In Britain, if you want to eat tax payers money, just make bogus claims and you will be paid back, example of bogus claims are:


Someone makes claim for ironing his trousers

Someone makes claim for watching pornography

Someone makes claim for going to a court summon for evading council tax

Someone makes claims for telephone bills.

etc etc

Noone is asking you to compare it with Nigeria, but, is this not corruption in a grand way?

Please advised that majority of all these Mps have offered to pay every penny taken back to the coffers. if you are trying to justify corruption in Nigeria . I am happy to inform that you are wrong. These mPs all acted within the expenses law. It is the law that needs to be changed. The expenses law allows for certain claims but the question is " is it moral" Capital No. Unlike your brothers in africa who dont give shit to any laws or morality .

I see some people cant read, where is it asked to justify it with Nigeria, I am ashamed of people not able to read and comprehend and act otherwise.


Your brothers in Africa, hmmm - I assume you are black, a monkey by birth, and you have now changed your animal type and denounce "your monkey brothers" -right? Noone is asking to compare it with anywhere else, monkey.

it is so hard for you post without comparing it to what is happening in Nigeria.

Blacksta. You are more intelligent than this troll

blacksta:

Please advised that majority of all these Mps have offered to pay every penny taken back to the coffers. if you are trying to justify corruption in Nigeria . I am happy to inform that you are wrong. These mPs all acted within the expenses law. It is the law that needs to be changed. The expenses law allows for certain claims but the question is " is it moral" Capital No. Unlike your brothers in africa who dont give shit to any laws or morality .

WORD.

The poster want us to believe that he is not subconsciously trying to justify and put  'NIGERIAN CORRUPTION' in perspectives.  WE GET IT.


BUT, NIGERIAN LEADERS CORRUPTION ARE MADE OUT OF THIS WORLD. Even when they are caught, they get more chieftaincy titles, and parade praise singers in court of law to 'bully' the prosecution and Nigerian pople to believe that they are a good guy. ABSOLUTE RUBBISH.

Even if President Yar A'Do Nothing is not a corrupt man, but he condone and acquiesce to corruption and surround himself with IBORI's and AONDANOOKA of this world. HE IS THE CHAIRMAN OF CORRUPTION PLC. 1st Exhibith OPERATION KICK OUT AND HUMILATE RIBADU(RULE OF LYING MY ASS. OH SORRY RULE OF LAW)SHOW ME YOUR FRIENDS AND I WILL TELL YOU WHOM YOU ARE.

SO, NIGERIANS, WE SHOULD STOP TRYING TO JUSTFY SOME OF OUR CORRUPTIONS BY COMAPARING IT WITH OTHERS AND SAY OURS IS  NOT THAT BAD. WHAT IS BAD HAS NO OTHER NAME, IT IS  B   A      D

[size=13pt]Payback begins in British MPs' expenses row[/size]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/428869/1/.html


LONDON: A British cabinet minister pledged to repay thousands of pounds of property tax in the latest fall-out of an expenses row that Prime Minister Gordon Brown said must be met with "extreme" action.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said she would pay 13,332 pounds (about 20,000 dollars, 15,000 euros) in tax that leaked expenses claims suggested she should have already paid when she sold her London flat in August 2004.

Her decision came after a fifth day of newspaper revelations about MPs' lavish claims on taxpayers' money prompted Brown to take decisive action.

In a round of television interviews, the premier announced an independent review of every parliamentary expense claim made over the past four years.

It was "extreme action but it is necessary because politicians must show themselves worthy of public trust", he said.

Earlier, David Cameron, the leader of the main opposition Conservatives, ordered his MPs to pay back some of their expenses claimed after reports of their lavish spending on swimming pools, gardens and a moat.

Brown's ministers were the target of the first few days of revelations, and Blears said on Tuesday she had decided to act in response to public "outrage".

She had told parliamentary authorities that her London flat was a secondary residence required for her work in the capital, a designation which allowed her to claim costs for the property.

When she sold the flat she should have paid capital gains tax as is due on second homes. However, her expenses claims showed she did not, suggesting the flat was simultaneously registered with the tax authorities as her main home.

"I have decided it's not enough to comply with the rules and the law. What matters is what people think and feel about the issue," Blears said.

Cameron, who if opinion polls are to be believed could be prime minister within a year, earlier said the behaviour of some of his lawmakers was "unethical and wrong" and repeatedly said "sorry" for what had happened.

