What Keith Vaz Spends Tax Payers’ Money On
Vocal and uneducated game critic (and important Labour MP) Keith Vaz has a wage. The government pays him to do a job. That money is for him to spend on food, TVs, hookers and helping his corrupt lawyer friends. Basically, it’s like any wage. As an MP, he can claim money for things he paid for which are essential for his job. This means he doesn’t have to spend his wage on essential things like travel.
The Telegraph, being as fair and balanced as Fox News, are publishing a whole bunch of the claim forms from the past few years that MPs have used. When an MP claims something, my money, tax payers’ money, is given to them.
From the Telegraph’s article;
[Mr. Vaz's] current house is less than a mile from Stanmore underground station, which takes passengers directly to Westminster on the Jubilee Line. According to Transport for London, the 14-stop journey should take about 37 minutes. Westminster is about 12 miles from the house. A car journey straight down the A5 should take about 40 minutes.
So of course he needs a second home in Westminster! God forbid he would have to spend a shocking 40 minuets getting to work. Thankfully, tax payers money was on hand to not just pay off his mortgage (as the home was classed as his ‘œsecond home’ under the official guidelines), but also furnish the house to the basic level required to live, to the tune of £69,000.
The real kicker though is that in 2007, after claiming thousands of pounds for the London flat, he moved to a different house, changing this new one to be his ‘œsecond home’ and started renting out the London flat. What is a man to do with all this new, unclaimed money? Why, add a few creature comforts to your new, third home.
In all, Mr Vaz made claims of about £16,000 relating to the house, including more than £480 on 22 cushions, most of them silk, from John Lewis; £2,614 for a pair of John Lewis leather armchairs and an accompanying foot stool; £1,000 on a dining table and leather chairs; £750 on carpets; and £150 on a lamp and lampshade. Commons guidelines said MPs should “avoid purchases which could be seen as extravagant or luxurious”.
It’s good to know my gut feelings about Mr. Vaz have turned out to be rather accurate. It’s just a shame it took the Telegraph going on an anti-Labour smear campaign to do it.
The problem with the expenses system is that for it to be overhauled the new rules need to be put on the statute books. Which means that they need to be approved by MPs. So basically the only way this system is ever going to be changed is if MPs decide they don’t want a shitton of free money anymore.
Kieth Vaz is like the Tom Cruise of anti-violent video games. He’s overly enthusiastic about his cause, he does nothing to help it, and just makes himself into a universal punch line. All we need is for all violent video game advocates to go running around looking like Rorshach from Watchmen, complaining about video-game legislation…
If we think things are bad now, just wait until the Conservatives win the next election. Where’s Guy Fawkes when you need him most?!
@Jay: I was kidding… Chanology was a broken premise… Complaining about politicians that go after videogames is like pissing in an ocean of piss. Everyone knows that they’re full of it, so its pointless and stupid to be actively against these people.
Here you go, would you like some of this sexy free money?
Yes please.
Case closed.