Elliott Morley's Mortgage Claim

[Julnar]

Is this a genuine mistake or a blatant case of fraud that should be investigated by the police, even if he has now paid the money back?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8049096 .stm

[joggerjayne]

It was a mistake.

His mistake was thinking that nobody would ever check up on his fraudulent theft of taxpayers' money !!

[Joy11]

they all should be investigated thoroughly Julnar, there will be a lot who are nervous about their gravy train running dry, If it had been me defrauding the Inland Revenue like a certain Hazel Mears????
Well, everyone should vote with their feet on June 4th

[joggerjayne]

It seems that they ALL made "mistakes" !!

So they are all bl00dy stupid, and should NOT be running our country.

As Joy suggests ...

Will there be a new Defence available to everyone who commits a fraud or a theft ...

... the "It was a mistake" Defence?

Sorry I stole your handbag ... it was a mistake.

Sorry I burgled your house ... it was a mistake.

Sorry I shoplifted from your shop ... it was a mistake.

MPs are a bunch of petty thieves, who have been caught out.

[R1Geezer]

Mistake my ar5e, how can you not know that you've paid off your mortgage unless you have so much dosh you don't need a mortgage!

Up to now most of the Expenses have been questionable but not actually againste the rules, surely this is a case of Fraud. Prosecute the J arthur!

[Joy11]

totally agree with everyone, but what is the answer when we have such a lily-livered PM, who thinks saying bl00dy sorry puts it right

[joggerjayne]

Labour came to power with a sloga ...

"Tough on crime ... tough on the causes of crime"

Well, now they can show how tough they will be on people who abuse their position, and secretly steal taxpayers' money.

[Gromit]

Not often I agree with the geezer, but definitely fraud and should be prosecuted.

[dot.haukes]

will there now be a backdated audit of all MP's expenses going back several years? Surely to bring any case to court the investigating committee (that no doubt will be set up) will have to do this to see if these 'mistakes' have been consistent and 'missed' before,

[jno]

yes, I think this would be a fair one to put before the courts.

Still, it's not quite as simple as JJ suggests. It's not something that's illegal all the way like pickpocketing. It's a procedure that was (apparently) legitimate when it started out - claiming on his mortgage - but wasn't stopped when it should have been. So it could have been a gunuine mistake, though not one I'd have made myself, which is why I'd be happy for a court to decide. I'm sure he'd get the same consideration as, say, a single mum would.

[joggerjayne]

jno ...

That's like saying it's okay if you are unemployed when you sign on, but when you get a job ...

Oops, I forgot to sign off. Silly me. It was a mistake.

It IS as simple as I say.

His monthly mortgage statement says ZERO.

He continues to claim every month.

If he's not a fraudster, then he's a retard.

[Julnar]

I hope the anger these expenses issues have raised in the country lead to a much higher turnout in the European elections. At least we can all let these guttersnipes know how angry we are by doing a Norman Tebbitt and not voting for the three main parties this time around.

[buildersmate]

What I find fascinating about this whole subject as exploited by the DT is that none of it would be have dealt with in this way (oh, I made a mistake, (attrib - EM), oh, we've got to establish a review committee (attrib to GB), oh my Tory colleagues are going to have to pay it back (attrib to DC) IF the DT hadn't exposed it all in the first place. These rumblings have been going on for about one year and STILL MPs have been bold enough to make 'mistakes' right up the end of the recent round of annual claims closure.
The simple fact is that none of them believed it would get out into the open the way it has. Well, tough.

[LazyGun]

Very difficult to believe his assertion that it was "an honest mistake," an "oversight." On the face of it it looks like a deliberate attempt at gaining money dishonestly, which would constitute fraud, and should definitely be investigated by the HMRC/Police.

[Panic Button]

They should all have their DNA added to the database.

[joggerjayne]

Presumably the Govt will stop spending money on the adverts saying ...

Benefit Thieves ... We're Out To Catch You

... because the people who "forgot" to sign off when they got jobs probably just made "honest mistakes"

[ludwig]

..it's some coincidence that that he realised his mistake and paid the money back 2 weeks ago, just before all the sh1t hit the fan about expenses.

[chas2008]

it only became a mistake/accident when he got sussed or about to get sussed....

[jno]

I'm glad to see Austin Mitchell MP at least has cracked under the strain and offered to make reparation

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps -expenses/5319360/Austin-Mitchells-letter-to-t he-Telegraph-on-MPs-expenses.html

very funny

[Claud.Butler]

When, at long last, your mortgage is paid-off, don't they write to you and invite you to keep the deeds in their vault as a security measure?
Crooks in high places are worse than poor thieves who steal to try to feed a habit, or whatever.