We're looking for a Mumsnetter to represent us at a 'News Comment Special' about MPs' expenses

[GeraldineMumsnet]

Editorial Intelligence in association with Sky News are inviting a Mumsnetter to attend a panel and group discussion, which will be podcast.

Here's a pdf of the invite so you can see the date/location/panel etc (which includes Helena Kennedy, Norman Baker and Derek Wyatt).

Please throw your names/nominations into the hat. We'd want whoever goes to blog or twitter, or something suitably modern, about the proceedings. It's next Wed, so it needs to be decided fairly swiftly.

Oh, you probably meant eraser

Aha!

Now nobody tell MP that her office is surrounded by highly trained expense hounds, poised to bite at the first hint of an ill gotten gain - and yes they will be counting the polo mints in the second drawer down!

Nobody actually says 'eraser' do they? I don't think you can beat a good rubber to be honest. Something firm and big enough to get a good grip on, I find it solves even the knottiest of problems.

Expenses for Mumsnet:

• dog biscuits for Big Tech
• dog chain for YetMoreTech
• microfibre skirting board duster for Gerry
• Packet of Nice Biscuits for Nikitatech
• Boden skirt for Carrie
• Fishnet stockings for Justine
• Tampon and KitKat for Morningpaper

Surely Carrie isn't putting her Boden skirts on expenses when doubtless she's already wearing clothes a sibling put on expense last year? Tell me it isn't so!

MP - I think they should pay for 1/2 you tampon only - and don't go thinking you can claim for a mooncup instead. That would definately consist of an improvement to your estate and as such would be liable to payment of Capital Gains tax unless you care to nominate somebody else's menstrual cycle as your own?

I think that would be fine as she could give the mooncup back after her tenure has lapsed.

I second/third/ninehundredandfiftythreeth Policywonk. She made such a good job of the G20, she really would be fantastic here.

She'd have to claim that the mooncup was for dredging her moat.

Doubtless that would have occurred to her Robespierre - but perhaps the need to produce the dredged product for scrutiny by the revenue to demonstrate no net gain would put her off?

"Dredging her moat" just sounds so...dirty

I'm sure there has to be a lagygarden maintenance expenses joke in here somewhere but I just can't seem to phrase it.

Another vote for PW here - tried, tested and scarily competent.

That would be ladygarden. Not lagygarden.

I don't mind who goes.. but I want to know why the hell I'm paying for their bloody homes ( which is by the looks of it going to stay).. let alone anything else. I mean flipping heck, here I am saving and scrimping, to have a decent, home for me and the dc's.. and so are plenty of others, and there isn't enough council places to be had.. and yet they can have 2 homes, and we can blardy pay for it.

stop borrowing loads of money, because of all the hidious money issues, borrow less and use our flipping taxes reasonably.

if you need two homes to be an MP.. then get a second blardy job like the rest of us, if you can't afford it.

rant over.. as you were

In the meantime, where shall we post questions

I think Sweden's example is good. Rent free homes while they are in office.

Also am not sure why MPs are entitled to a staff budget when there is a perfectly good civil service.

'Excuse me love, do you want your moat derdging whilst we're in the area? We're just finishing off a sweep for the lady up the road with the posh hanging baskets on her portico and we could do you a good price for cash'

ILove- civil servants don't work for MPs (unless they are ministers). Civil servants work for government not parliament.

The staff question is however v important. What value do we get from all the MPs researchers? There are many people employed by parliament to produce briefings and advice for MPs. Historically they used these briefings and had a secretary to help with correspondance. In recent years they have been allowed a larger and larger staff budget. In part this might be necessary as e-mail etc means they get much more correspondance. However, many use their staff to generate parliamentary questions etc to make them look busy and rank well on sites such as TheyWorkForYou. This is actually a real waste of public money as some MPs allow their researchers to submit hundreds of questions a day without even checking them. The Government is required to answer each question quickly so civil servants beaver away at great cost to research the answers and the MP never even reads it because he was not interested in the first place.

Ooo yes questions please. Pleeeease. Except they might all be the same.

How very dare you.

Phrased in terms ranging from rude and furious to poised and furious.

I'd like it pointing out that when dh was paid redundancy from the government insurance scheme due to company liquidation, every last penny of his job seekers allowance was deducted from his payment. He essentially paid himself unemplyment benefit, thereby rendering his NI contributions a joke. How can an MP have the sheer front to claim for massage chairs in the light of this.

And how can a minister in all honesty, justify a vibrating chair at tax payers expense, in todays climate of energy conservation? Did he have a wind turbine to power it?

And do the houses accept that the old boys network of 'a fair game of cricket' and 'self monitoring' has been violated by self interest and greed in the members, thus exposing the country to ridicule and contempt, whilst alienating and insulting the millions of voters facing hard financial and social realities.

That's a very interesting point artichokes. It would be a good one for the MN representative to raise. Is there any significant movement to alter this use of staff?

I know that civil servants don't work for MPs -- that's exactly my point. But why not? No one is asking the civil service to take part in party politics. What distinguishes a Minister from a lowly MP other than lower down on the foodchain. Seems to be based on tradition more than anything else.

I have to say becoming an MP has never looked so appealing! The Chairs! The houses! The moats! Beats time and a third at weekends on the NHS.