'Show us the money', Vera!

Anna Raccoon has a fascinating story about Vera Baird, one of Labour's minor ministers and troughers.

Here's an extract but do read the whole article as there are other interesting revelations:

'The house that Vera Baird put on the market for £315,000 last year after she had finished ‘winding up’ her constituents in sunny Redcar, has finally sold for £265,000.

This is the house that ‘we’ mostly paid for, so that Vera could continue the good works of the saintly Mo Mowlem on behalf of the benighted inhabitants of Redcar. We paid for the mortgage interest, the new boiler, the roof, the floors, the windows and furnished it for her.

Fortunately for the scrupulously honest Vera, she was kicked out of parliament the day before the change in MPs expenses rules which would have forced her to give the profit she made on this house back to the taxpayers.  Still, last year Vera did say that she would be acting ‘morally and properly’ when the property was sold.

I am sure she has done so, who could imagine anything less of her? She has, she says, ‘made a donation to charity’. We do not know which charity, nor how much the donation was for...'

The whole concept of MPs receiving money from the public purse to pay a mortgage on a property and then keeping the profits from the sale of that property stinks to high heaven. I would have thought that any MP who, perfectly legally, took advantage of this arrangement would feel honour bound (as a current or former 'honourable' or 'right honourable' member) to voluntarily repay such profits. Somehow I think that I shouldn't hold my breath!

Another ‘don’t you know who I am?’ Labour minister

I see in The Mail that Vera Baird (the Solicitor General) is accused of following in Harriet Harman's (Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal and Minister for Women and Equality) in thinking she is above criticism and the law. The Mail reports that:

"The drama started when Mrs Baird, 58, was walking her puppy in King’s Cross train station in Central London in October.

A mother with her young child confronted the minister after allegedly seeing her fail to pick up the dog’s mess after it fouled the platform.

It is an offence if an owner does not clean up immediately after their dog has fouled land to which the public has access.

The fine is usually a £50 fixed penalty notice. According to sources, Mrs Baird took great offence at being challenged by the woman and gave her a ‘complete mouthful’.

When a police community support officer turned up to deal with the altercation, a by-now furious Mrs Baird made it clear she felt she was being humiliated and allegedly said ‘don’t you know who I am?’. The minster denied this today.

Eventually, the PCSO took Mrs Baird’s details and submitted a report suggesting the minister be investigated for a low level public order offence for causing ‘harassment, alarm or distress’ – which carries a maximum fine of £1,000.

The incident was officially logged as a crime."

So was this senior Law Officer prosecuted? What do you think? This is Labour Britain so I was not surprised to read that:

"According to sources, a number of officers thought charges would be brought. But, after reviewing the evidence, senior transport police officers ruled that the case be dropped.

One source claimed they ‘lost their bottle’ because of Mrs Baird’s position."

I was also interested to read that Vera Baird is reported to have said:

"'My new puppy was unwell and made a mess on the platform at King’s Cross some weeks ago. A member of the public complained to me and she and I had an argument.

‘As it ended, a PCSO arrived and spoke to me. I complained to the BTP about his attitude.

‘I have received an apology from the BTP and as far as I am concerned the matter is closed.’

She added: ‘I asked for, and got, help from the station cleaner as it was not possible to pick up the mess.’"

How dare a PCSO question a member of the Labour Politburo, do they not realise how important Vera Baird is and that the laws of the land do not apply to such as she?

I am also so pleased to see that Vera Baird managed to get one of the little people to clear up her puppy's mess for her. I would hate to think of a Labour minister having to soil her hands with dog shit, that is a job for a menial member of the public not an high flying Labour minister. Shovelling shit onto us is the job of a Labour minister.