Denis MacShane faces 12 month suspension from Commons over expenses

[T_i_B]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20178332

Former Labour minister Denis MacShane is facing suspension from the Commons for 12-months.

A Parliamentary committee found he had submitted 19 false invoices which were "plainly intended to deceive" Parliament's expenses authority. The committee said it was the "gravest case" which has come to them for adjudication.

The committee's report described Mr MacShane's false claims as "far from what would be acceptable in any walk of life" and "fell far below the standards of integrity and probity expected of every member of the House".

The false invoices related to work Mr MacShane carried out in Europe and he was particularly criticised for his use of public money for European travel.

[dipsydoodle]

1. MP's expenses: Denis MacShane resigns as MP

Former Labour minister Denis MacShane has quit as an MP after a watchdog ruled he had fiddled his expenses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20178332

[T_i_B]

2. Ooh....................local by-election

Should generate a lot more interest the the current PCC elections at least.

That said, Rotherham is the sort of place where a red donkey with a red rosette will always romp home. My main worry is the possibility of the far right doing fairly well there, especially when they have an issue like this to exploit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-19701760

Savile, Hillsborough, Orgreave, Macshane, sex traffiking in Rotherham..........is it me or is the news increasingly resembling a David Peace novel?

Also, with A4E & Clegg as well, why does so much of the news have to be about this neck of the woods?

[T_i_B]

3. I should also add at this point...

Last edited Mon Nov 5, 2012, 09:30 AM - Edit history (1)

...that I'm not sad to see Denis MacShane leave parliament. To be prefectly blunt for some time now I've considered him the very worst Labour MP. No mean feat in a party that also includes the likes of David Blunkett and Hazel Blears.

MacShane is a really nasty piece of work and very dishonest so it's no suprise whatsoever that he's something of a crook. Once you get beyond MacShane's partisan bluster he's also very right wing.

Talking to people in Rotherham it seems that what people want is for their next MP to have a bit of integrity. However, with Rotherham being as rock solid Labour as it gets that will depend very much on who the Labour party choose as their candidate.

[LeftishBrit]

4. Well, of current Labour MPs, I think my top-hate is Liam Byrne..

closely followed by David Blunkett and Frank 'thinking the unthinkable' Field; though they both seem to have gone a bit quiet recently.

But yes, McShane was pretty unsavoury. Big supporter of the Henry Jackson Society and similar neo-con stuff; and quite nasty on a personal level. His nastiness with regard to the Gary McKinnon case in particular made me feel quite ill. I'm not sorry to see him kicked out in disgrace!

[Ken Burch]

6. Maybe they could actually elect a Labourite as Labour M.P. this time

From all I've heard, MacShane is one of the most sectarian and arrogant Blairites of them all-he thinks that because his generation couldn't get a victory for socialism, nobody else should be allowed to try.

[T_i_B]

5. In Rotherham related news...

Sarah Champion, Chief Executive of Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice has been selected as Labour candidate.

Reports are that half the Labour members present walked out in protest at a stich up that barred a local candidate, Mahroof Hussain from standing.

I think the Labour leadership wanted a "clean break" from MacShane, i.e a candidate who isn't local but who won't cause trouble.

[Ken Burch]

7. What is Champion like?

Is she another Blairite, or is she a break from MacShane on the issues as well?

And why was the leadership so fixated on keeping Hussain from standing for the nomination?

[T_i_B]

8. Ah, the murky world of Rotherham politics

Not too sure why, and please do bear in mind that I wouldn't piss on Rotherham Labour Party if they were on fire.

The most likely explanation is that Hussain might have a few skeletons in his closet. To be blunt about it though, the same could be said for a number of people involved with Rotherham politics.

As so Sarah Champion, she seems to be a very bland empty suit, which the Labour leadership might be more comfortable with after MacShane, who wasn't bland, but had more then his fair share of personal baggage.

Mind you, as bad as local politics is in Rotherham, neighbouring Doncaster is even worse, and Ed Miliband is the carpetbagging MP there.

