Society

Robert Winnett – the Telegraph journalist who first broke the Derek Conway scandal – is thankfully not retracting his claws just yet.  His latest, essential post over at Three Line Whip attacks the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) which audits MPs’ pay and allowances:  “Earlier this month, the latest SSRB tome was published – an 83 page study costing well over £100,000 to complete. It concludes: “We take this opportunity to emphasis that we have received no direct evidence to suggest that there is currently abuse by MPs of the allowances system. We commend the clarity and rigour of the rules and guidance.” Excellent – the general public can sleep safely knowing

In today’s Times, Peter Riddell looks ahead to the Budget in March.  He hits the fiscal nail on its rusty head: “The economic outlook for the next few years is worse than for some time and Mr Darling has no freedom for manoeuvre on taxes and spending. Not only is there no room for preelection giveaways, but spending plans are insufficient to achieve existing goals on health, education and reducing child poverty. The Government blames international factors, notably the sub-prime banking crisis in the US. At the same time, ministers highlight low levels of inflation and of interest rates compared with the early 1990s. Both points are true up to

This Derek Conway expenses scam is one of the most outrageous I’ve heard in some time. He bunged his son £1,000-a-month of taxpayers’ money on the basis that he was doing research. And as the Standards and Privileges Committee said, there was zero independent evidence of any work done – or any commissioned. A total of £40,000 of our money beefed up the Conway family finances as young Freddie Conway studied full-time at Newcastle University doing his “research”. His stash included “four one-off bonuses” (wonderful oxymoron) totalling £10,000 and he’s been ordered to repay £13,200. Now, this isn’t the same as £103,000 of Peter Hain’s undeclared donations. But something tells

On the day that Gordon Brown’s set to back a raft of new welfare proposals, Melanie Phillips launches an incisive attack on the Government’s past attempts at reform in this area: “Today is supposed to prove that the pure flame of Blairism has been re-lit in Downing Street with the publication of the Government’s latest wheeze for reforming welfare According to some breathless advance spinning, this will resurrect a “radical” Blairite plan produced last year by the banker David Freud for contracting out welfare delivery to the private and voluntary sectors, proposals that were reputedly squashed by the then Chancellor, Gordon Brown … … But delivery is merely the end of the process.