically elected on that basis. He is therefore as entitled to remuneration as the rest of them.

"If he was any other employee he would be fired"

Isn't that the point, though? They're not employees, they are representatives and were elected to do what they said they would do in their manifestos and promised to do on the hustings.

I think WYSIWYG applies here.

At least he is sticking with his campaign manifesto

Yes. People knew what he stood for before they voted for him.

They don't take part in the votes ... yet claim the full package of finances and expenses.

Just like the Sinn Fein MPs at Westminster, then.

He's entitled to remuneration IF he is doing the work he was elected to do. Frankly, there's very little evidence of that. On any interpretation, he's not entitled to abuse the expenses system.

He's entitled to the remuneration regardless. He's a democratically elected MEP, and the people who elected him, re-elect him with regularity, so they appear happy enough with the 'work' he is doing on their behalf.

If he is (and others are) being paid money that they are not entitled to, then the fault lies with the EU institution itself.

By that token, if someone defrauds a company and gains something they're not entitled to, it's the fault of the company, not the fraudster. I don't think so, somehow. Or do you think a few years back we should have closed our eyes to the MPs' expenses shenanigans because it was the fault of Parliament in letting them get away with it?

Fraud is down to the fraudster, but if a company had weak anti-fraud controls then yes of course it would be criticised and the finance director may well find their job on the line.

As the inadequate Westminster parliamentary controls were, leading to new procedures.

The EU hasn't ever had its accounts fully audited and signed off. And there does not seem to be any prospect of introducing improvements (let alone reaching adequacy).

Can you be kind and link the signed-off accounts? Or signpost where they are to be found?

Here's a (press) example in 2014 of accounts not being signed off.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/11209248/EU-auditors-refuse-to-sign-off-more-than-100billion-of-its-own-spending.html

It's not hard to find other examples.

I know there have been partial sign offs of some accounts. But have never been aware of comprehensive, timely completion.

He's not defrauding anyone.

He's not doing anything illegal or even wrong in political terms. The EU sets the salaries and the rules and he complies with them as far as he is required to. He chooses not to vote (along with many other MEPs) and that's his choice to make.

The electorate support him and vote for him repeatedly and that's what it comes down to. He is a democratically elected MEP along with MEPs of all political persuasions including other eurosceptics.

This thread isn't about Westminster 'MPs expenses shenanigans'. It's a thread singling out Nigel Farage and most of the responses seem to be on similar lines to mine. You think differently and that's your prerogative but it won't change my mind and I'm sure I won't change yours, so let's not waste each other's time any further.

Yes, I've just been looking back at those, and have yet to find one where 'legal and regular' is applied to all three areas of revenue, commitments and payments.

There is a persistent problem with errors in payments in all the years I've looked at - including the 2013 accounts you link.

If you consider signed off to mean ECA had published something about them every year, then yes they have been signed off. If you mean it, as I did, that they are legal and regular in the three key areas then no they haven't.

Fontella, this is a discussion board. People come on here to express their views. No-one does so specifically to change your views, so please don't try to dictate whether they can or can't post.

The issue here is, in the main, hypocrisy. Farage whinges on about how MEPs' salaries and expenses are too high, yet claims them in full. And then there are murky episodes like his failure to declare benefits in kind to the European Commission, the failure to deliver on a promise to publish details of UKIP MEPs' expenses claims regularly, the time he said publicly he'd be happy to have his office accounts audited and then backtracked on it, etc. And then there was the episode when Janice Atkinson's chief of staff was heard to ask for an inflated bill in a restaurant, saying "We overcharge them slightly, because that's the way we repatriate it."

Janice Atkinson was sacked after that. Farage has said, very wrongly in my opinion, that MPs should be paid more to get "the best people".

Farage just takes the same type of expenses as LibDem, Conservative and Labour MEPs take from the European taxpayer.

Just because a pig has its snout in the trough it doesn't mean it loves the food.