"When I read about the swimming pools, the moats,  I am completely appalled, most of my colleagues are appalled, people want something done about this," he told a hastily-called press conference.

Cameron said leading Conservatives who claimed expenses for gardening, furniture and even tennis court maintenance would pay back what they received, and he promised to refund one bill he himself had claimed.

His party would also set up a new expenses scrutiny panel by which lawmakers must abide "or they will no longer be Conservative MPs", Cameron said.

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, which has been publishing the expenses claims, revealed the first claims details of lawmakers from the smaller Liberal Democrats in its Wednesday edition.

Party leader Nick Clegg had sought to head off any embarrassment by pledging action on Tuesday, but was forced to apologise after it emerged he claimed 80 pounds of international phone calls. He will repay the sum.

His predecessor, Menzies Campbell, claimed 10,000 pounds for refurbishing his London flat, while housing spokesman Lembit Opik claimed 40 pounds for a court summons he received for not paying his council tax. He will refund it.

[size=13pt]Although none of the lawmakers caught up in the scandal[b] have broken the rules on parliamentary expenses[/b], their profligate spending has provoked fury in Britain, which is struggling through its worst recession since World War II. [/size]

A Populus poll for The Times taken over the weekend revealed the main political parties are suffering from the scandal.

Brown's governing Labour Party fell four points on last month to 26 per cent, while the Conservatives were also down four, to 39 per cent. The Liberal Democrats, by contrast, were up four to 22 per cent.


- AFP/so

What are these monkeys doing on my thread? Hey, there are loads of bananas from the MPs backyard for you to go and eat from. Monkeys will always act like what they are, subjects of the white masters.

hey Kobomonkey - u need some bananas?

tombola:

What are these monkeys doing on my thread? Hey, there are loads of bananas from the MPs backyard for you to go and eat from. Monkeys will always act like what they are, subjects of the white masters.

hey Kobomonkey - u need some bananas?

Lol
tombola, I like your style: you set a trap and warned people about it but they still fell into it.

another exhibition of why nigeria will not improve in the next century

Corruption is everywhere UK,US every damn place.

the difference is in the western world there is a degree of accountability and if you get caught u will be brought to book but in our junglle down town west Africa there is no accountability. If you get caught u will become a celebrity and ovation will visit your house , Bisi Olatilo will attend your party and celeberate you to the world.

If this British MP,s were in Nigeria i bet they might be even more corrupt. Greed is a human thing when a man can thrive above greed he will become a Real Man.

tombola:


hey Kobomonkey - u need some bananas?

No kill me wth laugh o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
ROFLMAO!!!!!

Lagosboy:

Corruption is everywhere UK,US every damn place.

the difference is in the western world there is a degree of accountability and if you get caught u will be brought to book but in our junglle down town west Africa there is no accountability. If you get caught u will become a celebrity and ovation will visit your house , Bisi Olatilo will attend your party and celeberate you to the world.

If this British MP,s were in Nigeria i bet they might be even more corrupt. Greed is a human thing when a man can thrive above greed he will become a Real Man.

on the mark@@@

Monkeys

Always protecting the white goons, what the hell!!!

Politicians are politians, stealing is stealing, what are these black monkeys talking about?

tombola:

Monkeys

Always protecting the white goons, what the hell!!!

Politicians are politians, stealing is stealing, what are these black monkeys talking about?

who is defending whites here.fact remains, enforcement agencies in western countries are more credible than the ones in Nigeria.

I will be the first to admit that the corruption was terrible, one MP claimed thousands to fix a leaking pipe under his private tennis court, while another spent thousands on feather dusters for cleaning! 

That is why most of  the MPs are resigning and paying back every penny in full, so far they have paid over £100,000 back and there is now growing calls for a general election. On top of that they are talking about serious reforms to the whole expenses sytem to prvent it happening again.

What of the one that claimed 18K for a bookshelf , the one that claimed for a non existent mortgage and even produced a bankstatement with a DD to his savings account and termed it the payment for mortgage . That is simply fraud and i am sure he will be prosecuted for it and might be jailed for 1 month oor two months. Jakie smith claimed for second home and was living in her sisters house, hazel blairs also. There is no saint among them i wonder what they will claim if they were in Nigeria they might be on the same page with Ibori.

