Another thieving politician caught?

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[dutchman]

Maria Miller could cost Tories election if she stays, say MPs



Maria Miller's expenses scandal is costing the Conservative party vital votes in the marginal seats that will decide the next election, MPs have warned.

Voters in key marginal seats are angry that the Culture Secretary has kept her job and will turn against the Conservative party at the general election if she remains in place, MPs have said.

In a Telegraph survey of the 40 most marginal seats that the Conservatives must hold if they are to have a chance of winning the next election, not a single MP was willing to speak in the minister’s support other than Mary Macleod, her parliamentary private secretary.

Many others were strongly critical of Mrs Miller’s conduct and refusal to resign. One said the Conservative Party needs the controversy the minister has attracted "like a hole in the head".

A third of marginal MPs said the scandal is costing the party support. A quarter called for her to lose her job.

Of the 23 MPs who responded to the survey or have made their views public none would publicly back Mrs Miller apart from Ms McCleod.

Nine said they would make no comment on the affair with one saying they did not want to add "fuel to the fire".

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Interestingly, one website that I use is actively encouraging people to report Miller to the police for theft!

The band wagon is beginning to roll, such a shame that Camoron won't jump on it, he's quick enough to jump on others.

[dutchman]

Maria Miller used expenses to pay parents' council tax



Maria Miller was found to have subsidised her parents’ council tax payments in an overlooked part of the official report into her expenses claims.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards ruled that the Culture Secretary was wrong to claim the full costs of council tax for her “second” home, where her elderly parents lived.

Kathryn Hudson recommended that Mrs Miller repay £1,000 to cover the council tax payments.

However, Mrs Miller objected to the ruling and was backed by a committee of MPs, raising further questions about MPs operating as “judge and jury” on their peers.

The council tax ruling also casts doubt over the Prime Minister’s defence of Mrs Miller as he has publicly insisted that the Cabinet minister’s arrangements did not benefit her parents.

Mrs Miller claimed up to £2,335 a year to cover the council tax on her Band G house in Wimbledon, south-west London. She did not apply for the 10 per cent second home discount that was available from Merton council at the time.

The commissioner said she should have reduced her claim to reflect the fact that part of her home was inhabited by her parents. Parliamentary rules bar MPs from allowing anyone other than their spouses and children from “benefiting” from taxpayer-funded expenses.

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Maria Miller resigns as Culture Secretary over expenses claims



Maria Miller has resigned as Culture Secretary, saying that the scandal around her expenses has become a "distraction" to David Cameron and the Conservative party.

The Prime Minister was "sorry" to receive her letter this morning but accepted her resignation, Downing Street sources said.

In her letter of resignation Mrs Miller wrote she was grateful for Mr Cameron's "personal support" but that the "present situation" had become a distraction from the work of Government.

Michael Gove, the education secretary, said he was "saddened" to see the former Culture Secretary go but refused to say whethere he was surprised by her departure. The decision, he said, was "entirely" Mrs Miller's own.

The resignation follows a week of intense criticism of her expenses claims.

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Good riddance!

Now perhaps she'll face the courts for her misdemeanours? - No I don't somehow think so!

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And it rumbles on...

Dear Maria Miller,

Over the past week or so you have done irreparable damage to what was left of the Tory party's already damaged reputation by your sheer greed, utter selfishness and refusal to step down sooner by adopting the cowardly let's save my skin option!

WeDemand.uk would like to thank you for proving yet again how out of touch, morally bankrupt and corrupt you and all of the Tories really are, you have displayed this in spectacular fashion in a way only a Tory knows how through the sheer utter contempt and disregard for anyone else only the Tories display when trying to save their own skin.

Your apology to parliament last Thursday was nothing less than an insult to the nation and showed yet further disregard for the public mood and opinion on this matter, you chose yet again to try and con us with words that were utterly meaningless, Conservative by name Con by nature I would say.

Wedemand.uk will continue to campaign to have criminal proceedings brought against you, as we feel your resignation is just the first step in the process of making sure MP'S are transparent and
don't abuse their trusted position in future as this would serve as a warning.

If you had any moral fibre left you would also resign as an MP immediately thus avoiding the embarrassment of being sacked at the next election, however Wedemand.uk doubts you have the decency to do this and is certain you will hide out on the back benches from now on continuing to rinse your exspenses like the leaches you and the rest of the Tories are.

Many thanks, Wedemand.uk

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