[T_i_B]

9. 3 by-elections today

Candidate lists for all 3 constituencies are below. I'll be honest and admit I've only seen what's been happening in the Rotherham one.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-20495560

ROTHERHAM

MICHAEL BECKETT - Liberal Democrats
CLINT BRISTOW - Independent
SARAH CHAMPION - Labour
JANE COLLINS - UK Independence Party
SIMON COPLEY - Independent
PAUL DICKSON - Independent
RALPH DYSON - Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
MARLENE GUEST - British National Party
YVONNE RIDLEY - Respect
DAVID WILDGOOSE - English Democrats
SIMON WILSON - Conservative

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-20327202

MIDDLESBOROUGH
RICHARD ELVIN - UK Independence Party
PETER FOREMAN - British National Party
MARK HESLEHURST - Independent
BEN HOUCHEN - Conservative
IMDAD HUSSAIN- The Peace Party
JOHN MALCOLM - Trade Union and Socialist Coalition
ANDY MCDONALD - Labour
GEORGE SELMER - Liberal Democrats


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20336680

CROYDON NORTH

Official Monster Raving Loony Party - John Cartwright
National Front - Richard Edmonds
Christian Peoples Alliance - Stephen Hammond
Respect - Lee Jasper
Green Party - Shasha Khan
9/11 Was An Inside Job - Simon Lane
UKIP - Winston McKenzie
Liberal Democrat - Marisha Ray
Labour - Steve Reed
Young People's Party - Robin Smith
Communist - Ben Stevenson
Conservative - Andy Stranack

[non sociopath skin]

10. Can't see Labour losing Middlesbrough - they've been working very hard there.

I know nothing about Croydon.

The Torygraph have been working hard for UKIP's Rotherham campaign this week.

I'm sure the Baggy Trousered Misanthropists and the Bashful Barclay Brothers have a lot of common ground.

Quite frankly, if the Good Burghers of Rotherham elect the first UKIP MP, the best of luck to them. They'll need it.


The Skin

[LeftishBrit]

11. I would doubt that most Rotherham voters are hugely influenced by the Torygraph. Hope not, anyway.

In the Torygraph ideal world, Prime Minister Michael Gove- if not John Redwood -would be off to a pre-Christmas summit meeting with President-elect Romney; and Pat Robertson, or perhaps Rick Santorum, would just have immigrated to these shores to take up the post of Archbishop of Canterbury. (I realize that neither of these is an Episcopalian, but I don't suppose it would matter in Bizarroland.)

I would expect Croydon North to remain Labour, though I don't have my ears to the ground there.

I certainly hope that ALL the seats stay Labour.

ETA: Interesting to see some of the minor parties' names. I doubt that a party called '9-11 Was an Inside Job' would get a huge number of votes in the UK. Maybe they'll end up on the DU Creative Speculation Forum.

[T_i_B]

12. Looking at the 2010 election results....

...I would expect Croydon North to stay Labour

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croydon_North_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

As to Rotherham, whilst I certainly think that Labour deserve to lose the seat, the trouble is that their main opposition today will be from Respect and UKIP, neither of who could exactly be called moderate or sensible. Even though Labour's campaign has not gone very well, I would still be very surprised indeed if they lost Rotherham.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Labour retains Rotherham; UKIP comes 2nd, BNP 3rd

Sarah Champion, chief executive of the Bluebell Wood children's hospice, secured the seat with 9,886 votes.

UKIP's Jane Collins came second with 4,648 votes and the British National Party's Marlene Guest came third.
...
There were 11 candidates standing in the election and the turnout was 33.8% - down from 59% in the 2010 general election.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-20535008

BNP beats both Tories and Lib Dems. Fuck.

[fedsron2us]

14. BNP percentage share of the vote was actually down

They came third because the Coalition parties vote collapsed. All the fringe parties including the English Democrat beat the Lib Dem.

[T_i_B]

15. Lib Dems came 8th!

Last edited Fri Nov 30, 2012, 07:20 AM - Edit history (2)

Behind an independent who described himself as a "disgruntled former Liberal Democrat". Says it all really.

