Lord Duckhunter

MP's should not be taking donations directly into their private bank accounts whether declared or not.Had it not been declared then it would have been a resignation matter, as it is, it just shows bad judgement.

William Hague went for the leadership too early, the Tories should have held their nose and gone with Clarke after '97. Personally I would have liked to see David Davis lead the party, but would settle for Portillo or Hague. It's a pity that the rabid right of the party didn't do what the Labour left did with Blair and tolerate one of Clarke or Portillo. I guess their principles are to be admired in some way, but it certainly have a negitive efect on the Party nationally. Ken Clarke made some very telling observations about Cable the other morning. He said he'd known him for years and that he agreed with 80% of what Cable said, and had done for years. However, he said he couldn't believe Cable had let himself get signed up to this income tax cut and that it was pressure for the leadership that forced it on him.

My mate lives in the outskirts of Dublin and they have a local off Licence that delivers. He uses it quite a bit as do a lot of his mates.

You've hit the nail on the head. Personally I'd like to see Hague replacing Osborne.

But last week Clegg claimed he'd "spent his whole adult life trying to clean up politics". If you make a claim like that, surely the press are entittled to look into your record. Both other parties are scrutinised, why shouldn't the Lib/Dems be? Surely nobody thinks that having donations paid into your private bank account, is cleaning up politics. I run a Golf Society, and would never dream of mixing up the Societies money with mine.

This wasn't a case of a "scramble" this came to light from the same documents that they obtained to blast open the expenses scandel. A story which they ran about all parties. Therefore to try and make out this is a "smear" is clearly wrong.

Sir Alistair Graham,former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life was on Sky news last night.He said the arrangement appeared to be 'irregular', and he went on to say that if you're going to stand on a platform of "cleaning up the old politics" and gain electrol advantage because of that, you need to be whiter than white. Whether you run a pub football team, a Xmas Club or a golf society, you do not mix your money, with the organisation's money.In my mind, along with his expenses claims, this shows that rather than have spent "all his adult life, trying to clean up politics" he has in fact had his snout firmly in the trough.What a hypocrite.

I've been through 7 elections my working life, and nothing has really changed after every one, including '97. I always found the NHS pretty good, even in the 80's. I've 4 Children ranging from 22 to 9 and I've found their schooling adequate at best and certainly no better than it was pre '97. There wasn't that much change since '97, remember Labour kept the Torys spending policies for 2 years, and in another era Blair would have been a "wet" Tory as it was. They've tinkered around the edges of Lords reform, and banned fox hunting, but other than that (if I lived in Scotland or Wales I might think differently ), here in England nothing much has changed, and nothing will. If you think the Lib/Dems are any different then you're wrong. The rush for the middle ground of British politics is alarming, with no radical thinkers. In the past people would have convictions and beliefs, that they then stuck to. They tried to persuade the public to back these convictions, they tried to change the publics minds through force of arguement. Now they follow the people, they listen to focus groups and follow the popular line. Mrs Thatcher would never had given people the right to buy, would never have beaten the unions, had she listened to focus groups and pollsters. Nick Clegg is a pro European, who beleives in the Euro. Instead of argueing his case and try to sway public opinion, he'll skirt round the issue during the next debate. His policy advisors will give him a line to take and he'll take it. same with Cameron and Brown on a whole load of issues, they'll take the moderate line, so they dont frighten the voters. Where are all the radical thinkers, where are all the opinion shapers and where are the risk takers in British Politics. Until we find them, we wont get real and sustainable change.

Not at all. If you bothered to look you'll see that Clegg has consitantly claimed more than Brown and Cameron, one year claimed over the maximum and had to pay some back,as an Euro MP claimed for first class travel but travelled second class. Personally I dont think that someone who thinks the tax payer should pay for his paper napkins and cake tins is fit to be PM, you might, but I certainly dont think that person is entittled to claim he's spent his "whole adult life, trying to clean up politics". What about the £42,000 Lord Renwick wrongly claimed, does that not count because he's in the Party of "change"

Dont you realise this is down to them having a lot less MP's. The % of MP's on the take from the Lib/Dems is as bad, if not worse than the others, there is just less of them to be caught. Clegg has done a fantastic spin job on the public. He's no outsider, he's been part of the political establishment for years. Lobbyist, to MEP, to MP. What's the saying? "you can fool some of the people, some of the time", and in the next couple of weeks, he'll get found out. As Liam Fox siad on ITV last night, "if Opinion polls can change that much after one debate, they can certainly change again after another 2". If the polls contine to show vote Clegg get Brown, the Lib/Dems will not get to 100 seats.

