That's Eric Joyce - Labour MP for Falkirk. Supposedly "my" MP. Never mind £180 for oil paintings because they "look nice", he shows exactly why this whole affair is so damaging for Britain. He doesn't care. He tries to turn the interview against the interviewer. He grins and smirks his way through the whole thing making a point of not answering questions. He thinks he's safe because he's in a constituency with a huge Labour majority and none of the other parties can touch him because they're just as mired in sleaze as Labour. He figures that, no matter what, plenty of "core" Labour voters will duly turn out on polling day and keep him in the style to which he has become accustomed.
This is Britain's most expensive MP for two out of the last three years. He claimed £187,334 in allowances and expenses in 2007-8. In 2006 he claimed £174,811 but promised to cut back in future. Well, we can see for ourselves exactly what Mr Joyce's promises are worth.
Since 2002, Mr Joyce has claimed £1,097,533 in expenses and allowances alone. On top of at least a third of a million in wages.
In Falkirk, there are seventeen people chasing every job vacancy. Maybe they'd be better chasing this benefit junkie.
But they'd better get behind me in the queue. I'm going to stand against him in the General Election and my campaign starts now. This won't be like the Euro Elections where I was chasing my tail all over Scotland whilst the parties sent minions to attend hustings and spent a fortune on glossy mailshots. I'm going to knock on every door in Falkirk and put a leaflet through every letterbox. I'll give every resident a receipt for Mr Joyce and ask if they think he's value for money. I'll ask them what they think of a guy who voted for the Iraq War and against an inquiry. Who voted against a transparent Parliament while voting for ID cards.
This guy flies around the world to the Congo, to Tokyo, to Baghdad, to Brazil, to Israel, to Palestine, to Switzerland, to Rwanda, to Kuwait, to the USA, to Turkey, to Gabon, to Buenos Aires, to Detroit and to Shanghai. What the hell has any of that got to do with Falkirk? You know, the constituency he was hired to represent?
So I'm going to stand against him. This time I know what I'm up against. The Tories & Labour will be spending £35 million on this General Election campaign. The SNP & Lib Dems will be spending horrendous sums as well. All of them have armies of eager minions all trying to impress & get onto the greasy pole. So I need help. If you want to get involved with leafletting or putting up posters or anything like that, get in touch here or make a donation using Paypal using the button at the top of the page. I need to pay for leaflets, posters, ads and all the rest. The wife's resigned to not going on holiday this year or next because all I've got will be going into this. Make a donation and I'll maybe be able to afford to buy her the occasional bunch of flowers to make up for it.
This is Britain's most expensive MP for two out of the last three years. He claimed £187,334 in allowances and expenses in 2007-8. In 2006 he claimed £174,811 but promised to cut back in future. Well, we can see for ourselves exactly what Mr Joyce's promises are worth.
Since 2002, Mr Joyce has claimed £1,097,533 in expenses and allowances alone. On top of at least a third of a million in wages.
In Falkirk, there are seventeen people chasing every job vacancy. Maybe they'd be better chasing this benefit junkie.
But they'd better get behind me in the queue. I'm going to stand against him in the General Election and my campaign starts now. This won't be like the Euro Elections where I was chasing my tail all over Scotland whilst the parties sent minions to attend hustings and spent a fortune on glossy mailshots. I'm going to knock on every door in Falkirk and put a leaflet through every letterbox. I'll give every resident a receipt for Mr Joyce and ask if they think he's value for money. I'll ask them what they think of a guy who voted for the Iraq War and against an inquiry. Who voted against a transparent Parliament while voting for ID cards.
This guy flies around the world to the Congo, to Tokyo, to Baghdad, to Brazil, to Israel, to Palestine, to Switzerland, to Rwanda, to Kuwait, to the USA, to Turkey, to Gabon, to Buenos Aires, to Detroit and to Shanghai. What the hell has any of that got to do with Falkirk? You know, the constituency he was hired to represent?
So I'm going to stand against him. This time I know what I'm up against. The Tories & Labour will be spending £35 million on this General Election campaign. The SNP & Lib Dems will be spending horrendous sums as well. All of them have armies of eager minions all trying to impress & get onto the greasy pole. So I need help. If you want to get involved with leafletting or putting up posters or anything like that, get in touch here or make a donation using Paypal using the button at the top of the page. I need to pay for leaflets, posters, ads and all the rest. The wife's resigned to not going on holiday this year or next because all I've got will be going into this. Make a donation and I'll maybe be able to afford to buy her the occasional bunch of flowers to make up for it.
The interview was a classic of its genre - how on earth did he ever think that he could be interviewed on the subject and enhance his reputation? From his own standpoint surely it would have been better for him to decline the interview, or is he really that delusional, or is it people like us who just don't get it?
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the campaign - would give you a hand if I lived locally, but don't, alas!
Thanks Stuart.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Euros I wasn't sure if I was going to do this again. My wife isn't well and the whole thing was a real strain.
But watching that interview last night, I just couldn't believe it. This is a senior politician, he's a PPS. He's not some rookie facing the camera for the first time. He was so cocky, so over-bearingly smug it's obvious he thinks he's untouchable.
