The Tory way of governance

Maizie, are there levels of guilt ? A little bit guilty is the same as being a little bit pregnant

Yes, there are. If you show your paperwork to the electoral commission when it asks and it finds anomalies, you own up to it, you are guilty.
If you hide or destroy the paperwork and say you have done nothing wrong as the Tories are still insisting, then you are doubly guilty, and deserve a harsher penalty for trying to hide the evidence.

Hanging, drawing, quartering?

I guess a little bit pregnant would be about eight weeks ab

Honestly Rosesarered, a little bit guilty , ever heard a jury bring in that verdict ?

There is no such thing as doubly guilty, guilty of two crimes but not doubly guilty

I think dj is making a correct point. In the jurisdiction in which I work, there will be a charge of which the accused will be found guilty or not guilty. If it is a guilty verdict, we take into account any mitigating or aggravating factors before passing sentence. If the person cooperated fully with the investigation and told the full truth early on, the punishment may be less. If on the other hand, they prevaricated, lied, or destroyed evidence, the punishment may be greater - so context and circumstances are taken into account, not just the actual charge.

Of course....if it goes to court, then those factors, for any crime, are taken into consideration for the actual sentence, but you are still either guilty or not guilty.
A greater fine may well be imposed for any 'deliberate' hindering of the inquiry.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/25/labour-fined-20000-for-undeclared-election-spending-including-for-ed-stone

www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/07/lib-dems-fined-20000-for-undeclared-election-spending

www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/mar/16/conservatives-fined-70000-for-campaign-spending-failures

I have no problem with 'any' party being fined but I am surprised as to why only one party is being referred to the police and accused of fraud. How does that work?

Perhaps they will 'all' learn lessons .

Seems there is guilty and a bit guilty

I think the electoral commission has fined the Tory party has it not?
The police will potentially prosecute individuals.
A few years ago some men were sent to prison for "vote rigging" individual votes.
Trying to "fix" and election in any way is a criminal offence - and, in my eyes, a very serious one. It is an attack on our democracy.
Tory Party Head office file has been referred to the Met by the Electoral Commission and there could be prosecutions there, as well as prosecutions of individual MPs and their agents.
One of the ways that our democracy is superior to that in some countries (IMHO) is that there are strict limits to expenditure on election campaigns. Remember the rotten boroughs of the 19th C? These days candidates are not even supposed to buy their supporters a cup of coffee.

I didn't know there were allegations of vote rigging , that is different,

The Lib Dems were referred to the police in December 2016 - couldn't find anything about the outcome. Labour weren't referred but the EC did note their cooperation whereas the Conservatives had to be forced by the courts to hand certain files over - so maybe that's why there's a difference

And maybe magnitude Rigby. If someone has made some minor errors or if it not clear whose mistake, then they may decide not worth prosecuting.
They may judge that the election result has not been affected by spending an extra £50 in a non marginal seat for instance.
The DPP makes the call on whether a prosecution is worth pursuing.
(Just remembered the time several decades ago, when a DPP got picked up for a sex offence - kerb crawling maybe? Love to have been a fly on the wall when some anxious sergeant had to tell his senior officer "Excuse me Ma'm. I think you ought to know. We've got the DPP in the cells" !!! )

Damian Green thinks that having a zero hours contract, etc., is exciting.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dwp-gig-economy-damian-green-speech-holiday-minimum-wage-sick-pay-hours-a7421071.html

Maybe all MPs, and particularly Damian Green and George Osborne, should be on zero hours contracts, have to sign in to parliament and only be paid minimun wage for the hours they are there.

Very exciting when you don't know if you can pay next weeks rent

www.theguardian.com/news/2017/mar/23/conservative-election-scandal-victory-2015-expenses

39% of Tory MPs supplement their pay by renting out property, including these two.

politicalscrapbook.net/2017/03/chancellor-and-foreign-secretary-join-tory-landlords-club/
I bet they don't rent to people on housing benefit.

The list also has an entry which reads: Philip Hammond Dinner for my wife and me £800.

What?????? How can two people possibly consume that much food and wine etc?

I wonder if whoever paid for it realised it would be that much, Ginny. It's probably set against the company tax bill, anyway.

I suppose we have to be thankful that he wasn't claiming it on his expenses.

Personally, I think he was just showing off. At least I hope he was. I hope that's not normal for Hammond and his mates.

This is something which we should not want here, but the Tories do.

www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/22/tax-haven-theresa-may-bad-news-britain-brexit

In fact, there is not much made of tax havens now. I wonder why not?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/23/the-guardian-view-on-uks-tax-havens-british-laws-or-your-own

Time the government decided whether it is on the side of the British people or those who use tax havens.

One orders very expensive wine. GInny42 Chateau de Show-Off