It seems to be getting worse:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-35228812
Why do these people stand on the moral high ground about things, when they're up to all sorts themselves?
I know this allegation is early doors and might not come to anything, but nevertheless if he was tucked up in his bed at 10pm with a mug of cocoa, we wouldn't be discussing him.
|
|
To be fair, if he was in bed at 10pm with a mug of cocoa he would be a useless MP. To do the job you need to be a bit hyper active. Probably why they are always up for a bit of extra rumpy pumpy, usually stuff on the edge.
|
Starting from same fairness point as Zero.
The allegation relates to an event almost ten years ago. Police have to believe (or more accurately not openly disbelieve) allegations of this nature and we'll have to wait/see what happens next.
The press are over Danczuk's life like a rash*, probably with readies on offer for any good stories. On his owm admission he's no celibate and I'd be surprised if more ex-shagees stories are not lined up for our delectation in next edition of Mail on Sunday.
*Currently reading Ken Livingstone's autobiography. Even allowing for gilding of the lilly on his part the length Fleet Street's finest went to for stories is hair raising. While drinks in the 'last chance saloon' may have moderated their methods a bit I'd guess being under their magnifiier is a pretty unpleasant place.
|
I'm sure if I'd fiddled my expenses I'd have at least lost my job.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-35813208
Last edited by: smokie on Fri 18 Mar 16 at 14:30
|
|
Too true, in the Navy they were called pension traps. The pension was the main reason that the lifers were there.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 18 Mar 16 at 14:29
|
|
It's not deffo he did 'fiddle' them. He just said he claimed them in error, having some expenses that are complex, they are often vague and open to interpretation to who ever is reading them.
|
|
Ignorance is no excuse... :-)
|
|
Spoken like an expense auditer. ;)
|
>I'm sure if I'd fiddled my expenses I'd have at least lost my job.
There's a simple solution to all this expense fiddling by MPs.
Outsource the process to my previous employer.
|
>> >I'm sure if I'd fiddled my expenses I'd have at least lost my job.
>>
>> There's a simple solution to all this expense fiddling by MPs.
>>
>> Outsource the process to my previous employer.
Indeed. 15 requirements to be ticked off before,Pre approval only with 15 months of haggling up front, and fifteen levels of management sign off, return and resubmission of expense form 15 times and 15 weeks for payment.
|
Indeed. 15 requirements to be ticked off before,Pre approval only with 15 months of haggling
>> up front, and fifteen levels of management sign off, return and resubmission of expense form
>> 15 times and 15 weeks for payment.
Don't forget about keeping all your receipts for the next decade (right down to your parking receipts) and be subject to retrospective rule changes that make no sense in a couple of years time.
|
>> Indeed. 15 requirements to be ticked off before,Pre approval only with 15 months of
>> haggling
>> >> up front, and fifteen levels of management sign off, return and resubmission of expense
>> form
>> >> 15 times and 15 weeks for payment.
>>
>> Don't forget about keeping all your receipts for the next decade (right down to your
>> parking receipts) and be subject to retrospective rule changes that make no sense in a
>> couple of years time.
Oh and I forgot about having to use pre approved suppliers and servicing selected and mandated by purchasing department that are 15 times more expensive than anyone else.
Oh at least they fixed the problem of having to use a credit card that was only accepted by 15% of the suppliers.
|
You were allowed a works credit card? luxury, only for the big boys. Pay and claim it back for us.
I used to work with someone who went to uae for a couple of weeks, work prepaid for the hire car but not the hotel. Had a 4 figure bill by the end to pay for themselves and claim back. Why one and not the other ? you might come home early...
Last edited by: sooty123 on Fri 18 Mar 16 at 19:49
|
>> Oh and I forgot about having to use pre approved suppliers and servicing selected and
>> mandated by purchasing department that are 15 times more expensive than anyone else.
Another trick the public sector learned from private enterprise then? Being clued up on rail/air travel and hotel accommodation it pi**ed me off beyond belief to sign off rates charged by he approved supplier.
But hey ho. We no longer pay a few people £50 subsistence to stay in a £30 fleapit and pocket the difference.
|
>> by the approved supplier.
>>
>
Wasn't HRG was it?
|
>> Wasn't HRG was it?
As in Home Retail Group owner of Argos and (still?) Home base?
Goodness knows how those two businesses will be separated.
|
>> >> Wasn't HRG was it?
>>
>> As in Home Retail Group owner of Argos and (still?) Home base?
