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Monday 27 February 2017

Who will get the taxpayer's grapefruit bowls?

Gerald Kaufman was one of the most egregious expenses cheats exposed by the Telegraph in 2009. Amongst the misuse of tax funds for his London gaff was £220 for a pair of crystal grapefruit bowls, items Kaufman claimed were 'essential' for him to perform his work as an MP.

No hypocritical encomiums here today I'm afraid. Kaufman and those like him did more to devalue and befoul our ancient Parliament than those for centuries past. Here's a litany of his tax-theft;

The former environment minister was asked to attend a meeting with officials from the parliamentary fees office to discuss details of another claim relating to £28,834 of work on the kitchen and bathroom at his London flat. He told them that the work was necessary because he was “living in a slum”, though his second home, off Regent’s Park, is in one of the most fashionable areas of the capital. He was eventually reimbursed for £15,329. 
On one occasion he asked a civil servant “why are you querying these expenses?” and on another threatened to make a complaint unless a dispute was settled by noon on the day in question. In one document, an official in the fees office noted that invoices Sir Gerald had submitted took him to “within 6p” of his annual limit. He also claimed £1,262 for a gas bill that was £1,055 in credit.
Between 2001 and 2008 the Manchester Gorton MP, one of the Labour party’s longest-serving members, claimed a total of £115,109 in additional costs allowances on his London flat, which he owns outright. In June 2006, he submitted a claim for three months’ expenses totalling £14,301.60, which included £8,865 for a Bang & Olufsen Beovision 40in LCD television. The maximum amount MPs are allowed to claim for TVs is £750.
On July 7, 2006 the fees office wrote to Sir Gerald to say: “I regret to inform you that this item falls within the not allowable category of luxurious furnishings, and as such has been rejected.” He was paid £750. In March 2007 Sir Gerald submitted a claim for £1,461.83 for a “second-hand rug replacing 24-year-old carpet”, with an additional £389.91 for “customs duty on rug”, which was paid. The receipt showed that Sir Gerald bought the rug from the Showplace Antique Centre on West 25th Street in Manhattan for $2,750. The Green Book strictly forbids “antique, luxury or premium grade” furnishings. Later that year, on Dec 29, Sir Gerald, who was knighted in 2004, submitted an invoice from ABC Carpets in Harrods for £598, which was also paid.

A note of a telephone conversation between Sir Gerald, 78, and an official in the fees office, states that his reasons for claiming £28,834 for home improvements between 2005 and 2007 were: “Old flat, facilities out of date, decrepit, health reasons, update, living in slum.” Sir Gerald added that he had “not carried out any repairs/maintenance for 32 years”.Sir Gerald was also challenged over regular claims for “odd jobs” which he submitted without receipts at a rate of £245 every month — £5 below the then limit for unreceipted expenses. He replied: “Why are you querying these expenses?” On May 18, a senior official in the fees office noted details of another conversation about the kitchen and bathroom, saying: “MP believes that I have seen a detailed breakdown of the £12,416.51 claim he has submitted [for that financial year]… MP is becoming agitated and will be making an official complaint against me, if this matter is not resolved by 12 noon today.” When detailed invoices were submitted, they included £575 for undertile heating in the shower room and £2,695 for Bosch and Miele kitchen appliances. Sir Gerald was asked to attend a meeting with officials on the matter and the fees office eventually agreed to pay him £15,329 of the £28,834. Sir Gerald accepted, saying that he wanted to “draw a line under the issue”.

In June last year Sir Gerald submitted a £1,262 claim for his gas bill, covering the period March 2006 to May 2008. The fees office pointed out that his gas account was £1,055.60 in credit, and only agreed to pay £122.46. A note in the file on July 10, 2008 quotes Sir Gerald as saying: “I received a letter from [official] saying not pay as is credit. I paid £1,252 THIS year so want reimbursing!!!”
The fees office wrote to him on July 14 to say: “You might wish to ask British Gas to repay you the credit.”

Sir Gerald’s claims between 2004 and June 2008 also included £19,200 for food — close to the maximum — and £4,692 for cleaning.

Last night Sir Gerald offered to repay the money for the rug and admitted that his claim for the £8,000 television was “a bit daft”. He said that his flat had been in need of complete refurbishment because he had “neglected” it over the years and he had overclaimed for the gas bill because he “misunderstood” the invoice. He said that his odd jobs bill was actually more than £245 a month, so he had claimed close to the limit. His food claim was “appropriate” because his job meant he often had to “spend a lot of money” eating out, he added.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was for my sins half watching al beeb's newspaper review, when the bbc newsman piped up, "breaking news, I have to report the sad death of MP Geraldo Kaufman!!"

