And so it rumbles on...

Catesby

I dare say the left-wing media will be describing Mr Simon as 'a former associate editor of the Spectator' and neglecting to mention which party he represents.

Rossetti

This man has to be one of the most odious 'politicians' currently at the taxpayers' trough. An unpleasant, nasty sponger, basically! How delightful that he has been caught.

Moraymint

Looks like the familiar utter shambles, complete with the usual theme of immorality, that we've grown used to after 12 years of self-serving, political cynicism under Labour government.

Hands up all those who are proud of our fine British political institutions and all who serve in them?

Vulture

Let's take a walk down memory lane...as soon as Liebour got into power in '97, the Spectator invited a new Liebour MP to grace its columns in a pathetic effort to keep 'in' with our new masters. His contributions consisted of rubbing Tory noses in their defeat and glorying in Liebour's triumph. The gilt soon wore off the gingerbread and his witterings ceased. If memory serves, he said he was signing off because he had an eye disease that would soon be sending him blind. (Cue for us all to blub presumably). That proved to be another Liebour lie - abt as genuine as Bruin's alleged eye troubles.

This man is new Liebour to a T. Solid sXXt through and through. And the Speccie has never recovered from cosying up to him and his like: you too are covered in the same crap.

Peter

MPs should have shut up and paid up. This will rumble on and on and the public will become more and more antagonistic towards MPs, if that's possible.

It just shows how even the best of them are out of touch with the public mood.

WheresMyVote

Also worth noting the standard modus operandi for this kind of thing.

- Find out that you've been rumbled
- refer yourself to some toothless commission
- state that you did this "as soon as the error came to light" (obviously untrue)
- offer to pay back some amount, although nothing like the amount claimed fraudulently.
- Hope the public don't notice

We've seen this over and over again. Tey really do think we are stupid.

Where is the plod on this, surely there is a case to answer on misappropriating public money or just down right fraud. Someone needs to be prosecuted as would a normal benefit cheat.

TomTom

So did HMRC discuss with Simon soeur her income from rental arrangements with the MP ? Why are HMRC not given details of MPs expenses so HMRC can check the counterparty is declaring them as income ?

2trueblue

None of this is at all surprising. The fact that it was not picked up is the key to what we know, massive incompetence and lack of accountability. It is not going to change, the fact is they get voted in and go to Westminster village and forget what it was all about; US. We vote them in and we become irrelevant until the next election.

old fogey

Well here is some good news. Must we contain our schadenfreude when reading of this unpleasant little twerps outing. Lets not be typically Tory and gentlemanly about this; its the perfect opportunity to give this vain,loudmouth, sponger the going over he merits.

AndyinBrum

Wohoo he's my MP should make the campaigning against him be that bit more fun. Now if only he'd made a you tube video demonstrating what a complete prick he is then we might have a chance

john miller

Only a cynic would point out that of the thousands of "errors" collectively made by the 646, none, that is 0, nil, nada, have been underclaims.

Whilst, statistically, this does not prove a lot of MPs have been on the fiddle...

Oh, wait, it does mean that, doesn't it?

Nicholas

A classic case of socialist hypocrisy. This odious little scumbag was at the forefront of abusing Tories for their sins of callousness and greed with Youtube performances to boot. And now look. The deceiving, lying little shit turns out to be in it for the money and happy to defraud the long-suffering taxpayer in a scam with his sister. Classic socialist corruption.

In third world countries with better police and justice systems than the New Labour and their Lefty Chums Shite Republic of Scotland, Wales, Ireland and er, oh yes, Britain this toerag would be in jail - or put up against a wall and shot.

Michael Booth

If renting property to a family member was banned in 2006 and Simon kept on doing so after that date we are talking about fraud, plain and simple. Don't we also have a legal principle about ignorance being no defence? What the f--- is going on?

EyeSee

The famous 'rules' that these MP's claim to have stuck to (inadvertent errors aside) say that expenses should be 'wholly, exclusively and necessarily' incurred in the pursuit of parliamentary business. Overnight allowance if you live say more than 50 miles from London? Seems fair. Second house? If you want to, that is entirely up to you. And I mean entirely up to you. Food? No. Equipping your house(s)? No. And if you think it sounds harsh, you know MP's aren't under conscription don't you? But if we start to step up the game, we find that fraud is quite clearly involved. Where are the handcuffs? THe police were quick enough to do New Labour's bidding when misled over Damian Green. Our problem is that the MP's troughing has become public and we are angry. The ability of ANYONE to stop it, or even alter it seems a major challenge and finally, MP's rest easy that they are above the law and open criminality on their part will be ignored. That is why you cannot assuage the anger. I mean, people mention that no receipts were required and that seems outrageous. But who wrote the rules, who enforce them and who can then do what they like? That would be MP's. You could expect better of a jar of gherkins.

