MPs join the huddled masses

Oedipus Rex

...but pity the poor sods who have to work in call centres

Noa Credit-Given

Rightly or wrongly, like a conspiracy theorist, I'm beginning to discern a pattern in these blogs. It started with an easy 'hate' figure, 'the vermin in the ermine', Lordy Prescott, then upscaled to Irritability following by Not-unlikeability. Despite a promise of 'bile tomorrow', we've now gone to protecting the little darlings from the limitless brutalities of goonish accountants, So its "bills tomorrow" really.

In terms of wind-ups its worked. The little darlings deserve the protection from unjust over-scrutiny. Only a total pillock like Brown could introduce a £6 million a year system to monitor the expenses of less than 2,000 people, Lords & Commons combined.
The entire system, with a simple hand book, could have been put together for one tenth the price.

I did like McShane's comment though, to the effect of how do you expect us to understand this stuff?

There's not much hope for the country or us if even the brightest and best,the Westminster lads and lasses can't fill in a clam form; still less for the rest of us in filling in a tax return to fund them in the first place.

Robbo

Serves 'em right. Instead of a 'yellow card' I'd give them a sound thrashing round the back of their Big Ben.

Woodbine '*****ng' Willy

Surely everyone has a duty to be rude and aggressive towards stupid, sententious bureaucrats.
And that includes MPs.

jonnyjackhammer

Absolutely right Rod. The only places I've noticed these signs, is precisely where you know you are going to get treated very badly. For example they are in the wating room of the local Doctor's surgery where some of the office staff are objectionable, unhelpful and aloof to the point of serious rudeness. They even threatened to remove my 18 year old daughter from their list of patients becuase of MY behaviour! (They rang my home but wouldn't give their name, the organisation they were from or the nature of the call because of data protection, so I refused to put them through to my daughter on the grounds that it was an unsolicited phone call. I received a letter from the Practice Manager warning me!!) Similarly the Outpatients of my local hospital - where the admin "Supervisor" is even worse. (I'm not even going to go there). I can't stand the mentality of people who are employed in the public sector and who should be helping others, but take delight in patronising, ignoring and sometimes even humiliating the people who use their services - but can't go anywhere else.

David Booth

Don't come looking for sympathy to me for MP's difficulties in claiming expenses. NHS staff can be waiting for up 8 weeks for reimbursement for expenses.
My wife, a Community Nurse, is still being paid for her expenses on the price for petrol set over eight years ago.
I have never heard an MP showing any concern for this injustice.
Politicians set up this system (another Brown Balls-up) but at least this is not costing the country the billions that Browns other mistake's have cost.
If an MP doesn't like the system they are free to try their hand at another way of earning a crust, Lembit Opik has blazed a trail with his stand up "comedy routine."

Verity

Noa Credit-given - "There's not much hope for the country or us if even the brightest and best,the Westminster lads and lasses can't fill in a clam form...".

I know it was a typo, but I like it.

Noa Latte Returns

Verity
That said,I'm sure they only seek mollusc-ule recompense.

Verity

Noa Latte Returns - That is true, but they, Jacque Smith, for example, clam up when questioned, and zip off across London to their sister's boxroom using their Oyster Card.

IMHO, the expense examiners in Parliament have not shown enough mussel.

GeoffM

As reluctant as I am side with politicians I do however suggest that they print a statement on their expenses forms/emails along the lines of "Bureaucratic inefficiency, obstinacy, unhelpfulness in dealing with this claim will not be tolerated. It is the policy of the claimant that ALL such incidents will result in formal action being taken"

GeoffM

Noa Credit-Given
August 8th, 2010 2:46pm

Quite right. The massive expense of managing this scheme just goes to show how inept our rulers, and the Civil Service, are.

Just imagine the number of companies out there who manage expenses systems for a tiny fraction of that cost, run by junior staff and not a £75,000 p.a. manager in sight.

To some the expenses issue may seem like a side issue but it gives an insight into the workings, and culture of waste/incompetence, at the centre of government.

Any half competent middle manager could have designed a system that is lean, efficient AND accountable for a fraction of the cost.

Noa Claims-Bonus

Ah yes Verity!
But when nice Darling folk such as Jacquie and indeed Cameron and Brown, get together to whisper in each others shell-likes and chowder fat, do you not think the subject of 'managing' their expenses clams is often as near the top of the menu as the cockleeky soup?

Leon Vestey

The problem, dear Rod, lies not in our civil servants but in ourselves that we are taxpayers of the unquestioning variety. These spongers should not be on expenses at all. They are paid more than ten times enough when bribes and salary are combined.Apart from anything else these are worthless 'people' who would neither want nor find employment elsewhere. Collectively, they are our worst enemy. Pay them less and they will not waver, pay them more and they will not be improved one iota.