"Sad" I had to laugh and laugh loud.

Who knows what damage has been wrought on Britain by Kaufman and his Germano inspired Cultural Marxist claque but be sure to know that, it is great.
Wherein and his expenses list [£8K for a telly!!]... demonstrate all the time, he was extracting and dedicated to it, pissing all over Britain the taxpayer and with a sense of entitlement stretching all the way to the land of his birth parents - and all because he was an Orford trained champagne Socialist malevolence and he could - he was so worth it. It is deeply, darkly amusing, look here and see how he could change his spots so effortlessly, hyeana to virtue signalling lizard - if the price was right and what a shameless but shameful excuse of a so called 'human being' - he undoubtedly was.

Get thee gone Kaufman, nobody will miss you, though rest uneasy in the sure knowledge that: the devil and eternal damnation is waiting for you.

Anonymous said...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Kaufman

Raedwald said...

Anon 6.19 - if your oomment is an oblique pointer to Wiki's publishing Kaufman's claim that his stealing of taxpayers' money was due to 'self diagnosed' mental illness, but that he was quite sane for everything else, I simply don't buy it.

DeeDee99 said...

Oh, he's dead. Good.

mikebravo said...

And may many more of his ilk join him this year. Blair perhaps? From angst.

rapscallion said...

As ever, a perfect example of the socialist nomenklatura. Don't do as I do, do as I say.

Another spiv scrote on the make, looking down his nose as us plebs as he raids the government coffers (our money) for his peccadilloes.

Loathing, utter contempt and disgust do not cover what I feel for scumbags like him. If there is a hell, then I sincerely hope that Satan has reserved a very special place for this specimen.

Anonymous said...

"It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.” - G.K.Chesterton

Poisonedchalice said...

As my Mum used to say. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Brightside Bob said...

rapscallion :
"If there is a hell, then I sincerely hope that Satan has reserved a very special place for this specimen."

Well, naturally!!! We can't expect SIR GERALD to be lumped together with the (literally) damned plebs can we...

auralay said...

I did see a reference in passing but I was fully occupied with the really important story the Beeb was leading on - how some bubblhead starlet fluffed her lines!

Anonymous said...

One down 649 to go.
Jaded

Anonymous said...

Oy vey.

Steve

RAC said...

Difficult to make a comment without being foul mouthed and racist, so I'll just say disgusting person who's passing brings me no sorrow whatsoever.

Charles said...

No sign of a state funeral then? I am sure he could get that on expenses as well. I would contribute to a sharpened stake to make sure there is no return.

Scrobs. said...

I'm sure that at the age of 80whatever, he was bounding into his office every day, doing what's right for his constituents, and thinking hard on how he can change the world to the benefit of others...

As for the expenses, well, that's what he did, so that acum like Bliar and Brown could revel in their insane political vomit.

Anonymous said...

Steve: "Oy vey."

Snigger.


So, a group of folk that look down on goys take advantage of goy society to enrich themselves at our expense.

As with the utter contempt for Kafir women, the Rotherham serial rapist, Shabir Ahmed who claims to have £80,000 in a UK bank account, given we have established one of his businesses, why that hasn't been confiscated under the proceeds of crime act, I don't know. But that leads to the question, how much of his ill gotten gains has he sequestrated in Pakistan?

We should look again at this multicultural idea, it seems to me it has failed the British people entirely.

dustybloke said...

Well, at least we no longer have a common thief as the father of the house.

Though on reflection, "like father, like son" really fitted rather well.

andy said...

Frankly I don't know why MPs are even allowed to claim expenses for items not directly related to their work, if its not for stationery, work related travel etc they should pay their bills out of their wages like every one else has to,(seriously why are taxpayers expected to pay these fuckers utility and grocery bills?) and as for their accommodation,those who represent London constituencies can just commute like the millions of ordinary people do and for those MPs whose own homes are beyond easy commuting distance they should be housed in some state provided accommodation, along the lines of military married quarters at a peppercorn rent, I`m sure they`d be OK with that since they`re so dedicated to serving their constituents and absolutely don't enter Parliament to enrich themselves at public expense.

James Higham said...

Good one, Radders. Like these non-eulogies.

Anonymous said...

Here is a few coincidences:

Clement Freud is now acknowledged to have been a voracious paedophile.

Clement Freud had a villa in Praia da Luz.

The McCanns were in the same area when their daughter disappeared.

And according to the Daily Mail ( I know ) Freud invited the McCanns to his Villa 'weeks after' their daughter disappeared.