Is Brian Coleman AM finished?
Adam at Tory Troll may have dropped a bombshell. He alleges today that: “The London Fire Authority have awarded a £12 million contract to a company that lavished hospitality on it’s Chairman Brian Coleman.”
Through a FOI request he finds that: “The actions of Brian Coleman during a recent Fire Authority meeting were unlawful according to legal papers provided to this blog.” – Coleman is also leader of Barnet Council.
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Journalists launch ‘Investigations fund’
A group of well-known journalists have launched Britain’s first ‘Investigations Fund’ to “encourage a new generation of reporters, and support independent journalism.”
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Coulson and Cameron: blogger reaction
Paul Burgin / Mars Hill:
Plus what are the chances of Conservative bloggers covering this this evening! They have sometimes accused Labour bloggers of a “Move along now…” attitude, its amazing how silent they are the moment a story against the Conservatives breaks out!
Sunder Katwala / Next Left:
Keeping Coulson may prove too difficult, But the attempt to do suggests that the only ethic that matters is one of convenience – and that different rules apply to the inner circle.
Tory sticks up two fingers at Boris, amidst cronyism
Tory Assembly Member Brian Coleman refuses to publish his expenses while at the GLA. But will Boris Johnson have the guts to fire him?
Yesterday the full expenses for 24 London Assembly Members were revealed. But one remained – Coleman. He not only refused to publish them but the declared that because Boris asked him to publish them, he wouldn’t! He also said he would not help the “mad, bad and the sad, the bloggers on the internet” by publishing his expenses.
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BBC gets more complaint over Jackson than expenses
A Media Guardian story today uncovers the interesting nugget that the BBC has received more complaints over excessive coverage on Michael Jackson’s death than the expenses of its own senior management.
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Labour MP resigns over expenses; second jobs scandal looms
The Telegraph this morning reports that Labour MP Harry Cohen has announced his decision to quit as an MP by the next election.
The MP had come under heavy criticism for his decision to claim more than £100,000 in second home expenses on a house in his constituency of Leyton and Wanstead, east London, within easy commuting distance of the Commons.
He was able to designate the Leyton property as his second home after registering a house 70 miles away in Colchester, Essex, as his main residence.
Though Tory MPs have paid back over a quarter of a million in expenses so far, Cameron has avoided firing any close friends / shadow cabinet members over their expenses.
But that scandal is likely to be over-shadowed by revelations over second-jobs, details of which are to be disclosed today. The disclosure of outside interests is more likely to affect the Tories. Cameron has already attempted some damage limitation by announcing that senior Tories will have to give up second jobs by the New Year.
But here too, there have been quietly muffled scandals. Last week it emerged that Michael Gove was paid around £1,250 per hour for articles for the Times. It was later revealed that Gove had also breached party rules by accepting money for writing about their policy area. Once exposed, Gove’s office hurriedly stated that he would donate those earnings to charity.
Gove MP makes £1,250 an hour on the side
Who says second jobs aren’t lucrative? Tory shadow cabinet minister Michael Gove should certainly fall into that category. According to information revealed by the Conservatives today, this is his rough second-income from a column at the The Times newspaper.
London Evening Standard’s Paul Waugh writes on his blog:
Govey gets £5,000 a month but reveals that “the number of hours worked for that payment” is “1 hour a week or so”. Nice work if you can get it. He was obviously torn between telling The Times that he worked really, really hard for his money and telling the voters that he doesn’t spend all that much time on his journalism. As a result, his hourly rate looks like something a corporate lawyer would drool over.
That’s not to mention the erudite columns for Building Magazine, Scotland on Sunday etc.
This whole second jobs scheme was working out quite nicely for the Tories.
Value for money Boris spends thousands on taxis
Whatever happened to London Mayor Boris Johnson’s bicycle?? Apparently he has spent over £4,698 in taxi bills since taking up his position, according to details published yesterday.
That enormous amount includes one bill for £237.50 to travel across two postcodes, from his former home in Furlong Road, N7 to Foxglove Close, N9.
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David Cameron’s new EU alliance of bigots crumbling already
On a good day to bury bad news, while the Speaker was being elected, David Cameron announced a new alliance of European parties straddling the centre-right to the far-right. The alliance included Poland’s openly homophobic Law and Justice party, a concern that Cameron’s deputies dismissed.
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London deputy Mayor reported to the police
The news of Ian Clement’s departure and the fraud he perpetrated under the nose of Mayor Boris Johnson has finally reached the national press. Clement was actually ousted two days ago. Keep in mind this is the third deputy and fourth senior aide the London Mayor has lost in a year.
Concerns about Celement were raised as far back as last year and yet the Mayor did nothing until persistent digging by Dave Hill and further echoes by Adam Bienkov and BorisWatch became too great.
Update: Turns out Boris personally approved Clement’s expenses.