I've talked to some Labour activists in the last week. They all think the expenses are a storm in a teacup and that when it comes down to the important issues - the economy, Europe, Rights, people will flock to Labour in fear of the Tory "menace". They just don't get it.
If politicians can be so high-handed over such things as tax avoidance and skimming, how can we trust them when they're handling multi million pound budgets? Is it any wonder projects run awry, years late and hundreds of millions over budget when people like Joyce are in charge?
When we've got Iranian leaders openly sneering at the corruption of British politics, we've got a serious problem. The behaviour of some MPs is now going to have a negative effect on foreign policy.
And the perennial problem seems to be that despite disgruntlement with the mainstream parties the electorate still seem to 'flock' to one or the other of them, or just don't bother voting, rather than go outside the mainstream.
ReplyDeleteAnd I see that the Scotsman has an article about the possibility of Labour selecting another candidate in place of Eric Joyce, which probably wouldn't help your campaign!!
Afternoon gentlemen. May I pinch the video Alan please? I'm a little behind with this topic but, for my readers who haven't as yet seen this 'performance' then they really should.
ReplyDeleteStuart, if labour reselect another then surely that's Alan reason d'etre met.
There will still be many in Falkirk who know the man's a fraud and would help you Alan I'm sure.
On the grapevine Joyce has been told not to attend various military occasions as he's not welcome. He's brought the services into disrepute at present. Shame on him and his supercilious grin.
Help yourself Subrosa.
ReplyDeleteIf Joyce steps down (which would be astonishing), I'll move on to supporting any Independent standing against sleaze.
Mind you, I could take my pick of seats around here to fight.
One comment about Joyce - watching the video, do you think he was "over-refreshed"?
My MP Jim Murphy doesn't seem to have his expenses details anywhere. Any ideas where to find them ?
ReplyDeleteYou could start here - http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/jim-murphy/
ReplyDeleteThanks for that. I can't find him in the full list of unredacted ( real word ? ) cabinet members in The Telegraph.
ReplyDeleteSubrosa said:
ReplyDelete"Stuart, if labour reselect another then surely that's Alan reason d'etre met."
Well I assume that Alan would find another Labour candidate only slightly less welcome than Eric Joyce, but I'm not sure if it would change his decision to stand.
But assuming the scorn poured upon Joyce on the net is reflective of public opinion in his consituency then presumably a different Labour candidate would be detrimental to the chances of another candidate usurping Labour.
(Alan, your blog plays havoc with my browser - have you had any other complaints or is the problem with me?
When I was doorstepping 5-6 weeks ago, Joyce and his expenses were all some people wanted to talk about.
ReplyDeleteBut it's not just sleaze that annoys me and it's not just Labour. I genuinely feel that Party politics has damaged democracy in this country. I'm not saying there's no role for parties - there is, but the parties have come to represent a narrow-minded tribalism that comes nowhere near representing the diversity of political opinion at large.
I really, really resent that the MP who supposedly represents me can be more loyal to a party HQ or a whip. An MP's first loyalty must always be to the constituents, all of them, not just those who voted.
I'd like to see changes brought in that no party would countenance - I'd like to see Ministers give up their seats on appointment and a by-election called. How on Earth can Alex Salmond represent two constituencies in two chambers and be a First Minister and lead his party? Someone's being short-changed.
How can a Foreign Minister who, by definition, will be running around the planet, look after the day to day concerns of his local constituents?
I'd like to see more Independents in Parliament.
btw - I've taken off a few widgets. Nobody's complained, but I know what it's like when I visit some other blogs. I hope that makes it better.
Well if Joyce's expenses were all people wanted to talk about a few weeks ago then presumably the issue will be resonating with voters even more now!
ReplyDeleteAnd no doubt there's more to come out about this - I just didn't get his point about capital gains tax that Gordon Brewer was pressing - what on earth has his marital problems got to do with whether or not he paid CGT on his taxpayer-funded second home?
Yes, I could never work out how some politicians manage to multi-task numerous positions/interests while some are so put upon by merely being an MP that they don't even have time to commute half an hour or so from home.
I'm afraid your widget removal hasn't made any difference to my problem, Alan, so perhaps it's my problem, but it's never happened on any other blog.
The frontpage is OK, but when I click on the comments section it often loads but then I get a message saying 'operation aborted' and the page disappears before I can do anything, and if I refresh it does the same again, but it usually settles down if I try it several times.
And if I try to go to another site it looks as if it's just a bit slow but in reality it won't do anything at all until I close the window and open another one.
What a grafter, needs a swift kick to the scrotum.
ReplyDeleteWell Joyce HAS now resigned and is being fetted in some circles as a man of Principle. That gave me a good laugh. He is a crook who has pillaged the public purse for years thinking he was untouchable. This video shows him in his true light, arrogany cocky and obviously annoyed because a BBC man has clearly went off message I mean he's a Labour Politician after all, untouchable in Scotland surely !
ReplyDeleteNot any more, the monkey in the Red Rossette has well and truely left the building. After Glasgow East there is no such thing as a safe Labour seat and they know it !!!