General Chat

The BBC has just reported that Downing Street has announced that Maria Miller has resigned as Culture Secretary, following the row over her expenses.

Mr Cameron's official spokesman said the PM and Mrs Miller discussed her future on Tuesday night and her resignation was confirmed on Wednesday morning.

It comes a day before Parliament breaks for its Easter recess and ahead of a session of Prime Minister's Questions at which Mr Cameron was expected to come under pressure over the row.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26951464

No doubt this has nothing to do with today being Prime Ministers Questions ;-)

Now she needs to pay back the c£43k as recommended by the IPSC. It's OUR money, not her's!!

If she can't afford to pay in one lump, then work out a payment plan

The honourable thing that any politician should do when they have been found guilty of breaking the rules that govern their behaviour & financial affairs, is to resign immediately, waiting six days during, which time she accused everyone else of carrying out a witch hunt is far from honourable, others did not create the problem - she did.

What I would like to know is, how it was that the Independent Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards said she should repay £45,000, but that amount was reduced to £5,800 by the Commons Standards Committee :-S

So what changed and why did the Prime Minister try to brush the whole issue aside by saying she made a genuine mistake, she had repaid the amount she was asked to pay back, the amount of £5,800, and she had apologised.

The way the whole sorry affair has unfolded, is to say the least - surreptitious, it stinks of, you scratch my back and I'll scratch your back, and as to the Prime Minister's handling of the issue, this raises questions about his integrity and judgement.

I will watch PMQ's with interest today - should be interesting ;-)

she should pay back every penny and give a proper apology - disgraceful behaviour from a public servant

She has just been interviewed on television, looking as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, explaining why she resigned and being adamant that she wasn't pushed as it was solely her decision to resign - the lady doth protests too much, methinks ;-)

If she had had any integrity she would have resigned immediately and not caused further damage to the tories.

Further more she should repay the outstanding £40,000. This decision should not have been over ruled.

Mr Cameron needs badly to get some backbone and fast.

I bet she will still get her statutory holiday pay. :-D :-D :-D

Never mind holiday pay, she could pick up a nice golden handshake according to the rules governing ministers salaries:-

***Ministers and other paid office holders who receive a Ministerial salary are entitled to a severance payment when they leave office. Ministers who leave office are granted a severance payment, which generally equals three months of their annual ministerial salary***

I think the current salary for a Cabinet Minister is £134,565, so she could, on top off the £40,000 she has got away with - after you deduct her salary as an MP, pick up around £17,000 :-S

and it's OUR money!!!!!

Cameron has got the Wind Up,the amount of protest about this (Thief of the Public Purse) MP. He has been told by his other MPs that she may well have lost them the next Election.She should also be banned from ever being an MP again as should others who have fiddled us, and prosecuted for theft. The whole episode Stinks and puts the Whole of Parliament into Dis repute.

why isn't she charged with fraud and hauled up before a judge? if you or I did such a thing that's what would happen

She is a perfect example of what is wrong with our politicians.
They are the people who make the rules by which we all live our lives, it is a pity they do not follow them. :-| :-| :-|

Why did it take her so long? She probably did think it a witch hunt, as I expect things are 'back to normal' and she isn't the only MP to be defrauding the public again.
As for her 'pay-off'', I expect it will be very high - on condition she doesn't let the cat out of the bag :-|
No doubt she's also been negotiating some over-paid job on one of the various quangos that have been quietly re-appearing under a different guise..

Her 17grand pay-off is reported she is donating to charity,-------very noble, :-D.

......no doubt she'll be claiming the tax back from her charity donation.......

In the private sector, if you were caught out fiddling your expenses and were lucky enough to avoid being reported to the police, you would probably be dismissed for misconduct and you would not get a golden handshake.

If I live to be 1000, I will never understand why, in this day and age, MP's & Peers, are not subject to the same rules and laws that apply to ordinary people, the only exception I agree with is the right to be allowed immunity from the laws of defamation, when they are speaking during debates in the House of Commons or the House of Lords.

Given she sold her London home in February of this year for £1.47million, a profit of £1.236million, I think she should have no difficulty in paying back the full amount, not just the £5,800 it was reduced to......