Lagosboy:

What of the one that claimed 18K for a bookshelf , the one that claimed for a non existent mortgage and even produced a bankstatement with a DD to his savings account and termed it the payment for mortgage . That is simply fraud and i am sure he will be prosecuted for it and might be jailed for 1 month oor two months. Jakie smith claimed for second home and was living in her sisters house, hazel blairs also. There is no saint among them i wonder what they will claim if they were in Nigeria they might be on the same page with Ibori.

Can you imagine! There was one who has resigned immediately, he's mortgage was paid for by tax payers. Then he carried on claiming the money for nearly 2 years! He blamed it on his accountant and said he had forgot. He had been an MP for 16 years as well.

well, my fellow holy nigerians, the nigerian MP will loot the money directly without claiming it was for anything. he/she just loots the money. no explanation. and he does it again. . . . .and again . . . . . . .and again . . . . . .gets ''re-elected'' and lots again . . . gets an honorary doctorate from many universities . . . . . gets knighted by some churches . . . . . gets a traditional title . . . . . . .gets a national award . . . . . . . etc

Lagosboy:

What of the one that claimed 18K for a bookshelf , the one that claimed for a non existent mortgage and even produced a bankstatement with a DD to his savings account and termed it the payment for mortgage . That is simply fraud and i am sure he will be prosecuted for it and might be jailed for 1 month oor two months. Jakie smith claimed for second home and was living in her sisters house, hazel blairs also. There is no saint among them i wonder what they will claim if they were in Nigeria they might be on the same page with Ibori.

they didnt say he claimed £18,000. he asked to be permitted to buy a book shelf of that amount. he was the father of the house and so wanted to buy a solid book shelf for his parliamentary books. dont forget most of these books go back to libraries or other source for reference.

this is what you u get when yhen the godless are in power. i am grateful they are being outed

JJYOU:

they didnt say he claimed £18,000. he asked to be permitted to buy a book shelf of that amount. he was the father of the house and so wanted to buy a solid book shelf for his parliamentary books. dont forget most of these books go back to libraries or other source for reference.

this is what you u get when yhen the godless are in power. i am grateful they are being outed

Well maybe the paper spinned it then cos on BBC it was reported he was about to be retired when he made the claim. All the same most of them have been greedy and guilty of financial profiting by deception and the ones that claimed for a non existent mortgage guilty of fraud.

The positive thing abt this country is there is accountability and these people genuinly feel the sense of shame. In the jungle we come from no single politican has been convicted of fraud or thieving since yaradua came in and it was only a few ribadu himself convicted.

LMAO, this is a real democracy at work, people have resigned and payed back the money. They had done nothing illegal it was just felt that due to the current worldwide recession that it was improper.

Ministers in the UK are resigning as they had claimed for buying light bulbs or having their garden lawn cut.

Only the stupid people amongst us will try and compare this to the corruption in Nigeria 

As Lagosboy rightly says 'Accountability' is the key and in Nigeria that is non existent

UK Parliament is full of corrupt scumbags.
The majority of them are swindling the system and it's a system that they set up.

Anyone who thinks these vermin are innocent is living in a different world.

Ask any citizen of the UK what he thinks about this issue and he will tell you that he views UK politicians as corrupt. I've yet to meet one single person who says otherwise. The recession isn't the factor here - these people were screwing the taxpayer. If you or I acted like they did, we would be out of a job the police probably called.

Don't make me laugh about "democracy", Thor. This UK govt has done more to erode democracy than any other in history.
As for accountability? They made the Speaker the scapegoat, have months until any inquiry (so they can sweep it quietly under the carpet) and since when has any MP really paid for their dishonesty?
People have resigned and paid back money? How many? 99% of them are saying "We knew that what we were doing was wrong but the system allowed us to". The system they created!!!!
That's pure moral corruption.

Accountability in the UK strikes an alarming comparison with that in Nigeria. The scale of corruption may be different but the rot is just as deep-set. Stating that is not stupidity. It's fact.

@Bastage

Again I say comparing the situation to Nigeria is utter stupidity

Thor,

The UK parliamentarians are very unlikely to do anything illegal since they made the laws which guide them. They did not make the laws to regulate themselves as rigorously as the laws regulate the ordinary citizens. They are like a cult with regards to such things as they all know that they stand to benefit from standing together as one.