>>
>> Goodness knows how those two businesses will be separated.
Easy Peasy. They have always operated as separate entities within HRG, with little synergy.
The real question is, how does JS and Argos fit together.
|
>> As in Home Retail Group owner of Argos and (still?) Home base?
>>
>> Goodness knows how those two businesses will be separated.
>>
No i don't argos have moved into sorting out rooms in hotels.
|
>> Wasn't HRG was it?
Small northern travel agency who got gig for my outfit's sponsor and several other departments too. Can't remember name now. By time it happened the sword over our heads was hanging on strands and the margin on travel/hotacc for our last two meetings was hundreds of £. If we'd had a future and more folks/trips though it would have been an issue.
|
I can spend/claim whatever I like ( provided I have a valid receipt ) but I get paid a percentage of any profit my business unit makes so I and the guys I manage use Travelodge / Premier Inn, Easyjet and supermarket fuel.
Not too difficult to grasp really.
|
>> I get paid a percentage of any profit my business unit makes so I and
>> the guys I manage use Travelodge / Premier Inn, Easyjet and supermarket fuel.
>>
>> Not too difficult to grasp really.
EXACTLY. You don't need purchasing departments, multi departmental sign off, or any of that guff to oversee what you do, merely responsibility and renumeration for doing the correct business thing.
|
|
I don't spend or claim anything in work these days. CAB were crap - I was even paying for the Satellite broadband and then had to claim it back !
|
>EXACTLY. You don't need purchasing departments, multi departmental sign off, or any of that guff
>to oversee what you do, merely responsibility and renumeration for doing the correct business thing.
Just one example of the carp I had to put up with when I was working in Austin and doing alot of international travel.
I'd done a few presentations in Asia and the next stop was Jo'burg from Beijing. I had four days to get there so decided to stop off in Thailand to see a friend who lives there. By taking a stopover and booking my own flights and hotel instead of using the online 'tool' I would save the company $1900.
It needed approval from three levels of management to deviate from standard procedure.
|
Tell 'em afterwards Kevin. Done deal and all that. Desk jockeys need a slap now and then and salutary reminder of who's generating the business that pays for them. The real world doesn't fit on a spreadsheet.
;-)
|
>> Tell 'em afterwards Kevin. Done deal and all that.
Expenses rejected - out of pocket.
|
>..I get paid a percentage of any profit my business unit makes so I and the guys I manage
>use Travelodge / Premier Inn, Easyjet and supermarket fuel.
You make your direct reports use Travelodge just so you can make a few extra quid out of your profit share?
Shouldn't this be in the "Tax cuts for the rich, welfare cuts for the poor" thread?
;-)
|
Aye weel, ye ken how it is...ye'll have had ye'r tea?
;-)
|
I manage
>> >use Travelodge / Premier Inn, Easyjet and supermarket fuel.
Just goes to show we're all different.
I have never and never would use supermarket fuel.
I have used Easyjet and Ryanair but would do anything not to again, inc not going on the holiday if that's all I could afford.
Next week, I'm off to Belgium to look at a vehicle for someone.. who's paying me a set fee up front.
Priority boarding on the ferry and the exclusive lounge thingy... and a decent hotel at the other end all come out of my profit...(no matter what time I get there, i'm going in the hot tub and want a nice bar to sit in after my decent meal).
You can shove the Travelodge and similar where the sun doesn't shine.
|
I've stayed in Travelodges, for quite long periods sometimes when I was working away from home (at my own expense). Not a lot wrong with them really, and you get a better, less up-themselves, class of person there than in them poncy hotels. :-)
What's up with supermarket fuel too?
Thankfully, as you say, we are all different... :-)
|
I often stay in Premier Inns when away on short breaks... Find them preferable to Travelodge.
Recently a few of us stayed at the Ibis just outside Valencia... At less than 24 hours notice it only cost us around £30 pppn including an extensive all you can eat bfast.
I've flown with lots of LCC and never had a problem... Air travel these days is just ridiculously cheap. I don't mean the silly advertised prices, but £100 return to the Canaries, even £200, is far less in real terms than 20 odd years ago. What's not to like.
And it's the cheap motels across the U.S. Of A that lets me travel there so much.
|
I think it makes a massive difference if you are travelling with work or for a holiday. If you are on the road and overseas with work then it's fine. The room is merely functional, going on holiday another matter entirely.