Not happy with BNP coming 3rd but the recent sex grooming case has not helped at all.

UKIP don't have that much reason to be getting carried away with themselves. Their result owes much to the foster care scandal and I'm not sure that an idiotic stunt like that would be attempted elsewhere in the country. As such I think it's fair to view their strong showing as a one off.

As to Rotherham's new MP, the reports I've heard about her are not great (vacuous being the main word being used to describe her). However, I expect she'll be an improvement on the ghastly Dennis MacShane. I expect she'll have her work cut out at a constituency level though.

[non sociopath skin]

17. Let's just hope that she doesn't spontaneously combust ....

... so that your sentiments aren't tested to the limit, TiB.

Incidentally, if this week's Private Eye is to be believed, it would seem that the rank-and-file of Rotherham LP acted pretty honourably in the face of having a shortlist imposed on them by HQ.

The Skin

[T_i_B]

19. Not so much my own sentiments....

...as some of those who came across her on the campaign trail. The worst adjective I heard used to describe her was "airhead", which seems more then a bit unfair on a woman who's the chief exective of a children's hospice.

Nonetheless, she is something of a political novice and it's not been a good sign when she was pulled out of media appearances this week in the wake of the foster care scandal. I just hope that she doesn't help sweep the problems with Rotherham social services under the carpet.

[non sociopath skin]

24. Much truth in what you say, though better an imposed hospice chief ...

... than an imposed investment broker IMHO.

We'll see how she does. And it will be interesting to see if there's any follow-up to the fostering issue.

The Skin

[LeftishBrit]

16. Glad that Labour won it comfortably; not so happy about the fringenut parties

Especially the BNP.

And the Respect candidate in Rotherham was the truly loony Yvonne Ridley.

And as already mentioned, the UKIP-er seemed exceptionally nuts.

I think a lot of this is protest-voting, though. It's my impression that some UKIP voters in particular these days are people who are not far right or even very bothered about Europe, but are sick of the main parties and are prepared to go for anyone who seems to be outside of mainstream politics.

Of course, we also need to remember that the most popular party in all three by-elections was the one known as Why-Bother-to-Vote. Not uncommon in by-elections, but would be worrying if the trend continues into the general election.

[non sociopath skin]

18. I'm relieved that we've been spared ...

.... the Telegraph telling us that it was "The Torygraph Wot Won It For UKIP" and the Daily Mail trumpetting "Hurrah for Baggy Trousers".

And yes, I think the Body Politick will be the better for the absence of Ms. Ridley.

The Skin

[T_i_B]

20. The more I saw of Respect......

.....the less respect I had for them. I'd much rather see candidates who try and serve all their constituents, not just those of a certain race or religious viewpoint.

Best not to get me started on BNP, English Democrats or the "independent" who is in fact a well known EDL thug either for that matter.

Plus I'm not sure that Palestine and Julian Assange are wholly relevent issues for most voters anywhere.

By the way, the Torygraph is still trying to spin the Rotherham result desperately on behalf of UKIP. Here's the link but be warned, it's complete baloney. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100192252/after-rotherham-ukip-is-now-a-national-populist-party-a-magnet-for-anger-at-the-british-establishment/

[non sociopath skin]

21. A professor of American History ...

.... who's just written a biography of a wacko right-wing evangelist.

Who better to write about by-elections in Rotherham and Middlesbrough?

Everyone else at the Torygraph must have been out drinking gin and its with Nigel and the chaps.

The Skin

[LeftishBrit]

22. Not absolutely everyone else at the Torygraph...

Peter Mullen also wrote a very gloating article, about how the Tories are losing, and deserve to, because they are matching Labour in 'tax and spend' and abandoning all their traditional values, etc. I won't link to it, as Mullen is about as disgusting as Ed West, and that's a lot!

BTW, Stanley's biography is of Pat Buchanan, not Pat Robertson. Both are wacko right-wingers, but Buchanan isn't an evangelist.

[non sociopath skin]

23. Apologies, LB. Wrong wacko!

The Skin