Friday, January 11, 2008

Labour, taxpayers' money and websites

I was interested to read the post by Mark Pack on Lib Dem Voice about the use of taxpayers' money (through the Parliamentary Communications Allowance) to pay for a website by Labour's absent minded Peter Hain (it is just so easy to forget about £103,000 one has floating about). Alas, the website turned out to be a bit party political.

The rules on the use of the Communications Allowance are quite clear - party political use of the money is an absolute no-no. Sun tanned Peter was presumably too busy trying to get elected deputy Labour leader, sorry, I mean, being Northern Ireland Secretary, that he presumably didn't have time to check the rules or indeed apply even a modicum of common sense to spending taxpayers' cash.

So well done to Mark Pack, incidentally sitting at the next desk to mine in Cowley Street, for bringing this to our attention (see Hain website).

It has reminded me of a very similar incident where the Tyne Bridge Labour MP David Clelland used his taxpayer funded website to attack me personally. When I pointed out on my own blog in response that this was a rather naughty use of his Communications Allowance and that a letter was on its way from me to the House of Commons finance police, DC suddenly announced that he was no longer taking tax payers' cash to fund his internet extravaganza.

You can read the original post on: Clelland website

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