council tax

[robpage]

My son toured NZ by camper van with his wife, had a lovely time. On returning to UK and some weeks later arrived by letter the speeding fine he had incurred, he did pay the fine, but i wonder if he had not paid and at a later date went back to NZ, a computer somewhere, at immigration maybe, had the record and would have zapped him on arrival, kt

an old colleague went to Chicago on business , landed at O'Hare airport , was arrested at immigration , no explanation , was cuffed and detained , an hour later was told 5 years before had been stopped for speeding in a hire car , said horlicks to it flew home, but the yanks got him next visit

[John Pruden]

My son toured NZ by camper van with his wife, had a lovely time. On returning to UK and some weeks later arrived by letter the speeding fine he had incurred, he did pay the fine, but i wonder if he had not paid and at a later date went back to NZ, a computer somewhere, at immigration maybe, had the record and would have zapped him on arrival, kt

Keith funny you said NZ i had a ticket from asda i was supposed to be parked there for 10 hours in the disabled bay yes i was at asda two times that day now to appeal the fine the main office was wellington nz i went to the local asda showed them the ticket and asked do you think my wife would be in the store over 10 bloody hours while i sat in the car no chance the nice lady opened a draw and said look at these the draw was full all she did was type in on the computer to cancel the ticket but my point is how many would just pay the fine who would want to be on the phone to NZ you may as well pay the fine? same thing for speeding i have a gadget on the dashboard telling me what speed in that area i got a pull one day arguing with the cop he was adamant that i was over now the law states that speed gun should be calibrated every day before it goes out on the road i asked him for the paperwork he could not produce so he had to let me go my parting words to him was to take the gun and sort it out he was fuming ? always get out of the car and go face to face it takes a lot of power from them when you are not looking up at them? jp

[cappy]

My son toured NZ by camper van with his wife, had a lovely time. On returning to UK and some weeks later arrived by letter the speeding fine he had incurred, he did pay the fine, but i wonder if he had not paid and at a later date went back to NZ, a computer somewhere, at immigration maybe, had the record and would have zapped him on arrival, kt

##this can happen after driving in france i believe they catch you next time in.......pity they werent so keen keeping the immigrants away from the calais ferry births

[robpage]

I know we can all be a bit Franco phobic here from time to time but when I was working on the Portsmouth to Cherbourg and Channel Island Ferry service the incoming Townsend from Le Havre had a bunch of French 20 something's who had got legless and kicked off on the ferry the Portsmouth police arrested them rang the gendarmerie in Le Havre and arranged to take them back overnight we were the only overnight service so we took them back guarded by one Portsmouth police officer . The ship was quiet so they were kept in one of the corners of the upper car deck sat on the steel plates all recovering from serious hangovers and all trying to work out how do I going to get home to Le Havre from Cherbourg . 7 o'clock the next morning we offloaded I took a walk across to the ferry terminal which was a habit of mine I will sit in the terminal have a coffee and a pain de chocolat but I'm walking across I looked in the custom shed there were about 20 heavily armed Gru officers the now feeling very sorry for themselves young Frenchman had to walk Liss gauntlet of the Gru and in all honesty they were very nasty and all I could hear was how dare you embarrass la Belle France they were on their hands and knees and other had the crap beaten out of them by the time they emerge from that shed . The punishment for being a disgrace to France was one hell of a beating with some kind of truncheon why the Gru . In Portsmouth the police used to ask them to be nice people and then let them off

[Red Lead Ted]

Cappy, Dont you think this should be addressed also.



MPs claim expenses for second home while renting out third property
Sixty-five MPs are claiming expenses for a second home while earning rental income from letting out a third, it can be revealed.
By Ben Leach 9:00PM BST 11 Apr 2009
The politicians – one in ten of all MPs – have between them claimed almost £6 million since records on expenses began in 2001, an average of £85,000 each.

The findings will raise fresh concerns over the use of the controversial additional costs allowance (ACA) scheme, which last year allowed each MP to claim up to £23,083 towards the cost of staying away from their main home on parliamentary business.

Many of the 65 MPs have only become multiple property owners, and begun to earn rental income, since entering parliament – a finding which will fuel suspicion that the combination of salary and allowance is funding MPs to become buy-to-let landlords at the taxpayers' expense.

Critics have claimed that the use of the ACA to cover living costs, including groceries and household items, leaves little for MPs to spend their salary on.

While most of the 65 MPs own only three properties, some own many more.

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The millionaires claiming for lavish second homes 31 Mar 2009
The biggest property empire is owned by James Clappison, the Tory MP for Hertsmere, who owns farmland, a cricket ground and 22 rented houses in and around the villages of Patrington and Withernsea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Five of the houses are jointly owed with his wife. Since 2001, Mr Clappison has claimed £97,892 in second-home expenses. He declined to comment.

Typically, MPs use the ACA to run one home in their constituency and another in central London.

They are entitled to the money regardless of whether they already own other properties. There is no suggestion that any of the MPs have broken the rules.

Any MP who earns income as a landlord must declare it in the Commons register of members' interests.

Details in the register show that 34 of the MPs were renting out properties in London. Others rented out property elsewhere in the UK, or overseas.

The findings follow a string of revelations concerning the way MPs use the ACA.

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, and Margaret Beckett, the former foreign secretary, have all been criticised for claiming the allowance while living in grace-and-favour homes in London.

Mr Brown and David Cameron, the Conservative leader, have already called for an overhaul.

The Prime Minister has asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life to speed up its inquiry into the scheme, which is expected to recommend that the ACA is scrapped before the next election and replaced with either a daily attendance allowance or a pay rise.

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman and MP, said it was "difficult to argue" that the taxpayer should be funding second homes for MPs who already had additional home which they were renting out.