(news coverage now below the fold)
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Union slams BA over free champagne
British Airways has been sharply criticised for offering free luxury food and drinks while at the same time asking staff to take pay cuts. Unite, the UK’s biggest union, said it was “angered” by news that BA are to provide free champagne and smoked salmon for ‘taste of London week’.
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A naked picnic at Steen’s very large pad
From the people who bought us Warmongers in your neighbourhood?, Don’t Panic magazine, comes the naked picnic at Tory MP Anthony Steen’s very large pad – which he accused taxpayers of being jealous of.
via Guido.
Meanwhile, Sir Peter Viggers is to auction his duck house for charity. Tory MPs are all heart.
PM’s allies accuse Guardian of plotting
The Prime Minister’s allies are accusing the Guardian of plotting to oust Gordon Brown. That is, according to a report in the Daily Mail today. It says:
The Prime Minister’s allies accuse the left-wing Guardian – long seen as Labour’s house journal – of promoting and even orchestrating the plot.
It demanded Mr Brown’s resignation in a scathing editorial on Wednesday in which it insisted there was ‘no vision from him, no plan, no argument for the future and no support’. Downing Street was incandescent with rage that it was given no forewarning of the savage article. The Prime Minister’s allies suspected it had been written in active collaboration with Labour rebels.
The article goes on to blame its news coverage and even Polly Toynbee.
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Tories up 22%, plus earlier polling
An Ipsos Mori poll out today puts Conservatives 22% ahead, with Labour and Libdems tied. Here is a quick snap-shot of recent polls, in reverse chronological order, with links to more information about each. If you have more links, please post them below.
| Poll by: | Tories | Labour | Libdems | Greens | UKIP |
| Mori | 40% | 18% | 18% | - | - |
| ICM | 40% | 22% | 25% | (11% on Euros) | (10% on Euros) |
| YouGov | 39% | 22% | 18% | ||
| Populus | 41% | 21% | 15% |
Most polls are headline voting intentions, focused on general elections as opposed to how people would vote in the upcoming European elections. The Sunday Telegraph poll putting Greens at 11% is significant because it’s the first time the Greens have overtaken UKIP. The national media however continues to ignore them.
Dail Mail admits exec rewrote story to add sexism
The Daily Mail legal team made an extraordinary admission today. The newspaper was today forced to pay out £10,000 to three women because it alleged they rated their careers and figures more highly than having children. That alone is a cause for celebration after it paid out “substantial damages” last week for allegations against Tom Watson MP in an article by blogger Iain Dale.
What’s remarkable about this story is the Daily Mail’s own admission that a senior exec re-wrote the story to make it more sexist.
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Can this man unseat Nadine Dorries?
Will it take one airhead wannabe celeb to unseat another? The Independent and Sky News are reporting that “former pop singer and reality TV star” David Van Day is exploring the possibility of standing against Mid-Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries. The Indy reminds readers:
The Tory MP is said to have claimed for a New Year’s Eve hotel room and a second home allowance while only having one home. She also got taxpayers to foot the bill for a lost £2,190 deposit on a rented flat, the Daily Telegraph reported
According to news reports he plans to visit her constituency under the ‘No Expenses Party’ banner and find out if residents are receptive. We wish him all the best. Anyone who can raise awareness of Dorries’ comments and expenses is more than welcome to do so. Last week Ms Dorries also said Trident was not a weapon of mass destruction.
Anyone else willing to join the fray? After all, they’re only responding to David Cameron’s call.
Sunny adds: Nadine Dorries’ blog is back up, and fully re-worked. It looks like her blog was down so it could be upgraded, rather than libel reasons (which have not been mentioned on her blog).
Labour activists ‘disappointed’ by party leadership
Labour party candidates and activists who organised a letter to the NEC urging strong leadership on the MPs expenses said last night the Prime Minister had lost the opportunity to get back in touch with public opinion.
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Exclusive: Angry Labour activists sign letter on MPs expenses
A broad swathe of Labour Party activists and parliamentary candidates are tonight circulating a letter to express concern over the way party leaders have failed to take charge over the MPs expenses scandal.
The letter, addressed to the National Executive Committee chair, says they were writing to register their protest at, “the conduct of many Labour MPs, ministers and cabinet ministers in allowance and expense claims funded by hard working British taxpayers during the tenure of this Parliament”.
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Miliband hosts far-right Israeli nationalist
Foreign secretary David Miliband will today meet the foreign minister from Israel Avigdor Lieberman. The Guardian describes him as “hardline”, but others have dubbed him as “fascist”.
So why is the foreign secretary giving time and space to someone who should be shunned by a liberal democracy?
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Minister attacks Telegraph ’smear’ as ‘homophobic’
A junior health minister today attacked the Daily Telegraph as “homophobic” over the way it reported a story concerning his expenses.
Ben Bradshaw MP said on Twitter that the Telegraph “smear” was “factually wrong and homophobic”.
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You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or rss feeds.
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