snowychap Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 in fact over 200 parliamentarians had financial interests in companies involved in private healthcare at the time of the Health and Social Care bill being debated and voted on in both houses. What's the split by party and house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 What's the split by party and house? not sure of exact figures but I believe it's 65 current MP's and 135 Peers ‘1 in four Conservative Peers have financial interests in companies involved in private healthcare. 1 in 6 Labour Peers. 1 in 6 Crossbench Peers and 1 in 10 Liberal Democratic Peers.’ In fact a bit more browsing and the full list is here Edit : He he he Lord Prescott: Fee received from Civica plc (25 January 2012) as payment for taking part in a panel discussion at a conference hosted by Civica at the Manchester International Conference Centre, Manchester; travel expenses were also paid for by Civica plc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 I was under the impression the Tory party were offering competition in the NHS. What a stupid Idea. It's not meant to be a competition. A decent level of care wherever you might be, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 What a stupid Idea. It's not meant to be a competition. A decent level of care wherever you might be, please. The fact is that in an awful lot of areas, it hasn't offered a decent level of care, under all governments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 The work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith's longest-serving adviser is being paid by a thinktank that he set up and which lobbies their department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 The work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith's longest-serving adviser is being paid by a thinktank that he set up and which lobbies their department. that code of conduct is interesting "Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties." would the last one out of parliament turn the lights off please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted November 6, 2012 Author Moderator Share Posted November 6, 2012 The fact is that in an awful lot of areas, it hasn't offered a decent level of care, under all governments. Competition won't increase the standard of care though, it'll just lower costs and encourage corners to be cut (and of course make someone some money). Competition isn't the answer to increasing care. Competition just means someone will make money out of the NHS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 The fact is that in an awful lot of areas, it hasn't offered a decent level of care, under all governments. It'll get worse. Then, after a decade or so, when the new masters feel safely entrenched, it'll get expensive. Then it'll be shit and expensive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Presumably the party can "sack" her for this .... not quite sure how one can represent the constituency whilst lining your pockets with ITV's cash Hope they have plenty of insects in stock , I've a feeling she will be this years Gillian McKeith Conservative MP Nadine Dorries could face a backlash from her constituents as she heads to Australia for up to a month to take part in reality TV show I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here. Ms Dorries, 55, who represents Mid Bedfordshire, is risking the anger of those she represents for taking extended leave from her £65,738-a-year day job and has also faced questions from senior MPs. Ms Dorries' appearance on the show, which begins on Sunday, will mean she stands to miss an EU budget vote and Chancellor George Osborne's autumn statement on the economy. She is already in Brisbane preparing for the programme and justified her decision by telling The Sun: "I'm doing the show because 16 million people watch it. If people are watching I'm A Celebrity, that is where MPs should be going. "I'm not going in there to upset people, but I have opinions." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 damned URLs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Presumably the party can "sack" her for this .... not quite sure how one can represent the constituency whilst lining your pockets with ITV's cash I'd imagine the party can sack her. Don't think there's any constitutional way of deselecting her as an MP though. The people only get their say once every 5 years. Totally wrong though IMO this. There's not a minimum level SLA in place for being an MP, sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Don't think there's any constitutional way of deselecting her as an MP though. I don't know if I dreamt it but I thought they had introduced such a mechanism ..or was it just something that was mooted during the Expenses scandal to appease the public ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 The recall of elected representatives bill is due for its second reading on 30th Nov - here. It has come in for a fair amount of criticism, though. As for Dorries - can the Aussies keep her, please? One of The Grauniad comments was: I'd happily send my local Tory MP into the Australian jungles. I'd happily send my local MP of whatever colour, tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I don't know if I dreamt it but I thought they had introduced such a mechanism ..or was it just something that was mooted during the Expenses scandal to appease the public ? It's something UKIP have been saying for ages, give constituents the right to recall their MP to face re-election if a certain number of them submit a petition demanding it to the the local branch of whichever party the MP is a member of. It would of course make MP's accountable to their electorate and therefore weaken the central control of the whip's office - which is why the Tories and Labour are less than keen on the idea. Nadine Dorries is nothing but a horrible attention whore. EDIT: Just seen Snowy's link, didn't realise Zac Goldsmith (+1 for him) had put it forward but it won't go anywhere unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I'm looking forward to Prime Minister's Questions tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Dorries has whip withdrawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I suppose Dorries and the Tory Party was always going to end in tears, after the "two posh boys who don't know the price of milk" jibe. It'll be interesting to see just how difficult she tries to makes things for them. Joining Ukip would be one way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 So whilst Cameron is out selling guns to the Saudis, this has been revealed... although it isn't really any surprise. The Leveson Inquiry asked David Cameron for communications between himself and representatives of News International that covered a “range of issues” that went further than just the BSkyB bid, The Independent has been told. However, lawyers advising the Prime Minister “interpreted” the request for information as narrowly as possible, allowing him to hand over no texts or emails to Lord Justice Leveson's press inquiry. The inquiry's decision to allow Downing Street lawyers to "interpret" their requests, and to leave Mr Cameron to define for himself what "inappropriate conversations" meant, was last night criticised by the Labour's shadow Justice Minister, Chris Bryant. The Rhonda MP has been demanding for weeks that the Prime Minister publish "dozens" of emails described as "embarrassing and salacious" between himself and the former chief executive of News International, Rebekah Brooks. The Independent revealed the existence of the emails last month. Legal advice on the emails that Downing St received from government lawyers said that full disclosure to Leveson was not necessary because they fell outside the remit of the inquiry. "There is a clear disconnect between what Leveson asked for, and the interpretation Downing Street put on that," Mr Bryant said. "To resolve this, the Leveson Inquiry should now publish the exact questions it put to the Prime Minister." Mr Cameron has repeatedly refused to answer calls by Mr Bryant in the Commons to publish the private emails between himself and Mrs Brooks. He is also withholding emails between himself and the former News of the World editor, Andy Coulson. Mr Coulson later ran Downing Street's communications operation. Downing Street has denied Mr Cameron is hiding anything, stating that everything they were asked for has been handed over. However, Leveson asking for communications that went beyond the BSkyB bid substantially weakens Mr Cameron's defence. "The public does not know what the Leveson Inquiry asked the Prime Minister for. Neither do they know the scale of the communications between the PM and Rebekah Brooks. The number of texts and emails is crucial here," said Mr Bryant. Robert Jay QC, the inquiry's senior counsel, repeatedly asked Mrs Brooks how often she had texted Mr Cameron. However, the emphasis on frequency was absent when the Prime Minister was questioned. Mr Bryant has estimated that up to 150 text messages between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks were disclosed to the Leveson Inquiry by News International. None were handed over by Downing Street. Two texts were discussed by the inquiry, with one mentioning that Mr Cameron often used the term LOL, which he thought meant "lots of love". Last weekend two further texts held by the inquiry were leaked to the Mail on Sunday. Their content proved embarrassing for Mr Cameron, with Mrs Brooks saying she cried twice during a Cameron Tory conference speech, adding: "Will love 'working together'." Yesterday the Liberal democrat peer, Lord Oakeshott, added to the political pressure on the PM, saying it was now "in the public interest" that he publishes the emails and all the texts. He said: "These exchanges show an unhealthy close relationship between Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron." From The Independent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted November 6, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted November 6, 2012 Isn't that story about 3 weeks old, at least? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 It's dated from yesterday but to be fair it just confirms what we've all known for quite some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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