<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/3e445e2c-cba3-4107-adcf-6849c1be6c03/027D46DB-BE48-4AE5-8AF5-0929F4FF2630/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23672696-details/These+expenses+scams+violate+the+spirit+of+the+law+%E2%80%93+and+MPs+know+it/article.do" href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23672696-details/These+expenses+scams+violate+the+spirit+of+the+law+%E2%80%93+and+MPs+know+it/article.do" style="font-size: 11px;">www.thisislondon.co.uk</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23672696-details/These+expenses+scams+violate+the+spirit+of+the+law+%E2%80%93+and+MPs+know+it/article.do"><H2>These expenses scams violate the spirit of the law – and MPs know it</H2></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23672696-details/These+expenses+scams+violate+the+spirit+of+the+law+%E2%80%93+and+MPs+know+it/article.do"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.thisislondon.co.uk/img/693286EA-EFE9-435D-999B-7549FF7323F5" alt="Chancellor Alistair Darling and Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23672696-details/These+expenses+scams+violate+the+spirit+of+the+law+%E2%80%93+and+MPs+know+it/article.do"><P>Political London emerges this week as like something out of Little Dorrit. Snodgrass MP is renting a nice little earner that Smithers MP bought in Lambeth on the state. Snout MP has a mortgage deal in Southwark with Trough MP, whose wife runs a political advice and bathplugs agency. Credit MP and Crunch MP are big in the Ilford second homes market and run a <A href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-home/related-2336-articles-reviews/John+Lewis/related.do" title="More on John Lewis..." class="inform">John Lewis</A> expenses consultancy. The taxpayer always coughs up.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23672696-details/These+expenses+scams+violate+the+spirit+of+the+law+%E2%80%93+and+MPs+know+it/article.do">Second homes, dinner services, washing machines, garden tools, bathplugs, even "food" have been up for grabs. MPs employ their spouses "on expenses" and then get them to write the claims, laundering them through a Commons fee office that would do credit to City Hall in Al Capone's <A href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-home/related-397-articles-reviews/Chicago/related.do" title="More on Chicago..." class="inform">Chicago</A>.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23672696-details/These+expenses+scams+violate+the+spirit+of+the+law+%E2%80%93+and+MPs+know+it/article.do"><A href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-home/related-4487-articles-reviews/Alistair+Darling/related.do" title="More on Alistair Darling..." class="inform">Alistair Darling</A>, has his nose in this trough, with almost £10,000 claimed</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23672696-details/These+expenses+scams+violate+the+spirit+of+the+law+%E2%80%93+and+MPs+know+it/article.do">MPs are "strongly advised to avoid subletting any part of a property for which you claim the additional costs allowance".</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/027D46DB-BE48-4AE5-8AF5-0929F4FF2630/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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