In spite of that, some of them still decided to go overboard and do some outrightly wrong things. A few of them will, I believe, eventually be prosecuted for several offences ranging from tax evasion to fraudulent claims.

Lagosboy:

Well maybe the paper spinned it then cos on BBC it was reported he was about to be retired when he made the claim. All the same most of them have been greedy and guilty of financial profiting by deception and the ones that claimed for a non existent mortgage guilty of fraud.

The positive thing abt this country is there is accountability and these people genuinly feel the sense of shame. In the jungle we come from no single politican has been convicted of fraud or thieving since yaradua came in and it was only a few ribadu himself convicted.

you are tam dyell is actually retired

Retired Father of the House MP Tam Dyell is unrepentant that [size=18pt]he claimed £18K - and got £7.8K[/size] for three bookcases.

just imagine they publish the claims of our senators and reps.

what the bank managers alone claim in our society will make these guys claim a joke.

i wish there is a whistle blower in the senate, reps, govs, commissioners or the various house of assembly that can give us the claims of these people

JJYOU:

you are tam dyell is actually retired
just imagine they publish the claims of our senators and reps.

what the bank managers alone claim in our society will make these guys claim a joke.

i wish there is a whistle blower in the senate, reps, govs, commissioners or the various house of assembly that can give us the claims of these people

Do you think knowing how the legislators impoverish our nation will make any difference? We know what many people have done and we still carry on (waiting for our our turn to get to the position where we can loot); which is why nobody cares about anything. . . everyone complains but no one does anything because they are hoping they will get there and do the same.

@ Thor.

Comparisons are not stupid.

The amount of money stolen may not be as large but the fact is that corruption in the UK parliament has been shown to be rife.
Just as in Nigeria, there is a culture amongst UK MPs that says that they must get as much money out of the system as they can, regardless of wether or not it is morally acceptable.
We can't say "legally acceptable" here because the legality of the issue is irrelevant - they make the law.

You say that the comparison is stupid but if you discuss this subject with any UK citizen, they will tell you the same thing. The system has been utterly abused and the MPs have shown themselves to be a bunch of immoral crooks. To me, regardless of the amount, that shows that a comparison is not stupid.

@Bastage

I think there is a big difference here , yeah most of the claims were under the law apart from those MP's that claimed for non existent mortgagewhich is fraud but in the jungle we come from there have been whistle blowers , we hear of their corruption everyday but how many of them have been convicted bearing in mind their is ouright illegal and there is no sense of shame.

Humans will forever be greedy and if these MPs were Nigerians they probably will do worse things and that is where the accountability of a system comes into play.

That's partly my point.

These MPs are not accountable.

They operate in a world where they make the rules and laws and where they decided what is right and wrong.
You think any of them will go to jail for fraud? I sincerely doubt it. One or two will be forced to resign as appeasement to the tax-payer but the majority will just happily go on their way.
In the case of whistleblowers, this whole subject was unearthed by a UK newspaper. Sure, government said it was going to publish some figures, but in what form? And let us not forget that it tried everything in it's power to stop those figures from being published in the first place. With all these leaks, why has it still not published?

Nigeria is not the only country that is rotten at the centre and where it's peoples' representatives are unnacountable. As you say, humans are greedy and where-ever there is money they will be attempting to screw it. UK politicians are only restricted by the laws already in place. You can bet your ass that if they were as lax as Niaja's they would be up to the same thing.

Bastage:

@ Thor.

Comparisons are not stupid.

The amount of money stolen may not be as large but the fact is that corruption in the UK parliament has been shown to be rife.
Just as in Nigeria, there is a culture amongst UK MPs that says that they must get as much money out of the system as they can, regardless of wether or not it is morally acceptable.
We can't say "legally acceptable" here because the legality of the issue is irrelevant - they make the law.

You say that the comparison is stupid but if you discuss this subject with any UK citizen, they will tell you the same thing. The system has been utterly abused and the MPs have shown themselves to be a bunch of immoral crooks. To me, regardless of the amount, that shows that a comparison is not stupid.

The comparison is stupid as no crimes have been committed in the UK. They were just taking liberties with the expense system, not stealing money.

It is principle and morals on trial that during the current worldwide downturn whether it was morally right to claim certain expenses.

You can not compare the UK with Nigeria 

Even homeless Africans living in the UK have a better future than most Nigerians 

You know as well as I do that the biggest problem with Nigeria is that the British are not running the country