He added: "The original purpose of the allowance was to enable MPs who could not afford to do so to stay in London on parliamentary business. It wasn't designed to generate a second income stream."

In total, the 65 MPs have claimed £5,727,364 since 2001 while renting out additional homes - an average of £88,113 per MP.

Mark Wallace, the campaign director for the TaxPayers' Alliance, said the MPs concerned should "examine their consciences".

He added: "It's absolutely right that parliament provides accommodation for MPs that could not otherwise afford accommodation in London, but there's no reason why the taxpayer should subsidise those who can afford, or indeed already own, a second property."

Supporters of the system say that the fact an MP already owns a second home should not prevent him or her from claiming an allowance which their colleagues are receiving and to which her or she is entitled under parliamentary rules.

Michael Meacher, the Labour MP for Oldham West and Royton, rented out four properties in London and one in the Cotswolds while claiming £57,468 in ACA.

He said: "I have never claimed ACA for any of the properties I own apart from the one in my Oldham constituency. That is within the rules."

In some cases, the politicians bought their additional properties before entering parliament.

The largest claim for second-home allowance among any of the 65 MPs was made by Douglas Hogg, the Conservative MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham, who rented three London properties to tenants while claiming £143,651 in ACA since 2001.

Barbara Follett, the Labour MP for Stevenage, who is married to Ken Follett, the millionaire novelist, has claimed £126,952 in second home allowance since 2001. She rents out a flat in London, a house in South Africa and a holiday home in Antigua.

Shaun Woodward, the Northern Ireland Secretary, claimed £138,546 in ACA while renting out properties in France, New York State and the West Indies, although he and his wife Camilla, a Sainsbury heiress, are worth at least £15 million.

The couple have a £6 million town house 200 yards from Parliament and a 17th century house in Oxfordshire, worth £8 million.

Alan Duncan, the Tory MP for Rutland and Melton, who made millions as an oil trader, claimed £143,392 in second home allowance despite owning two adjoining terrace houses in Westminster, one of which he rents to tenants. In my opinion it would be cheaper to put this lot {ALL M.P.s} On methadone.

[Lewis McColl]

##this can happen after driving in france i believe they catch you next time in.......pity they werent so keen keeping the immigrants away from the calais ferry births

Pity the Italians, Greeks and Spanish did not do there job and keep them away from the French border. Or better still the Navies including the RN stopped landing those rescued from the Medi. They should just land them back on the North African coast were they came from or Turkey. Funny when Gaddafi was still the man in charge in Libya there was never a problem with refugees coming across in there 100,000.Thankyou Mr Cameron, Hollande etc! Concerning Calais be thankful for what the French do there. If people keep carping on about what the French do or do not do be careful as the French may just open the flood gates and then you will have a problem in the UK with so called Refugees. But as usual it is always somebody else is to blame. The fact that the armed forces ,police, and border controls have been cut to the bone has nothing to do with any of it. No wonder the Australians refer to Brits as whinging Poms.
This is a very apt description.

A whinging pom is what used to describe a person of British origin who will consistently complain about any situation that they may face. They are emotionally unable to deal with any sort of adverse condition without commenting negatively about it.

[cappy]

##well ted you must have been up all night by the length of that script .......there are many facets to buying selling renting properties ....i have no prob lem with people renting properties i pay my council tax they rent out properties ......as for MPs well they are the chosen ones sadly you and me and the rest of us choose them....so got no problem there apart from a whinge now and then .....my main protest was on why should i pay for the roof over my head more than the roof over any one elses head......that is my grouse ......as regarding the cost of keeping the junkies plonkies and other bums and stiffs alive not once but time after time......that is a no no to me as the recent survey in london said on any given night half of the rough sleepers were foriegners ......what percentage were the junkies etc i dont know...and to be truthful i dont care..as for ex servicemen there are many facilities for them......why should the roof over my head cost more than the roof over somebody elses ........why should some retired person get free boilers free double glazing free this and that etc when they retire and i cannot ....would you not call that radical discrimination....surely this is a means test we all know what happens in them circumstances...and most of all why if i save year after year to get a pension should i again pay tax on that ...to keep the aformentiond........cappy

[cappy]

Pity the Italians, Greeks and Spanish did not do there job and keep them away from the French border. Or better still the Navies including the RN stopped landing those rescued from the Medi. They should just land them back on the North African coast were they came from or Turkey. Funny when Gaddafi was still the man in charge in Libya there was never a problem with refugees coming across in there 100,000.Thankyou Mr Cameron, Hollande etc! Concerning Calais be thankful for what the French do there. If people keep carping on about what the French do or do not do be careful as the French may just open the flood gates and then you will have a problem in the UK with so called Refugees. But as usual it is always somebody else is to blame. The fact that the armed forces ,police, and border controls have been cut to the bone has nothing to do with any of it. No wonder the Australians refer to Brits as whinging Poms.
This is a very apt description.

A whinging pom is what used to describe a person of British origin who will consistently complain about any situation that they may face. They are emotionally unable to deal with any sort of adverse condition without commenting negatively about it.

##wasnt your last comment to me to just make comments about rugby .....there you go again lewis two feet in ...keep your promises.....or perhaps that just suits when it fits...as for negativity you must have a degree in that........cappy

[Keith Tindell]

I agree with 45 Terry, the MP that we have flung out here on the Island was doing just that, he owned a flat in London which he rented out to an MP, and he himself rented from another MP, plus of course he had a house here on the Island, they are nothing but a scheming bunch of scabs. The MP we have at the moment is brand new, so will wait and see, kt

[cappy]

##wasnt your last comment to me to just make comments about rugby .....there you go again lewis two feet in ...keep your promises.....or perhaps that just suits when it fits...as for negativity you must have a degree in that........cappy

ps why not send that french aircraft carrier you keep on about......