So you agree that Clegg is as bad as all the others. Perhaps he should stop claiming to be somehow different, and on a mission to clean up politics from the nast Torys and Labour Party.

Spot on. This is what Clegg claimed "I have spent my entire adult life fighting to clean up politics and expenses from top to bottom". He has claimed £1.50 for paper napkins,cushions costing £4.99, a £2.49 cake pan. Last year, he had his expenses docked after exceeding the £23,083 maximum, he claimed £1,657.32 for food,The claims also include two bills for the Liberal Democrat leader’s home phone in Sheffield, one for £105.88 and the other for £121.56. These detailed four calls to Colombia, including two mobile phones, three to Vietnam, including two mobiles, and 21 calls to Belgium, including six mobiles. What about his Home affairs spokesmen and local MP Chris Huhne , a millionaire and one of Parlianments wealthy MP's. Well his claims include semi-skimmed milk (62p), and others for chocolate HobNobs (79p), tea bags (89p) and a bus ticket (£3.20).Does Mr Clegg's clean up from "top to bottom" not include this? What about Sir Menzies Campbell the last Lib/Dem leader Sir Menzies claimed for a lampshade, hooks, a “loo brush”, black-out blinds, cleaning products and soap worth £272.86. He included a new king-size bed, worth £1,024 and bed linen worth £373 as well as £1,515 decorating bill. The designer, a family friend who has been in charge of refurbishing a leading hotel, also submitted a bill for two cupboards, costing £822.50, to be built either side of the bed. Does Clegg's clean up not include this. The double standards of Clegg and the Lib/Dems is breathtaking, they have their snouts in the trough, like the others, but are trying to take the moral high ground. If Clegg's expenses from his time as an MEP come to light, he'll be finished.The one thing worse than an MP with his snout in the trough is a hyppercritical one with his snout firmly in the trough.

Can't you see the hypocrisy of someone claiming "What I've supported all my adult life is a complete clean up of politics and expenses, from top to bottom", claiming £1.50 for paper napkins, as well as having to pay back money because he claimed more than the maximum allowance.

Just come on the news that Clegg, the great whiter than white, clean up politics man claimed expenses for £1.50 paper napkins, a £2.49 cake tin and cushions at £4.99 after a shopping trip to Ikea. Why should we, the taxpayer, pay for Clegg's paper napkins?

The Lib/Dems are up to their neck in it to. Mr Clegg bought a house with a £279,000 mortgage in his Sheffield constituency within six months of being elected in 2005. Over the next four years, he regularly claimed almost the maximum possible in second home expenses - taking his total claims to beyond £90,000. As well as interest payments of £1,018 on the loan, he charged for stamp duty, land registry and legal costs for the purchase totalling £9,244.50. And in the next few months, he fitted a £2,600 kitchen and had almost £6,000 worth of decorating done including new carpets, laminate flooring and tiles. He also claimed for items including £1.50 paper napkins, a £2.49 cake tin and cushions at £4.99 after a shopping trip to Ikea in 2006. In July 2007, he claimed £680 for gardening including to build a 'small wall in rose garden' and prune some trees and £760 for repairs to a garden path. The following year, he had his expenses docked by more than £100 for exceeding the £23,083 maximum allowance.

