| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:MPs expenses | |
| Posted by: | Fraser Pearce | |
| Date/Time: | 20/05/09 10:45:00 |
| It won’t happen, Bunny – MEPs haven’t had to show receipts or proof. Remember it was the receipts that nailed British MPs. If you’re interested though, last year German TV did a series of exposes on some of the dodgy practices over there. You can find a snippet here on YouTube that looks at the so-called ‘SOSO allowance’ (‘sign on and sod off’): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU55TEOJXGo&NR=1 ------- As for “there are all sorts of things going on over there that we wouldn't agree with”, that’s putting it mildly. Apart from around 80% of laws and regulations now originating in Brussels (not Westminster) – one of the biggest ‘things going on’ was alluded to in a 2004 report from the EU Commission - perhaps shedding faint light on the detail James is asking for on this forum. The report revealed that EU countries spend €600 billion to comply with extra regulation in order to claw back a shade under €165 billion in extra trade. This equates to a shortfall of €435 billion a year. The reason given for the shortfall was that EU spending is “broadly consistent with the public choice theory that sees regulation as a mechanism to create rents for politicians and the firms they support." You probably don’t need a translation of that statement, but it implies that every man, woman and child in the EU pays €885 a year to sustain a rentier state and help keep the piggies in the trough. |