Priti Patel’s enormous expenses make her the most expensive MP in Parliament – claim
Priti Patel: Now you know why she’s always wearing that smug smile.
The indignation broke like a wave over Twitter yesterday evening (February 2) – that Priti Patel’s expenses claims may make her the most expensive MP in Parliament, taking home more money than prime minister Theresa May receives in her salary.
I have fact-checked this – it’s very simple and you can do it yourself by visiting this web page – and it shows that in the financial year 2017-18 she pocketed £152,672.15, which is actually more than is suggested in John Clarke’s tweet:
Priti Patel is still the most expensive MP in Parliament; claiming more in expenses than the PM earns!
Essex MPs are not entitled to claim for 2nd Homes; so is she kicking the arse out of her expenses to make up for that?#SnoutintheTrough pic.twitter.com/MkwoYWyC4y— John Clarke (@JohnClarke1960) February 1, 2019
And it justifies all the other nasty comments that have been made about her. Here are a few:
Rob says: “More Tory snout in the trough – taking everything giving nothing.”
“More greed. It amazing how much these MPs get away with,” tweets Leighton Royston.
“D” reminds us that Ms Patel “Called UK workers the laziest in the world. Patel is once again top of the “expenses” list. Keep voting for this and blaming the poor if that’s what works for you….idiots.”
This ties in with a recent comment to This Site by “Growing Flame” as follows: “I always thought that many Tory voters voted for their favourite Party knowing full-well that other British citizens would suffer because of it. And that was the POINT. People vote Tory to punish others of whom they disapprove, such as the less well-off or ethnic minorities or immigrants or gays etc.”
Meanwhile, Conservative MPs like Ms Patel make a fortune for doing nothing. So who do you think really deserves to be punished?
And Richard Mayer suggests: “She would happily stop foreign aid to the poorest in the world but claims double her annual salary as expenses from the taxpayer.”
Yes, her attitude to foreign aid is odd – she’d stop aid for the poorest but she wanted to give a lot of help to Israel, if you remember: She wanted our International Aid money to fund field hospitals run by the Israeli government in the Golan Heights (land which belongs to Syria but has been illegally occupied by Israel for many years).
She made that claim after a “family holiday” to Israel at which she held meetings with senior members of the Israel government including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. I wonder whether she claim that on expenses (it would be a contradiction but would anybody be surprised) – such a claim would have been honoured during the tax year in question.
And of course her payout after resigning in disgrace as International Development Secretary was £17,000. She should have been sacked but Theresa May wanted to give her your money and that meant she was asked to resign instead.
If I had claimed such a large amount in expenses while I was working as an employee, I’m sure I would have been called into the appropriate office for a good, hard talking-to, followed by a whittling-down of the claim; the company would have found reasons to disallow some items. That never seems to happen with MPs. Why not?
All this money has gone to a woman who is a national – and international – disgrace and a stain on our national character. She’ll probably be back in the Cabinet soon, if the Tories are lucky enough to stay in government. Will you meekly accept that? Or will you do whatever you can to prevent it?
Afterword: Some commenters have called into question whether Ms Patel’s expenses make her Parliament’s most expensive MP, and it seems worthy of investigation. Expect more on this as and when I’m able to provide it.
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People’s like this should never be in power yet here we have many like her spitting out drivel oh she cries for the workhouse for many of us who cannot work anymore how quaint hay to have the privilege of being ruled by her kind
In most other jobs expense claims like this come under suspicion of embezzlement.
This is completely untrue, and it takes 5 minutes of fact checking to know it’s untrue. And only an idiot would have publicly posted this article. @Mike Sivier you are therefore an idiot.
Plenty of MPs claim more expenses than she does. Wigan Labour MP claimed around £200,000 in 2017-2018.
In both cases, most of those expenses go on office and staff expenses.
I’ve said I’ll look into this so we’ll see.
Maybe take the article down in the meantime? How much looking into it does it take to find out if at least one MP claimed more than Prit Patel?
More than you might think. You have to factor in the fact that she doesn’t get any extra living expenses because Essex MPs don’t, and she doesn’t have any extra responsibilities (she quit being a minister halfway through that year).
