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Post by fretslider on Feb 18, 2010 18:56:51 GMT
Nicholas Winterton provoked outrage by saying he was "infuriated" that MPs might no longer be able to claim for first-class train travel and complaining about the "totally different type of people" in standard class.
He seems to be out on a limb with this one as the Tory party moved to distance itself from him. Winterton, the MP from Macclesfield, repaid £850 after the Commons expenses inquiry found he had been overpaid for council tax bills on his second home. A Tory spokesman said he was "out of touch".
Winterton also ranted that "they want to stop members of parliament travelling first class, that puts us below local councillors and officers of local government. They all travel first class. Majors in the army travel first class. So we are supposed to stand when there are no seats ... I'm sorry, it infuriates me."
Winterton finished by observing that the increased scrutiny of MPs would produce a Commons packed with career politicians with little experience of normal life.
Welcome to our world, Nick.
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Post by riotgrrl on Feb 18, 2010 19:01:38 GMT
ha ha ha . . .
Mind you, if I went through the hell of sacrificing every minute of my free time delivering leaflets and canvassing voters to get myself elected to Parliament, to work an 18 hour day and totally give up all my private and personal life, I'd kind of be looking for 1st class travel too!
However, whenever I thought it might seal my image as the peoples' representative and be popular, I'd make a point of getting into discussions with people in standard class.
Because I've spent my professional life working with charities, we tend to have very hair-shirted rules for expenses. Once I got to travel first class on the overnight train to London as it was cheaper than the air fares, and I can see the attraction!
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Post by iamjumbo on Feb 18, 2010 20:20:13 GMT
ha ha ha . . . Mind you, if I went through the hell of sacrificing every minute of my free time delivering leaflets and canvassing voters to get myself elected to Parliament, to work an 18 hour day and totally give up all my private and personal life, I'd kind of be looking for 1st class travel too! However, whenever I thought it might seal my image as the peoples' representative and be popular, I'd make a point of getting into discussions with people in standard class. Because I've spent my professional life working with charities, we tend to have very hair-shirted rules for expenses. Once I got to travel first class on the overnight train to London as it was cheaper than the air fares, and I can see the attraction! big difference hon. you spend your time trying to help people, whereas the winterton chap spends his trying to steal from them
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Post by mouse on Feb 18, 2010 23:43:16 GMT
poor old nick..my heart bleeds do them good to travel in economy or what eve on trains...see and hear from other passengers and get the low down on life in general as lived away from westminster by a whole raft of peoples...any way he is retiring so whats his gripe
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Post by Ben Lomond on Feb 19, 2010 14:00:26 GMT
I hate to admit this, but one of the reasons why I always go by car, and avoid buses like the plague, is that bus passengers are (on the whole, but not always) people I would normally cross the road to avoid. There!. Terrible, eh? Old Nick might have a point---which he should have kept to himself, however!
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Post by fretslider on Feb 19, 2010 19:40:23 GMT
I hate to admit this, but one of the reasons why I always go by car, and avoid buses like the plague, is that bus passengers are (on the whole, but not always) people I would normally cross the road to avoid. There!. Terrible, eh? Old Nick might have a point---which he should have kept to himself, however! Bufton Tufton will just have to get used to the idea of riding with the Smiffies of this world. Perhaps next time he'll engage his brain before he wags his tongue.
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