Michael Lambert: STAGGERING WASTE of Taxpayers' MONEY

Nov 4, 2023 | Despite the Prime Minister's claims to the contrary, the UK economy is in trouble. At the Covid enquiry last week it became clear that No 10 and the government were in chaos during the Boris Johnson administration. There was little discipline or order especially during the pandemic Also throughout this time, money was spent with very little apparent control, benefitting many including Tory donors who benefitted from huge contracts.

£29.3 billion was spent on 'Test & Trace'. £30 billion was lost by Liz Truss and Kwazi Kwarteng with their disastrous budget and £21 billion was lost to fraud under Rishi Sunak.

It is clear that taxpayers' money is being wasted with few proper controls whilst friends of Tories or donors often seem to be the beneficiaries.

Many MP's have second jobs whilst others are being investigated for alleged financial offences. HMRC rent offices in Newcastle from a company whose beneficial owners are based in a tax haven thereby helping them to evade UK tax.

Money laundering is known to be widespread throughout the UK whilst HMRC ask not to be told about it

Obama Doing What Obama Does Best (Apart from Talking and Posing): Spending Taxpayers’ Money. This Time on Nuclear Warheads
MAIL ONLINE: President Obama is planning to increase spending on America's nuclear weapons stockpile just days after pledging to try to rid the world of them.

In his budget to be announced on Monday, Mr Obama has allocated £4.3billion to maintain the U.S. arsenal - £370million more than George Bush spent on nuclear weapons in his final year.

The Obama administration also plans to spend a further £3.1billion over the next five years on nuclear security.

The announcement comes despite the American President declaring nuclear weapons were the ‘greatest danger’ to U.S. people during in his State of the Union address on Wednesday.

And it flies in the face of Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to him in October for ‘his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples’. 'Nobel Peace Prize-winner Barack Obama ups spending on nuclear weapons to even more than George Bush' >>> Carol Driver | Friday, January 29, 2010

Get £500 to Spy on Neighbours
DAILY EXPRESS: SNOOPING residents are being offered rewards of up to £500 to spy on their neighbours.

Taxpayers’ money is being used to pay “covert human intelligence sources” who report bad conduct to authorities.

Anyone who photographs dog fouling, litter being dropped, graffiti crime or fly tipping which result in prosecution will receive a cash reward.

The amount is staggered, according to how far the prosecution is taken.

If a court summons is issued the snooper gets £100. On a conviction he gets £150 and if the offender gets a maximum sentence he receives £500.

The scheme has been given the Big Brother-style motto “See them, report them”.

It tells residents: “We need your eyes and ears to help us wipe out enviro-crime.” The local council scheme is being launched in London and could eventually be rolled out across the country.

Last night the payments were slammed by critics who said they were a waste of vital public funds. >>> Chris Riches | Monday, July 27, 2009

Arrogant Bastards Are How Arrogant Bastards Talk!
THE TELEGRAPH: Anthony Steen, the Tory MP forced to stand down over his expenses, has suggested people were "jealous" because he lived in a house that resembled Royal residence Balmoral.

Anthony Steen claimed claimed £87,729 over four years for his million-pound country home. Photos courtesy of The Telegraph
Mr Steen became the second Tory grandee to announce his retirement at the next election after the disclosure he spent tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on his million-pound country home.

The MP, who spent nearly £90,000 on his second home over four years from his MP's expenses claims, insisted his behaviour was "impeccable" and he had merely been "caught on the wrong foot".

"As far as I am concerned and as of this day I don't know what the fuss is about," he told the BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

"We have a wretched Government here which has completely mucked up the system and caused the resignation of me and many others, because it was this Government that introduced the Freedom of Information Act and it is this Government that insisted on the things which caught me on the wrong foot.

"What right does the public have to interfere with my private life? None." MPs' Expenses: Anthony Steen Claims People Just Jealous of His Large House >>> | Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Profligate Blairhead
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money entertaining a host of Britain's leading television celebrities at Chequers during his last 15 months in power, it emerged last night.

The guest list included everyone from Charlotte Church, the singer and Channel Four presenter, and her Welsh rugby-playing partner Gavin Henson, to Tess Daly, the co-presenter of BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing, and her husband Vernon Kay, who is also a TV presenter. Other famous names included Lorraine Kelly and Fiona Phillips from GMTV, as well as Chris Evans, the BBC Radio 2 DJ.

Richard Madeley, one half of the Richard & Judy show, dined with the Blairs, as did June Sarpong, the youth television presenter. Steve McClaren, the England football manager, and his wife Kathryn, were also invited to Chequers, as was Match of the Day 2 presenter Adrian Chiles.

The Blairs' guests also included a number of leading figures from the world of business, including Indra Nooyi, the chief executive of PepsiCo, and James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner tycoon.

The former prime minister even found room round his dinner table for church leaders such as Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.

Mr Blair also managed to spend more than £1.6 million on foreign travel between April 2006 and March this year, including five separate trips that cost more than £150,000 each. Blairs turned Chequers into court of celebrities (more) By Graeme Wilson

Mark Alexander