Be interesting if the ipsa website gave a breakdown of what the “staffing” expenses were? And who those people were (mum, sister, partner???) They are all a bunch or robbing toe-rags
Numqum Satis – never enough, Never Satisfied. Greed beyond avarice.
The Tories are parasites and their sense of entitlement knows no bounds!
An artwork I did in 2014!
https://discordion.wordpress.com/my-art/graduate-exhibition-artwork-2014/numquam-satis-never-enough/
She doesn’t even make the top 10 of highest parliamentary claimants. Ian Blackford of the SNP claimed £234,000 over the same period. Anna Soubry claimed £198,000 over the same period.. it’s almost like Diane Abbott has done the maths on this report.. infact 5 out of the top ten highest claimants are SNP..
this seems like a smear campaign to me..
152K in Expenses, she should be giving out courses, perhaps I do that in my voluntary role, I am sure they won’t mind
Which of the expenses she claimed were illegitimate?
That’s a good question. Wouldn’t it be good if we could analyse our MPs’ expenses for ourselves – they work for us, after all – and decide for ourselves whether they deserve all the money they claim?
You can, look at the website for mos expenses, see who’s nose is in the trough. You’ll be surprised when you see the truth. (It’s not P. Patel)
I’ll do my own checking, thanks.
If you could find out whether Andrew Griffiths took a ministerial severance pay after he resigned, that would be interesting, he refuses to answer my correspondence. To be fair he doesn’t seem to be doing much apart from voting.
I suggest that may be a more interesting article if you are able to find out.
This one has engaged quite a few people, but I’ll see what I can do.
You can check what the claims are for. It’s all online. Why did you publish this pile of shot? Her claims were actually below average for this period.
I think you may be mistaken.
The average labour MP claimed over £170000, substantially more than Priti
I’ll do my own checking, thanks.
I thought you’d already checked it.
Yes, and now I’m checking again. Why aren’t you pleased?
Most people would do their own checking before publishing.
I did check the amount she claimed. Having had it challenged, I’ll look in more detail. All perfectly clear and above-board. I think you may be complaining because you’re a fan of Ms Patel?
Have you finished checking yet, Mike?
Corbyn – 176,000, Abbott – 188,000, Thornberry 189,000 and for most of them the bulk, like that of Patel, is accounted for on staffing costs. I seem to recall offering some caution about pride before a fall Mr. Sivier…perhaps verification of the true picture might have been wise?
I’ll do my own checking, thanks.
…..and publish the results of you checking with an apology to Priti Patel?
You never know your luck.
Finished checking yet? Drafting your apology, perhaps?
The ‘welfare state’ is thriving it seems: the ‘benefits system’ that is ring-fenced and sacrosanct for the already well heeled, wealthy, privileged few, that is! “We’re all in it together”! Remember that! “We’re all in this together”!
Can’t you count? No need to look into this – a Key Stage 2 child could have done better.
I think not. We’ve established that the headline figures are not revealing, and now I’m going into it in more detail. It seems some commenters don’t like the idea of that. I wonder why?
Fake news.
Let us compare two close constituencies neither requiring a second home allowance.
John Cruddas – Labour MP for Dagenham claimed £197,112.88 expenses last full year 2017-2018
Priti Patel – Tory MP for Witham claimed £152,672.15 expenses last full year 2017-2018
Sure – but if you strip out staffing costs, which is paying someone else, then she took thousands more than him.
Strip out office costs and she took nearly £12,000 more. But that’s questionable because some “office” expenses could be nothing of the kind (think Chris Davies, MP for Brecon and Radnorshire).
This is why I think a proper analysis will take a bit of time. But by all means – you go on making the generalisations for which I was criticised.
Such extravagant expense claims need to be thoroughly and minutely examined by the Fraud Squad.
But are they extravagant? No doubt the Independent Parliamentary Salaries and allowances organisation – set up after the expenses scandal -will take the necessary action if their scrutiny of claims reveals anything untoward.
You place too much trust in these Establishment agents.
So who are you going to entrust if not thr claimant or the scrutineering independent body?
Why is she still in office. She should be removed from office (sacked) and not allowed back into politics! Get rid of these corrupt politicians. They’re sinking Britain int the mire which they have created!
She isn’t still in office. She’s still an MP because her constituency elected her but she has no duties other than those of a normal constituency MP.