Andrew Mackay and Julie Kirkbride's Appeals

Paul Waugh of the Evening Standard has an excellant Blog called 'Mackay and Kirkbride may not want Legg/Kennedy as referees' which I would like to direct my readers too.

As well as linking into Mark Reckons's blogpost about MP Andrew Mackay he finds a damaging verdict which was buried in Sir Paul Kennedy's ruling on their appeals (retired High Court judge).

As Paul Waugh writes (taken from his blog post)

Kirkbride

We learned from Sir Paul that she argued that hubby Mackay's "family" lived in our near her Bromsgrove constituency, "hence making it his natural home". As a result, he claimed ACA for their London home. Ms Kirkbride said that her own designation of London as her natural home stemmed from the fact that she was "based in London as the princpal carer" of her child.

Sir Paul was distinctly unimpressed with this line of argument. "I find it a little difficult to accept your suggestion," he wrote. His final judgment is more brutal:

"To my mind the fundamental reason why the arrangements which you made cannot be regarded as acceptable is that they lost sight of the purpose of ACA, which was to assist Members to fund the cost of accommodation when they needed a second home in order to fulfil their duties.

"It was never intended to relieve them of the costs of their main home, and you operated it in such a way that you achieved that result"

Mackay

Sir Paul says Mackay should have realised that the Fees Office was mistaken in approving his arrangements.

"It seems to me that the advice was plainly mistaken, and indeed that you should have recognised it to be mistaken.

"As I have said in my letter to your wife, the fundamental reason why the arrangements which you made cannot be regarded as acceptable is that they lost sight of the purpose of ACA, which was to assist Members to fund the cost of accommodation when they needed a second home in order to fulfil their duties.

"It was never intended to relieve them of the costs of their main home, and you operated it in such a way that you achieved that result".

I agree with Paul Waugh that this is truly devastating stuff. I also feel that the above is yet more proof that they continue to be in denial of any wrong doing and continue to get away with what every they can.

Andrew Mackay’s 2nd Home Boiler and Redecoration Claim

Andrew Mackay’s MP 2008/2009 allowances/expenses have now been published, they make interesting reading.

Bracknell’s MP Andrew MacKay resigned as parliamentary adviser to David Cameron and is due to step down at the next general election. This is after the revelations that Andrew Mackay and his wife, fellow Tory MP for Bromsgrove, Julie Kirkbride (who may now stand again in an open primary).


Andrew Mackay claimed a second home allowance of £12,000 a year in mortgage interest for their joint flat near Westminster. This was while his wife used her expenses to pay off a similar loan for their family home in her Bromsgrove. This was over a period of eight years.

Click on the pictures above to view them.

Interestingly I noticed these payments for a claim of £6,000 for redecoration, made up of £3,400 for paint to stonework, cleaning railings and paint for woodwork which didn’t include scaffolding of an additional £2,600. A new boiler was also claimed for £2,600. All this on a home where the payments should have been paid back to the taxpayer.



Andrew Mackay’s MP 2008/2009 allowances/expenses can be viewed from the Parliamentary website here.

Goodbye Andrew Mackay confront Andrew MacKay MP

Campaign Group Goodbye Andrew Mackay confronted Andrew MacKay MP and demanded the signing of a giant cheque made out to “the taxpayer”. This happened as Andrew Mackay left a dinner held by the Bullbrook branch of the Bracknell Conservative Association on Saturday night.

The cheque demanding the payment of £170,000 which is the estimated amount owed for claiming a second home allowance on a property his wife Julie Kirkbride MP nominated as her first home.

After Sir Thomas Legg report Andrew Mackays leaving parashoot has already been reduced to £10,000 from £65,000The video taken by the Campaign Group Goodbye Andrew Mackay is shown below.



Julie Kirkbride MP looks set to restand in a Bromsgrove Open Primary see the Quaequam Blog here

Goodbye AndrewMackay also tried to attend the open primary see here

Julie Kirkbride MP Open Primary?

Conservative Home has a frankly amazing story on Julie Kirkbride (MP for Bromsgrove) who is Andrew Mackay Bracknell MP’s wife here.

Julie Kirkbride has told the Bromsgrove Conservatives she wishes to be their candidate at the general election after already stating that she would stand down. The rumour is that ‘David Cameron promised to try and save Julie Kirkbride's career at the time he forced her husband Andrew MacKay to step down’.

I had wondered why there had been no Open Primary/Caucus like here in Bracknell where Phillip Lee won the right to be the Conservative PPC.

Conservative Home states ‘CCHQ expects Bromsgrove Conservatives to hold an all-postal Open Primary to select their candidate for the general election and that Ms Kirkbride told her Executive that "if cleared by the Legg Inquiry" (whatever that means precisely), she would like to be considered as a candidate in such a process.’

I believe I am right in stating that if this happened it would be unprecedented turn of events. We will wait and see what Tory HQ decide to do.