An interesting footnote

Clearly not interesting enough or it wouldn't have disappeared from the Active list immediately after posting.

Apparently he said he's 'entitled to it'!

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt charged taxpayers over £3,000 to learn Mandarin after marrying a Chinese woman.

Anagram I knew about Jeremy Hunt's double claiming on his houses and his £100,00 tax avoidance, but didn't know about his charging taxpayers for language lessons. Have these MPs learned nothing from the expenses scandal and why are they be treated s legitimate parliamentary expenses in the first place?

Quite. Apparently language lessons are available if they are necessary for the MP's job; it's bending the rules rather a lot for those two to charge taxpayers to learn the language of their partner!

Your last line is the pertinent question, absent. Why do such claims get through? MP perks is all I can think of. But they will take whatever they can get away with. When, oh when, will we have some decent MPs with enough power and know-how to change what are clearly very loopholey rules about MPs' expenses?

It is sad that we are governed by people who seem to think that trying to stretch the rules to their maximum to grab all they can is better than merely serving their country!

They constantly tell us to tighten our belts but do nothing to tighten their own.

And they bleat on about 'entitlement' while arguing that the general public shouldn't have any, or at least should have less than they presently do!

If married to Chinese person why the blazes could she not be teaching him her language ... Eye on post ministerial employment maybe?
Yes well they have done their best to appropriate the term "entitlement" which was originally used to refer to those born with silver spoons to mean "spongers on the state"

Hmm...when I was working with Urdu-speaking families in Oldham, and the women tended not to speak English (visiting them as partners of prisoners), I asked if I could go on a course to learn to speak Urdu. No, I was told, the Home Office won't sanction that!

Mishap, or anybody, what can we do about it?, surely there is something we can do., it's just not right.

..........and here's me wracked with guilt because I forgot to pay for my coffee in the community cafe whilst doing my bit of voluntary work!

Bet when you go back to the cafe, you'll be popping some more money into the funds to make up, though, HildaW! That's the difference between the money-grabbing politicians and us lot! They just keep grabbing and give nothing back.

green how right you are.

I hope their constituents know about it and don't vote for them. All we can do is talk about it as much as we can and encourage everyone else to do the same. All some of them do is grab, grab, grab. We had a new MP this time and I think she is a waste of space with her answers when I write to her so I make sure everyone I know hears about it. She is however very good at getting herself in the local paper every week!

When it comes to the next election campaign I would want to know exactly how much each candidate (if defending a seat) received in expenses, jollies, trips factifinding missions abroad and other remunerated postitions (I won't say work as they are usually non-exec directors for a fee). I want it said publicly and defended if necessary.