The Five Demands

E’ di mezzo milione di sterline l’aggravio sui contribuenti, per l’affitto di 2 appartamenti a Londra (seconda casa ndr) a beneficio di 5 parlamentari del Sinn Fein, che rifiutano di sedersi alla House Of Commons.
Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty e Conor Murphy hanno sostenuto ciascuno £ 21.000 sulla base del Additional Cost Allowances Sistem. Cifra incredibile, come riporta il Daily Mail, se si pensa che un lussuoso appartamento di tre camere da letto con vista di Buckingham Palace, costerebbe poco più di £ 36.000 l’anno.
Owen Paterson, portavoce dei Tory, ha detto: “E’ assolutamente inaccettabile per i rappresentanti del Sinn Fein, che non siedono in Parlamento (significherebbe giuramento di fedeltà alla Regina, nedr), chiedere centinaia

di migliaia di sterline ai contribuenti’.
Questo è il motivo per cui i Conservatori si sono sempre opposti alle indennità di alloggio per i membri che rifiutano di prendere il loro posto in Parlamento.
Scandalo questo che si aggiunge al più ampio scandalo riguardante le indennità sulla seconda casa.
Tra l’altro, lo stesso Sinn Fein ha anche richiesto  una riforma urgente del sistema di spese.
Gli appartamenti si trovano a Londra, ma i  membri del partito si rifiutano di rivelarne l’esatta ubicazione.
L’Additional Cost Allowance si suppone debba rimborsare il costo di gestione di una seconda casa (pagamenti di interessi ipotecari o affitto, utenze, arredi, riparazioni), quando i parlamentari sono a Londra per il tempo ‘necessario’ a svolgere la loro attività.
I cinque rappresentanti del Sinn Fein si recano solo occasionalmente a Westminster e le loro richieste sono ancora più straordinarie in quanto le loro spese di viaggio sono relativamente basse.

Il Sinn Fein gode del diritto di indennità parlamentare dal 2002, come parte degli accordi relativi al processo di pace in Irlanda del Nord.
E mentre piovono critiche da tutti i partiti, il Sinn Fein risponde “I deputati del Sinn Fein non ricevono uno stipendio da Westminster, nè fanno assumere uno qualsiasi dei loro familiari. Il Sinn Fein non deve delle scuse per aver rifiutato di sedersi al British House of Commons. Inoltre, non deve delle scuse per garantire alle persone che votano per il Sinn Fein, gli stessi diritti democratici di tutti gli altri. ‘

Sinn Fein MPs claim £500,000 of your money to pay for London flats (even though they never go to Parliament) (Daily Mail)
Five Sinn Fein MPs have claimed nearly half a million pounds in expenses on two rented London flats they share.
The MPs, who refuse to take their seats in the Commons, charged taxpayers £105,000 in the last financial year alone.
Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty and Conor Murphy each claimed £21,000 under the controversial Additional Cost Allowances system  –  just short of the maximum.
Critics said it was impossible to believe that they could have run up such a bill on rent, maintenance and furnishing the accommodation.
Even a luxury three-bedroom flat with views of Buckingham Palace would cost just over £36,000 a year.
Tory spokesman Owen Paterson said: ‘It is completely unacceptable for Sinn Fein representatives, who won’t even sit in Parliament, to claim hundreds of thousands at the taxpayers’ expense. That is why the Conservatives have consistently opposed members who refuse to take their seats receiving the accommodation allowance.’
The revelation comes amid mounting public fury over a string of scandals surrounding the second home allowance.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, currently under investigation by Westminster’s sleaze watchdog, claimed yesterday that she was the victim of a smear campaign because she was a woman with no independent wealth  –  an apparent swipe at better-off Tory MPs.
The embattled Home Secretary defended her claims for household items, including an 88p bath plug, as ‘fair and reasonable’ in a series of broadcast interviews.
It also emerged that Britain’s richest MP, Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward, has claimed his maximum under the allowance.
The Tory defector, married to the supermarket heiress Camilla Sainsbury, is worth an estimated £40million. He has homes in France, Mustique, New York state and London’s South Bank  –  and a redbrick terrace in his St Helens constituency.
The Sinn Fein bill will trigger further calls for urgent reform of the expenses system.
In total, the republican MPs have billed taxpayers £437,405 in second home expenses since figures were first published in 2001/02.
The flats are in London, but Sinn Fein refuse to reveal their exact location and cost.
The Additional Cost Allowance is supposed to reimburse MPs for the cost of running a second home when they are in London on ‘necessary’ parliamentary business.
It covers mortgage interest payments or rent, utility bills, furnishings and repairs.
The Sinn Fein MPs are not allowed to draw an MP’s salary or pension as they refuse to sit in the Commons because it would involve swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen.
Sinn Fein MPs cannot draw an MP’s salary or pension as they refuse to sit in the Commons because it would involve swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen
Sinn Fein MPs cannot draw an MP’s salary or pension as they refuse to sit in the Commons because it would involve swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen
They are seen only occasionally in the Palace of Westminster and the scale of their flats claim is all the more extraordinary as their travel expenses are relatively low  –  suggesting they rarely come to London.
Sinn Fein have been entitled to parliamentary allowances since 2002, as part of the Northern Ireland peace process.
Former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit, whose wife was paralysed by the IRA Brighton bombing in 1984, expressed revulsion at the claims. ‘As usual, we are being taken for a ride,’ he said. ‘I’m very surprised that these MPs are so undignified as to claim money from Her Majesty’s Treasury at all, since they refuse to recognise the Queen.
‘It is too much to claim for living in London when they don’t even attend the Commons.’
Matthew Elliott of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘This is an utter disgrace and demonstrates shamefully grasping behaviour on the part of these MPs’.
He said ‘serious’ questions should be asked about what Sinn Fein used the flats for.
A Sinn Fein spokesman said: ‘Sinn Fein MPs do not receive a salary from Westminster, nor do they employ any family members. Sinn Fein makes no apology for refusing to sit in the British House of Commons. We also make no apology for ensuring that people who vote for Sinn Fein get the same democratic entitlements as everyone else.’