Rogues turn government Twitter feed against Miller

Found on Facebook: Members of the public on all the main social media are queueing up to take a pop at former DWP minister and benefit fraudster Maria Miller. How long will David Cameron delay sacking her, and how weak will he seem by the time he gets round to it?

Found on Facebook: Members of the public on all the main social media are queueing up to take a pop at former DWP minister and benefit fraudster Maria Miller. How long will David Cameron delay sacking her, and how weak will he seem by the time he gets round to it?

In comparison to recent events in this saga, what follows is light relief.

A so-called “rogue” Twitter user commandeered a government feed to post satirical comments about the Maria Miller expenses scandal, yesterday evening. (Saturday)

The three tweets appeared on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s feed, where they were picked up and shared widely before government watchdogs had a chance to hush them up. The offending tweets have since been deleted from the DCMS feed.

“Seriously though guys which one of us hasn’t embezzled and cheated the taxpayer? #FreeMariaMiller,” ran the first tweet.

This was swiftly followed by one that claimed Miller, who falsely claimed more than £40,000 in mortgage interest payment for a south London house, saying it was her second home while her parents used it as their first, was “like a modern day Robin Hood, she robs the poor to help the rich”.

Miller, who made more than £1 million in profit when she sold the house in February, was ordered to pay back just £5,800 and apologise to Parliament for failing to co-operate with an investigation. The final rogue tweet asked: “Is @Maria_MillerMP guilty? We will let the public decide.”

Unfortunately it seems that the Conservative Party has rallied around the (confirmed) criminal in its ranks and has no intention of allowing British justice anywhere near Miller. They’re all in it together, you see.

That is why Grant Shapps, who knows a thing or three about false claims himself (ask him about his other persona, ‘Michael Green’) wants to “draw a line” under the affair – and why our pitifully weak comedy Prime Minister David Cameron wants to “leave it there”.

It seems the DCMS is also happy to “leave it there”. A spokeswoman has confirmed it was investigating the hacking but, when asked if Twitter or the police had been contacted, admitted: “All I’ve done is change the password.”

A Parliamentary investigation cleared Miller of using public money to provide for her parents, in spite of all the evidence that this was precisely what she had been doing, including a recent revelation that the size of energy bills for the house indicated that somebody had been using it as their main, rather than second, home.

The affair has set off a public outcry, with calls for Miller to resign or be sacked, and for the former Department for Work and Pensions minister to face the same criminal justice system as anyone else accused of wrongly taking taxpayers’ money – like a benefit cheat.

Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike

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17 Comments

  1. Jean Casale April 6, 2014 at 10:31 am - Reply

    What Miller apologised for was regarding her failure to co-operate fully with the inquiry. She will have to repay £5,800 only. The actual ‘fraud’ has been ignored. Did anyone watch PMQs Weds? There she was sitting alongside Cameron as bold as brass. So she ain’t going anywhere!

  2. fusr2 April 6, 2014 at 11:13 am - Reply

    SPAD : Special Advisor or Signal Passed at Danger ? #bbcsp #mariamiller #expenses

  3. Winslie Gomez April 6, 2014 at 11:19 am - Reply

    Reblogged this on HAPLOGROUP – bit that makes us human. and commented:
    Maria Miller story grinds on

  4. beastrabban April 6, 2014 at 11:19 am - Reply

    Reblogged this on Beastrabban’s Weblog and commented:
    The expenses scandal a few years ago seriously undermined Gordon Brown’s tenure of 10 Downing Street. This shows that greed and corruption is still very much alive amongst Tory MPs, despite what Grant Shapps and Cameron may say to the contrary. And Cameron’s government should be subject to the same public outcry and anger that faced Brown when this issue first appeared. It should not be allowed to go away, and the Tories should not get away with ‘drawing a line under it.’

  5. jeffrey davies April 6, 2014 at 11:46 am - Reply

    when politicians can fraudulently claim it was a mistake then something drastic needs to be done sacking and getting back all she made from this is the only way forward for honest ones if there are any left jeff3

  6. Barry Davies April 6, 2014 at 11:56 am - Reply

    I think she apologised for getting caught.

  7. Rex April 6, 2014 at 1:22 pm - Reply

    Miller will be gone in the next reshuffle after the European elections.

  8. PendanticGeek April 6, 2014 at 2:08 pm - Reply

    If we apply the “Miller Rule” to benefit cheats they need to pay the courts a 9th of the fraud and give a 0.3 second apology.

  9. […] Rogues turn government Twitter feed against Miller […]

  10. sdbast April 6, 2014 at 2:55 pm - Reply

    Reblogged this on sdbast.

  11. AM-FM April 6, 2014 at 3:12 pm - Reply

    “It seems the DCMS is also happy to “leave it there”.”

    They must think it was an inside job then.

  12. gfranklinpercival April 6, 2014 at 3:14 pm - Reply

    All parliamentarian expenses fiddlers such as this female, cameron, laws etcetera, including former mps like blair should be be brought before ther local bench and charged with theft or fraud. If fgound guilty they should be given condign and salutory custodial sentences.

  13. Colin M. Taylor April 6, 2014 at 3:55 pm - Reply

    Time for a few Citizen’s Arrests, methinks

  14. thelovelywibblywobblyoldlady April 6, 2014 at 5:15 pm - Reply

    Reblogged this on glynismillward189.

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