They've got that already. Why have we a devolved parliament in Scotland but not England? When talking about reform, let's look at the total package, not just the bits that are best for Lib/Dems and Labour. Would it have been fair if Mrs Thatch had set up an English Parliament and not a Scottish one. What would the outcome have been if English MP's could vote on Scottish health matters, but Scotts couldn't vote on English health matters. From a personal point of view, T think we need to maintain a link with a constituency style of Govt. Party lists are completely and utterly a no no as far as I'm concerned. The sight of Michael Portillo (who I greatly admire) being kicked out, was a very powerful message and showed the constituency based system at its best.There are constituency based PR systems that can be used. The Electrol Reform Society explains all the different systems and their pros and cons. http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/votingsystems/systems2.htm#AV

Did anyone see Cleggy's press conference on BBC News this morning, fair play to him for having one but he was waffling and not giving any answers. Looks like he's been practising the Blair hand movements to back up his points. That jock with the wig,Andrew Neil, was giving him some stick about his expenses. He's cleaning up politics and whiter than white, but there as bad as the others. His spin and hypocrisy over cleaning up politics is sickening, given that he claimed he'd spent "all his political life trying to change the expenses system".. In the Party leaders TV debate Nick Clegg declared: There are MPs who flipped one property to the next, buying property, paid by you, the taxpayer, and then they would do the properties up, paid for by you, and pocket the difference in personal profit. They got away scot-free. There are MPs who avoided paying Capital Gains Tax. Of course, you remember, what was it, the duck houses and all the rest of it. But actually, it's the people, the MPs who made these big abuses, some of them profiting hundreds of thousands of pounds. I have to stress, not a single Liberal Democrat MP did either of those things, but they still haven't been dealt with. We can only turn round the corner on this until we're honest about what went wrong in the first place" Lib Dem MPs Richard Younger-Ross, John Barrett, Sandra Gidley and Paul Holmes were ordered to apologise and repay a total £16,500 as they were paid a lump sum in return for paying higher rent at flats in Dolphin Square apartments near to parliament. The MPs personally received the lump sum, whilst the taxpayer paid the higher rent. Perhaps Mr Cegg could explain how that's whiter than white, how thats any different? What about MPs claiming for food on expenses? David Cameron acted quickly once the scandal broke to ban his MPs from continuing to claim for groceries from the taxpayer. Clegg dithered - perhaps because his snout was in the trough. In one four month period alone he claimed £1,657.32.for his food When Clegg was a Euro MP he used to fly economy but was paid travel expenses for business class. In January last year Clegg called for tough action on Labour peers found to have accepted offers of payments to seek changes in the law. "I am also now calling on the Government to introduce urgent new legislation to change the rules so that peers found guilty of wrongdoing are expelled from Parliament," he said. But Clegg's tough stance does not extend to Lord Rennard who claimed £41,000 in expenses he was not entitled to as his main home was in London. Rennard has resigned as Chief Executive of the Lib Dems continues to sit as a Lib Dem peer. During the height of the expenses row Chris Huhne, the Lib Dems Home Affairs spokesman, was puffing with indignation at the greedy expenses claims by his fellow MPs. "If the reports are in all cases correct, then there clearly are instances where MPs have lost contact with the difference between right and wrong," he told the BBC. "I think we need to make sure we're saying that loud and clear because, frankly, the voters are not going to be at all sympathetic if we don't." Days later it emerged that Huhne claimed for a £119 trouser press that was delivered to his main home rather than his designated second address. He agreed to pay back the money. He also claimed for fluffy dusters and the upkeep of his “pergola cross beam”. Then there is the Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik, £2,499 for a TV set. He even claimed a £40 court summons on expenses and couldn't understand why anyone should think that he was wrong to do so. Both Opik and Huhne are Lib Dem candidates in this election. Does that mean Clegg believes their conduct was acceptable? EVERY party has had issues with expenses, but only one is claiming this moral high ground, whilst being as bad as the "old parties". Neil also pointed out that Clegg had consistantly claimed more in personal expenses than Brown or Cameron. All Cleggy could do was invite him round his house to see how "normal" it was. When Neil pressed him for a time and date for the visit, Clegg moved on.