I wouldn't stop in a travel lodge (or any hotel if i can avoid it) whilst on holiday but stopped in similar types of hotels when with work. But then I don't get a choice about which hotel to use but I think they are perfectly fine for work.
|
I suppose that depends on your type of holiday. If you are on a touring holiday, I find motels, Premier Inns etc perfect for my/ our requirements. Staying three nights, or even up to a week, seeing the local sights, then moving on to the next place is perfect and fits my budget. Without these cheap places I simply couldn't afford to go on most of my overseas holidays.
In the States they have free wifi, a pool, jacuzzi & hot tub, often a small gym, and a small self serve breakfast in the reception area. And my holidays entail eating out at night in a local bar/ restaurant.
For weekends away with friends, in the past two years I have stayed at Premier Inns & their ilk in Chester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Durham, London, Leeds, Kendal, Stratford & Derby.
My pal is away on a touring holiday ( BC & Alberta) for 17 days in July with his daughters & their partners, and without cheap motels they wouldn't go.
|
|
Absolutely yes all depends on the person and holiday. If some people like them for a holiday, fill yer boots. But not for me I'm afraid.
|
Well, to be clear, we use budget hotels and airlines for work for the reasons stated above and also due to the frequency of need to do so. Over a year the savings are appreciable when multiplied by the number of staff and trips made.
For holidays though I'd use more relaxing/pleasing venues and travel methods.
That's not to say there wouldn't be occasions when either convention wouldn't be broken if required or convenient.
For example, while I'd encourage those who report to me use the cheapest filling station available when possible they are not "banned" from using others if time and location demands, nor are they compelled to use a budget hotel if one isn't available or conveniently located.
It's more about encouraging and empowering a common sense approach.
You fairly quickly get to identify the lead swingers from the sensible ones.
If you get a guy who submits a dozen fuel receipts a month and only one of them is from an expensive motorway service area then no one would even slightly question that but if 11 of them were then that would be queried.
Similarly, if he had 10 overnights in the period and one or two of them were in a more expensive venue then so be it.
Like I say, it's about being aware of costs and their control not following unbearable rules.
( actually the spell checker put "unbearable" when I typed "unbreakable" but I decided it was just as apt )
;-)
|
|
If you use so much fuel I'm surprised you don't have fuel cards? Although i think there's a tax thing isn't there? Although ours are 'communal' so there aren't any tax faffs. I try and use them as much as possible, it keeps the receipt nazis at bay.
|
I prefer to use my own credit card and Sainsburys ( Nectar points ! )
;-)
|
>> I prefer to use my own credit card and Sainsburys ( Nectar points ! )
>>
>> ;-)
>>
Personally benefiting from using a particular garage/hotel/airline? Pfft you clearly need a few of our auditers employing at your place, that'd sort it right out
;-)
|
|
As an aside (may have been mentioned before) note that there is a Sainsbury's Nectar promotion on currently of 10X points. You have to log in to your Nectar account and "load" your card with the offer to qualify.
|
>> Absolutely yes all depends on the person and holiday. If some people like them for
>> a holiday, fill yer boots. But not for me I'm afraid.
It depends on the where and when and why.
For example, A Road trip to the states.
San Francisco, Holiday Inn Fisherman Wharf. Why Because its in the middle of fisherman's wharf with a cable car going past for access to the rest of the city. Cost? Mid price.
Cambria - Half way between SF and LA, An upmarket guest house overlooking the seals on Moonstone beach. Very reasonable, exceptionally comfortable and thoughtful. US guest houses are on the whole fantastic.
Las Vega, A suite, a big suite, Venetian Hotel. Expensive. Very Expensive, but hey Its Vegas.
A cheap Roach Motel, that only a one horse sht kicking town in the middle of hick country USA can provide. Lee Vining. Where? WTF is that you say? Its at the foot of the rockies, overlooks the unearthly Mono Lake, and its the end of a 6 hour drive across the deserts around death valley.
Where, when and why.
Flights? Ryan Air Stanstead to Berlin Templhof. 30 quid each return. Just before it was closed. Who the hell is going to cut there nose off to spite their face just so they can be sniffy about Ryan Air, when its the provider why when and where.
|
|
Like i said if people like them for a holiday, fill yer boots, but they aren't for me.
|
|
so when you go away on holiday, where do you stay?
|
|
A cottage, I've have used hotels on holiday a couple of times. So perhaps i shouldn't give the impression I've never done it. I just try and avoid it.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sun 20 Mar 16 at 11:07
|
As do I, as one of the holidays with the dog in a year.
