Sunday 29 March 2009

Pickles gets it, eventually.

"On BBC’s Question Time last night, Conservative Party Chairman Eric Pickles became visibly agitated after being questioned on his use of his second home allowance for his constituency in Brentwood & Ongar.

During the debate he said that it was "no fun" doing the commute and that he would leave at 530am in order to make sure to be at the House of Commons by 930am.

Trains run from Liverpool Street Station every ten minutes to Brentwood. The train journey time is forty minutes.

David Dimbleby began by asking Mr Pickles if he claims for a second home:

EP: “I do indeed have a two house system and an allowance. But if I could just make a brief contribution –

DD; “How far away from Westminster are you?”

EP: “Thirty seven miles.”

[Boos from the audience]

EP: “And if I could just make this brief contribution to hang an MP week -“

DD: “Take your time! Take your time!”

EP: “OK, then let me explain why. And I have actually had experience of commuting that distance, when my wife was ill (she’s fully recovered now) – but for a month I did it. And it was an extremely difficult experience and I’ll explain why. Because the House of Commons works on clockwork: you have to be there, if you’re on a committee, you have to be there precisely. Particularly for someone like me, I was a number two –“

[Boos from the audience]

EP: “Let me explain, let me explain, please just let me explain for a moment. I had to be there –“

DD: “Like a job, in other words?”

[applause and laughter from audience]

EP: “Yes exactly like a job. If you’re number two in the opposition, you’re essentially running the committee. So I needed to be there at 930 to move those amendments. It doesn’t matter if a Liberal Democrat isn’t there, but it matters if I’m there –“

Ed Davey: “That’s just cheap”

EP: “When I was doing this, I was leaving home at five thirty in the morning to guarantee that I was there and I wasn’t getting back until twelve or one in the morning. Now you can do that once or twice, you can do that for a while. But you’ve got to understand, the House of Commons runs like clockwork.”

Caroline Lucas: “So does the rest of the world, Eric.”

EP: “And I have never, ever claimed my full allowance. I have always claimed the amount –“

[jeers from audience]

EP: “Well I mean, I publish them. I’ve always published them on my website. They’ve always been there for people to see. I have always been accountable. And I can tell you, I think the things are going to come out in a week’s time. I think I’ve only claimed about sixty percent of the allowance, it might even be fifty five percent. But I’m a serious guy who will put in the hours. And I will work for those hours. But I can tell you this: it is no fun doing five thirty in the morning right the way through. You cannot be sat on a train thinking ‘am I going to make it? Am I not going to make it?’ That’s why I do it.”

Audience Member: “Do you think Fred Goodwin should give some of his pension back Eric?”

EP: “Yeah, I do.”

Audience Member: “Right - that’s because he’s behaved immorally, unreasonably perhaps. But he’s played within the rules! Don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical?”

EP: “I had my flat – I bought my flat when we regularly sitting until two in the morning. I bought my flat when we did that. I bought that flat because it turned out –“

[Audience member: “sell it!”]

EP: “OK well I’ll sell it. Of course I could sell it. I am never going to be able to satisfy you folks, at all, because I am an MP and therefore guilty.


Exactly, Eric. You are one of those people who believes that he knows better than us, exempts himself from the laws and rules which he inflicts on us, troughs at our expense and then has the gall to stand up and tell us all how hard his life is.

FUCK YOU, ERIC PICKLES: ordinary people get up at 5AM every fucking day to go to work, and leave late every day. They have to do it out of their own pockets, after paying the taxes that pay your fucking salary and the taxes from which you exempt yourselves.

I don't think like Iain Martin that you should be under house arrest. I think you should be swinging from a fucking lamp post, you thieving, arrogant, mendacious cunt.

6 comments:

Mitch said...

A swinging pickle...there's a picture along with the other 645 dole cheats.
I get up at 4.30am and get home at 5.30pm can I have a free house? No I just get forced to pay for this fuckwit and his fellow troughers.

Goodnight Vienna said...

I hope they're all beginning to get it after the jeers of derision Pickles got on Newsnight. It isn't only about this govt and the economy; the trouble goes far deeper. Andrew Pierce is on LBC now talking about the troughing of Cohen, Pickles et al and people are furious.

Henry North London 2.0 said...

When I was working I used to have to get up at 5.30 to walk the dog and then get ready and then get to work on time Who the hell does he think he is?

I had a 30 minute commute which if I was 2 minutes late could morph in to a 45minute commute

The man is a shirker

Obnoxio The Clown said...

@Henry: Shirker? Jesus, I can think of far worse things to call him than that!

John Pickworth said...

Before I were born, I had to get up at 3500BC to be in the office by 9am... it were a tough life to be sure but we were happy to do it for three an' a half penny a week. Then we had to walk the 18,000 miles t'ome to our one roomed shack where me missus and the 23 kids awaited the fish supper I'd bought on the way.

An' did I claim a penny in expenses? Did I bugger!

But seriously; the answer to this is simple. Change the rules to reflect the real world the rest of us live in. For two nights a week, pay those Westminster MPs actually WORKING past 10pm £100 for a night in a hotel (they can keep the change) and provided they live more than say 50 miles from the dead centre of London. If they don't like it, I'd be happy to point them to their nearest Job Centre Plus!

Antipholus Papps said...

"I was a number two"

Some would argue he still is!