The Commons Standards and Privileges Committee said there was "no intention" of MPs having to go "into any detail" about the work they pay family members to do. Erm, why? We, the poor suffering taxpayer, are paying for them so why should we not know what work they are doing?
Besides, what exactly would the point of just having a register of who has family members working for them without any further details? The issue with Derek Conway wasn't that he was employing his sons, but that he was paying them over the odds to do work that they weren't actually doing. If the details are not known and recorded, why bother creating this register? It's a waste of everyone's time and our money in that case, and worth nothing except as an attempt to appear transparent rather than to be transparent.
And it seems that even the European Parliament - despite it own great problems over Members finances - are to go a significant step further than Westminster and ban MEPs from employing family members.
This is a step too far in my opinion. All that is needed is a proper register of what family members do and the payment they received - not a piss-poor attempt like that suggested for Westminster, but a proper full register. Otherwise there's no point.
Do it properly or not at all. Half-measures help no-one.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
01 April 2008
Parliamentary Family Fortunes
09 September 2007
Veg Aid...The government is planning to give all pregnant women a £120 payment in the hope they spend it on fruit and vegetables as a means of protecting their infants from childhood diseases.
Alan Johnson, the health secretary, will announce the hand-out in a speech this week...-
However... there is nothing to prevent pregnant women spending it on drink, cigarettes, chocolate or even clothes.
The “health in pregnancy” benefit will be made as a one-off payment when a woman is seven months pregnant, just two months before the birth. They will be expected to take expert professional advice on the advantages of having a proper balanced diet and also giving up drinking and smoking. (The Times)
Since there will be nothing to stop the money be used for other things and there is "little authoritative research which proves that financial incentives, even if combined with nutritional advice" lead to better nutrition, the government is basically throwing away £120 on every pregnant woman. What is the point of Veg Aid if there is nothing to ensure that the money is spent on fruit and veg and no evidence that it leads to a beneficial change in behaviour? It's just a gimmick.Alan Johnson, the health secretary, will announce the hand-out in a speech this week...-
However... there is nothing to prevent pregnant women spending it on drink, cigarettes, chocolate or even clothes.
The “health in pregnancy” benefit will be made as a one-off payment when a woman is seven months pregnant, just two months before the birth. They will be expected to take expert professional advice on the advantages of having a proper balanced diet and also giving up drinking and smoking. (The Times)
06 September 2007
Juggling Balls
How important is family? It seems that for the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, is remarkably blasé about his own:
Gordon Brown's right-hand man is now his secretary of state for schools. His wife [Yvette Cooper] is also a government minister [for Housing]. How do they handle such demanding jobs while bringing up three young children?...
[H]is wife, MP for a neighbouring constituency, is also attending cabinet and that they juggle their lives between Yorkshire and north London and... their children, aged from three to eight, are at a stage that every parent knows is frantically demanding..." (The Guardian)
So it appears that the man who is supposed to be telling us how to manage our families is pretty much neglecting his own.[H]is wife, MP for a neighbouring constituency, is also attending cabinet and that they juggle their lives between Yorkshire and north London and... their children, aged from three to eight, are at a stage that every parent knows is frantically demanding..." (The Guardian)
Maybe Ed Balls should put down a few of the balls he is juggling. Having both he and his wife attending Cabinet is most certainly not going to be ideal for their family situation, and considering the amount of time that a political career requires, to have both of them doing it must cause a lack of time for their children. Since Balls' ministerial brief includes Children and Families, it seems ironic that he and his wife must be, considering their inevitable workload, pretty much neglecting theirs.
Source: The Guardian
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