What about tho, say, The USA? Or Lake Guarda, or Rome? or Paris?
|
> What about tho, say, The USA? Or Lake Guarda, or Rome? or Paris?
>>
What about them? Are you asking me where I'd stay?
|
|
Going to the USA is with work so it's a hotel. I've never been to the others and no plans to do so. Never say never but not on the radar.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sun 20 Mar 16 at 11:25
|
One of the weirdest and most disturbing hotel experiences I've had was back in the late 1980s.
My then employer had flown me business class to Rio and I had a stopover there for a couple of days before carrying on down south to my final destination.
They put me up in the Sheraton Hotel on Ipanema beach in a very nice mini suite which had a balcony and outside seating area. Everything was on expenses and even the journey from the airport was in a chauffeur driven car.
I was feeling pretty pampered by the time I reached my room and as it was early morning when I checked in I decided to order breakfast to be brought to my balcony.
The view to the right was stunning, overlooking one of the most famous coastlines and beaches in the world which as it was Saturday morning was already beginning to fill up with the rich and beautiful.
The view to the left though was tragic, straight into a cliff side favella, people with less than nothing living in cardboard boxes perched on ledges in the cliff. Separated from me only by the high walls of the the hotel complex and a road.
The juxtaposition of our circumstances troubled me greatly and to this day I can see the face of a young guy who was probably about the same age I was then ( late 20s ) staring back at me from his cliff side dwelling, sitting on my balcony with my sumptuous breakfast.
The human condition really is a lottery sometimes.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Sun 20 Mar 16 at 11:33
|
>> The juxtaposition of our circumstances troubled me greatly and to this day I can see
>> the face of a young guy who was probably about the same age I was
>> then ( late 20s ) staring back at me from his cliff side dwelling, sitting
>> on my balcony with my sumptuous breakfast.
>>
>> The human condition really is a lottery sometimes.
>>
Had you offered him your Renault he would have to you to stuff it.
|
For me it depends why I'm staying I suppose. In many cases the hotel room for me is just somewhere to crash for the night, to keep a stash of booze and food for "emergencies", charge up my electricals and have a shower. I don't usually spend much time in them so the standard doesn't matter greatly to me, although I did walk out of a place in Miami (which actually wasn't cheap) because the floor had a "live" carpet of roaches and other creepy crawlies.
Location is sometimes important - I like to be in walking distance of evening entertainment, whatever that may be, and have paid quite a premium for that in the past. And this year I'm off to the Edinburgh Fringe again in August and for the 2nd time have hired a posh (2 beds and massive living accommodation) flat on High St (2nd floor, corner of Cockburn St so overlooking the pedestrianised bit - in Royal Mile Apartments for those who know he area) so I can enjoy the atmosphere with no dependency on public transport.
|
|
I used to have an office in Cockburn St so I know exactly where you mean. Have a pint in "Jinglin' Geordie's" down the close. Good trad pub.
|
For domestic hollier,s I take my own hotel and staff.
Self catering or camping abroad. I organised a camping trip to Lake Konstanz a few years ago, all of us on bikes. We had a one nighter on the way down at the Ibis in Nancy. There was no catering due to a big wedding party in. We all got the tram into town ( guided system...no rails ) and ate at a small bistro.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hyqa5TUV70
Coming back we stopped at a Routiers in Thionville. There was a French restaurant on the site and a Hungry Horse..........guess where all but 2 of us chose to eat !
|
|
Its strange when you end up in such a hotel in a place of grinding poverty. Especially when very few of the locals work there as well. Makes the place feel even more isolated from the local area. I can remember a couple similar in the middle east, the hotels even had their own beaches. The rest of the town was a complete dump, people were living in rubbish tips iirc.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sun 20 Mar 16 at 11:42
|
I'm off to Egypt in April to an all-inclusive place with it's own beaches and coral.
Last time I was there we were told the staff only earn £10 a month so no need for big tips anywhere.
PS has anyone done the Valley of the Kings by hot air balloon? Looks like fun... and am booking the full day quad bike trip thru the desert... (did that before in dune buggies).
|
>> PS has anyone done the Valley of the Kings by hot air balloon?
Funny you should say that. Next door neighbour returned from Holiday in a private ambulance. Ballon flight over the valley kings, basket tipped over on landing, broken hip, big bill (medical insurance didn't cover "dangerous activities") and long rehabilitation due to poor medical care in Egypt.
|
>> Did he enjoy it though?