Wasn't that wonderful whiter than white party the Lib/Dems an option? They voted against the war, and had that wonderful Mr Clegg and Mr Cable as part of their team. Why didn't they pick up many more seats, how did they end up 4th behind UKIP in the European elections? If it mattered that much to the British people, they'd have got loads more votes. I love the way the Lefties try to spin Tory support for the British PM as being comparable to the decision to invade.When a British Prime Minister stands up in the house and tells MP's that the war is legal and that SH has WMD's then he should expect support. The fact that it turned out to be a tissue of lies is Blair and Brown's legacy, not the Torys.

Labour was the horse. The Torys backed the UK Prime minister when he declared the war was legal and that SH had WMD's. A throughly prinicpled and consistant line to take. It couldn't have bothered the British people that much, otherwise they'd have chucked the Govt out.It obvioulsy didn't bother the Lib/Dems much either, otherwise they wouldn't consider forming a Govt with the major players of that decision (blair excluded)

Our only hope is if one of Huddersfield or Charlton eneter admin and get -10. We still have to win all 4 games, a tough ask. Charlton should get 2 points and I cant see Huddersfield failing to get 5 from their remaining fixtures. The onll hope we have is that the presure gets to them. That win against Wallsal, was a turning point, had they lost that against 10 men, they'd have really been nervous.They are on a good run now, and Colchester are pants, if they cant get 2 points from stockport and Exeter I'll be amazed. If it's going to be anyone it'll be Charlton, but that's slim.

So why was Labour re elected then, it obviously didn't matter that much to the 63%

Strange then with 80% of the public sussing him out, that Blair got re elected in 05

Correct. The Torys voted in the mistaken belief that the UK PM would not lie over such things. The Sexed up dossier, Dr David Kelly, The changing of the legal advise given by Lord Goldsmith, were all Labour issues. I have no problem with the Lib/Dems constantly going on about this "illigal war", but would find it strange if they then jumped into bed with the Labour leaders who took us into it. I also find it strange that being the party of "fairness , every vote counts and change" could form a Govt with a Labour administration that's been in power 13 years, and might not be the largest party. My personal belief is it wont come to that, their policies will fall apart long before 6th May. There is another question for Clegg to answer, but he refuses to answer that one as well.To pay for their last General Election campaign the Lib Dems accepted £2.4million from 5th Avenue Partners, a company they believed to be trading in the UK. It subsequently emerged that 5th Avenue Partners was part of a complex operation run by Michael Brown, the donor and now a convicted criminal, and was not a UK investment company in the way they thought. If Mr Clegg wishes to pose as the white knight out to clean up British politics he should start by repaying this dubious money the Lib Dems took.

A little? It would be massively hypocritical. He will be seen as someone who believes in every vote counting, who says "let the people decide", more people then decide they want a Tory administration, and they are kept out of office by backroom deals and trading off of policies. The bias against the Torys in the system, means that this senerio is highly likely if there's a hung parliament. If Labour poll most votes, they'll win outright. A hung Parliament will almost certainly mean the Torys have polled more votes. Propping up Brown is not a good career move for Clegg, he will be tarnished with any failure and Brown is a very very smart political operator. He'll make sure he gets credit for any sucsess, whilst trashing Clegg in the event of failure. Look what he did to Blair, and they were on the same side.They'll also lose one of their main attack wapons The Iraq war. You can not have a Lib/Dem on any programme without bringing up The "illigal" Iraq war. The first response will be, "if it means so much to you, how can you form a Govt, with the people who took us into it"? It will silance them over PR as well, how can a spokesman go on about them being the party of fairness in voting, when they've denied the most popular party the chance to govern. The best bet for the Lib/Dems is to come a close 3rd, with about 100 seats in a Tory majority of a dozen or so.They can then bang on and on about electrol reform, whilst watching the Labour Party tear itself apart. The next few years are going to be tough, whoever wins. Clegg is young enough to be around for the next election, which will be fought on the back of massive cuts and unrest.

I thought they were different, I thought Clegg was whiter than white, stright with the public and answering their questions. Not not trying to tell us that St Nick has made a political calculation and therefore aviods answering the question. You'll be saying the LIb/Dems have had dodgy donations next.