And, and (it just goes on doesn't it?) they claim to have made so many 'mistakes' in their claims it seems likely that these are not people who should be anywhere near the legislature.

Colin

Seeing how many of them have blamed over claims on errors; have any of these crooks actually under claimed for anything?

Malfleur

and where is plod on the traitors for the Soviet Union within or connected to the Labour Party and the Trades Union movement which the Spectator wrote about in those terms in November? and on the chancers looking to Brussels, for instance, for their new paymaster? A bit more at issue here, I would have thought, than mere fake expenses and the betrayal of their constituents' trust.

2trueblue

Michael Booth, quite, waht is going on? It is one set of rules for them and another for us. It is not on, that as citizens the rules do not apply to them. If any of us were involved in such scams we would get free accomodation at the local nick.
When good men do nothing......
This has been going on for years and they all knew it and did not have the balls to stand up so frankly they are all tarred with the same brush. Remember Elisabeth Filkin? They got rid of her very quickly. They disgust me.

James W

I hate this guy. Nothing to do with expenses (although that intensifies the hatred) - he is just a complete and utter penis. The fact he is a minister reveals the paucity of available talent in the Labour party.

AAE

Please Please Please republish some of Sion Simon's insufferably smug self-righteous columns from past Speccies so as to increase our enjoyment of his discomfiture today. It's Xmas after all!!

chris as usual

I can't see how this crime against the taxpayer can avoid his arrest. Pity it's coming up to Christmas, but most of the taxpayers are still at work to pay for all this.

Come on you crappy politicians. Hand yourselves in.

Ken

@ Michael Booth : Don't bother to ask. The overriding principle is simply that some pigs are more equal, Liebour has taken the text to heart and played it literally.

This especially noxious cretin has a few YouTube performances that might be worth a replay.

Yarnesfromhorsham

But the previous Home Secretary was paying rent to her sister. A relative - yet she got away with it. Please discuss in not more than 2000 words

Verity

I remember when he was, inexplicably, given that he is a commie without talent for the written word, a columnist for The Speccie. I recall feeling guilty about loathing him because he had a degenerative eye disease and was going blind and I felt mean.

Perhaps he was using the word "blind" in a metaphorical sense. Blind to duty. Blind to the difference between right and wrong. Blind to decent behaviour. Blind to his commitment to the taxpayers and voters. I suppose in that sense, the disease really did set in.

He certainly looks like a greasy little tub of lard. Self-indulgent and greedy.

Patricia Shaw

Let's not exclude Michael 'Flipper' Gove -his fluffy £331 Chinon armchair from Mrs Cameron's boutique, his chi chi Manchu cabinet for £493, hunky elephant lamps for £134,50, elegant £750 Loire table and Camargue chair worth £432 and quack quack birdcage coffee table for £238.50.

biggestaspidistra

Is he the creep that told the television interviewer to 'shut up'?

If so, there is truly justice in the world.

Fearless Frank

What are his qualifications to become some kind of culture aparatchik - could it be his hysterical style of writing? (See Alex Massie, who quotes a sample)

Geoff Miller

I whooped with joy when this came out.

Simon is one of the most odious creatures in Labour - quite some achievement given the nature of most Labour politicians...

Chuck Unsworth

He complains that the 'rules' were changed and no one told him - having himself voted for the change in these 'rules'. So now we have Ministers who cast their votes without knowing what for, or why. Still, plus ca change, eh? How much integrity does this illustrate?

I watched his performance in Committee the other day. It was a bullying self-important and unutterably inept charade. By contrast Michael Grade's evidence was elegant, frank, incisive and altogether charming. Guess who had greatest impact - and credibility.

2trueblue

Patricia Shaw, Gove is not the only flipper. Bercow flipped, Cooper/Balls flipped lots. There are lots of flippers and irrelevant of whether they paid cgt they made a lot of money out of the transactions that were subsidised by us.
I find the whole thing outrageous and fail to understand why there have not been arrests made. The police or an independant body should be going through the paperwork, as it appears the method presently used is not up to the job. We do have a right to see justice done.
There are now 80 MPs allegedly refusing to repay money. Are they hoping that there is safety in numbers?