She. Funnily enough, ""Apart from that, did you have a good time" was a question that I hadn't thought about. I'll ask her next time I see her limping down her drive.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 20 Mar 16 at 12:35
|
I would, people love to talk about their holidays...
;-)
|
>> >> Did he enjoy it though?
>>
>> She. Funnily enough, ""Apart from that, did you have a good time" was a question
>> that I hadn't thought about. I'll ask her next time I see her limping down
>> her drive.
That reminds me, you not mountain biking today?
|
|
No, "she" has the flu, and "he" is studying for GCSEs today. I'm going out with the dog shortly. Just a long walk today. Swim later though probably. Hope to be biking again over Easter. Might try Llandegla if I can work up the enthusiasm for the climb up "Heart Attack Hill" the descent afterwards down the other side is worth the effort if you survive the ascent !
|
>> No, "she" has the flu, and "he" is studying for GCSEs today. I'm going out
>> with the dog shortly.
Fifi Mk2 is competing in Obedience, and an important part of that is Heelwork, I am developing a dressage style in her because it looks pretty flashy and showy.
here she is at a recent competition.
s606.photobucket.com/user/know_wun/media/12804602_10207170201946810_2065668983946285531_n_zpspet1uipx.jpg.html
Thats a normal pace. However we also need to do fast pace, and in training for that I have discovered she enjoys and sharpens up her heel work when running. Not fast walk, not a trot, but sprinting and running to heel. Now At 62 We aint going to be doing this for miles, but she has me up to about 400 metres now.
And I wonder why i have lost 10 kilos.
(those are my Rockports I have on in that pic BTW. Fantastic shoes.)
|
They are good shoes. Bit young for the likes of you though aren't they? Still, I see you've toned them down a bit by teaming them with a nice pair of brown slacks...
;-))
|
>> They are good shoes. Bit young for the likes of you though aren't they?
Really? thats made my day.
|
|
Hmmm good point, maybe I'll give the balloon a miss then. I'm travelling alone so I need to avoid getting ill in anyway way. Mind you a touch of Delhi belly is par for the course out there,
|
I just checked my Tesco annual travel insurance and ballooning is covered, so long as it's a licenced operator and you aren't the pilot. Quad biking (also on the agenda) is also covered , with certain conditions.
However for the ballooning I'd need to be in Luxor for dawn which could be challenging...
|
Another story from that trip was when that evening I decided to go for an early stroll along the beachside walkway at Copa Cabana before meeting a colleague at a restaurant for dinner.
Idyllic scenario, a very warm Saturday evening, the beach still full, gorgeous views both topographical and bikini clad !
A small boy asked me if I wanted my shoes cleaning and in my less than adequate Portugese I politely refused and said they weren't dirty.
"They are dirty" he countered and I looked down to see with horror that there was a splodge of dog poo on one of them.
It took a moment to work out how it got there until I noticed his even younger accomplice lying under a parked car with a teaspoon and a supply of "ammunition" expertly flicking blobs of it on to the feet of passers by.
At first I was, perhaps naturally angry, but fairly quickly I just began to laugh at the absurdity and indeed tragedy of it all where a couple of small children were scraping an income in such a way.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Sun 20 Mar 16 at 12:00
|
>> the absurdity and indeed tragedy of it all where a couple of small children were scraping an income in such a way.
Often made me feel guilty, that gross wealth difference. I didn't feel 'responsible' for it, I hadn't done anything to become so incredibly rich by local standards, but it made me feel guilty all the same.
|
|
That's pretty much how I saw it too AC.
|
>> That's pretty much how I saw it too AC.
>>
As I've said before, we like to moan about how hard done by we are when they stick a penny on a litre of fuel or we read about how much a footballer is earning, but no matter how low down the chain we might personally be in this country, overall we are part of the world's rich elite.
|
|
You want to spend some time in the town I live near.The rich elite is way down the line for lot's of people Robin.
|
>>The human condition really is a lottery sometimes.
The rich man in his castle, The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly, And ordered their estate.
[What a load of spheroids]
|
>> The rich man in his castle, The poor man at his gate,
>>
>> God made them high and lowly, And ordered their estate.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Things_Bright_and_Beautiful
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Frances_Alexander
From Simon Danczuk to Mrs CF Alexander. Only in this forum......
|
Simon Danczuk - Zero