Dixon

Absolutely...but its not just public "servants". Try complaining to BT or any similar large private company. Or not complaining, just getting any kind of sensible response from them. Nearly everything is reduced to FAQs as though there is no possible eventuality that in their divine sentience they cannot have thought of before it happens. BT itself shows signs of improvement. But that would be an exception in a world where increasingly the individual is regarded as irrelevant.

AngloWelshDragon

This reminds me of an occasion about 4 years ago when I received a letter from a certain south London Borough converning an unpaid parking ticket. I phoned up to point out that the car in question had neer been south of Oxford in two years, let alone in London on the day in question. No, I was told, it most certainly had because they had it on CCTV - a silver Ford Escort. Ahah! I cried, but my car is a blue Landrover Discovery so it must be a mistake or a cloned number plate, check with the DVLA! We argued the point for some minutes before I was told that I was going to be hung upon for being rude and shouting at her (which I wasn't) to which I responded that I was going to hang up on her first for being stupid and unhelpful. The matter was eventually resolved by a South Derbyshire policeman coming round to inspect my car and confirming it wasn't a Ford Escort.

You just can't reason with these people as the slightest dissent from their view is taken as personal attack.

Black Rod

Leave the Passport Agency alone, Rob. They are nice people and provide an excellent service....

timac

"I have a very large hat and you will acknowledge it! Do you have a large hat? Didn't think so. Back of the line!" - The subtext of any interaction with bureacrats on the continent. They're quite amusing, really, if not endearing. Are they worse in the UK? I wouldn't know.

Maybe you brits just aren't used to them being a conspicuous cog of the state yet to find them amusing - anger subsides with resignation, after all. Don't worry, your kids and grandkids will...(imagine a sinister laugh trailing off)

Ben

"...Heathrow Airport, for example..."

I was recently refused a boarding pass for my flight at the check-in counter because the computer had been programmed to shut down data entry one hour before take-off time. Never mind that I had waited patiently in line for more than half an hour beforehand, and that I had actually been standing at the check-in counter for about 5 minutes as the clerk went about checking my passport and assigning me a seat.

I was then informed by an airline representative that it had been up to me to "take responsibility for myself" and jump the queue, the very queue in which I had been placed earlier by another member of the airline staff.

Kafka would have found all this very inspiring.

Mycroft

So, Verity, 'IMHO, the expense examiners in Parliament have not shown enough mussel'? I suppose the trouble is that they clam up when the MPs try to fight back.

Reg Reynolds

Agree about the sanctomonious bureaucrats but no sympathy for the MPs, they were in positions of power and behaved deplorably. Let them squirm.
I think the worst of all was the flipping of homes to avoid Capital Gains - something they demand everyone else pay.

Snowman

whatever forms, rules and stuff, clammy or not, the system may come up with, the ingenuity of the political class, and those whose job it is to lobby it, will always come up with a trick that beats it all. Bet you that given sufficient time weâ™ll have another â˜expense-likeâ™ scandal to hit the headlines.

Iain Sanders

Shall Truth run like blood in the gutters of Troy?

EyeSee

I had several years of HMRC chasing me over an old debt. I asked for a reason why I owed it and they ignored me, carrying on demanding money. The bill oscillated between £900 and £2,000 which didn't worry them either. Eventually they sent their 'distraint' officers round, who can break in and seize property against a 'debt'. They don't need a court order to do this. I went into the local office and the lad there couldn't see a fault in my tax payments and said as he couldn't understand the letters I had received, he didn't know how I was supposed to. I then spoke on the phone to yet another office and mentioned the 1689 Bill of Rights. 'Oh here we go' he said. I bristled and he said 'no, I'm on your side, go on'. Shortly after that I got a proper letter from the tax authorities laying out the relevant affairs for the period in question and ending with, 'consequently you currently owe £59.22'. I wrote a letter of complaint about the years of harassment and got no response. I complained about the lack of response to my complaint and got no reply. Not only do they have powers way beyond need, which they exercise without care, but they also don't have to be accountable and take any responsibility. That is the world of bureaucrats and the MP's have yet to face anything like it.

Silke

well I could tell you a few stories from the other side

but then of course I'd be whining so I won't do it

also it may of course well be that people on your island are totally immune to feel the Herrenmensch itch as soon as they see a chance to indulge

and thank heavens we service personnel now have a hero/poster child in that American Airline Stewart

and don't tell me there is a difference between Airline passengers and wannabe-big-ones shredding to pieces a lowly clerk

Fergus Pickering

I don't want to post a comment. I want to say that I CAN'T post a comment on the latest coffee house stuf. Is anyone else in the same boat?

rod liddle

Anglowelshdragon:You just can't reason with these people as the slightest dissent from their view is taken as personal attack.

Yes, that's precisely the point.

Fergus - why don't you want to post a comment? What have I done?

ady

Sounds just like working in one of those nightmare DSS offices.
MPs frothing at the mouth with flecks of spittle flying onto your desk.
"give me ma money pal! or ah'll huv ye!"

Staff should ask for high impact glass cubicles and use a ticket queuing system.