Financial revelations on all 9 UDUP MPs!

Peter and Iris Robinson both claimed expenses based on the same £1,223 bill when they submitted their parliamentary claims in 2007.

Ian Paisley claims rent on second home in west London. December 2003, claimed for night at Jolly Hotel St Ermin’s in the city, including £3 on minibar. He also claimed almost £19,000 for MP food expenses in four years, ending up with one of the highest totals in Parliament. He repeatedly received the maximum £400 monthly total for food — including during the period when he was double jobbing as Stormont First Minister. He also made maximum claims during months when the Commons was in recess!

William McCrea charged hotel stays and maximum £400 food allowance for most of 2005-06. Claimed £10,000 for furniture for house bought in south London in April 2006.

Jeffrey Donaldson shares a flat in Greenwich with fellow MP Sammy Wilson, and claimed £6,150 in stamp duty, with £1,406 in solicitors’ fees. £410 claim for curtains bought in Northern Ireland queried. “Objective was to save the taxpayer some money,” he replies.

David Simpson bought London flat in March 2006. Over two days, claimed £6,234 for furniture. Claimed £1,082 monthly mortgage interest payments.

Gregory Campbell claimed £11,500 in hotel bills between 2005 and 2006, before moving into a flat in London. Claimed £4,675 for furniture and appliances, including TVs and DVD player.

Nigel Dodds designated second home is house in Kennington, south London, where he currently claims £1,540 a month in mortgage interest payments. Other claims mainly relate to furnishings, including £296 for picture framing, and £974.95 over two years on seven tables.

Sammy Wilson originally claimed for hotels when in London. He later jointly bought a property in the city with fellow DUP MP, Jeffrey Donaldson. Wilsoin claimed £6,150 stamp duty, £1,406.90 solicitors’ fees and £2,914 on furniture.

Source: Daily Telegraph, 8 May 2009 (for evidence, click here) RROLLOVER IMAGES TO SEE WHAT DRIVES THE DUP!

More shameful stories of greedy DUP "snouts in the trough":

Peter Robinson (click here)

Iris Robinson (click here)

Ian Paisley Jnr (click here)

Ian Paisley Snr (click here)

Jeffrey Donaldson (click here)

Gregory Campbell (click here)

William McCrea (click here)

Sammy Wilson (click here)

Nigel Dodds(click here)

Keeping it in the family! (click here)

ALL EXTERNAL LINKS WILL OPEN IN A NEW WINDOW

- Sir Edward Carson

(Carson was a true Ulsterman, unlike these greedy parasites!)

What The DUP Didn't Want You To Know!

(Source: Ulster Unionist Party, here)

06/04/2009 - A few days ago the UUP issued a statement in the name of Danny Kennedy - that statement appears below. In response to that statement the DUP issued the following note to the general media:

Dear all,

"A statement was issued today by the UUP regarding 'double-jobbing'. The statement specifically names some MPs and makes allegations about the amount they earn.

I wish to warn all outlets that the Party has taken legal advice regarding inaccuracies within the statement and our solicitor will be responding accordingly."

_______________________________________________________________________

On Sunday, April 5, the News of the World printed a story by Ian Kirby and Kevin Widdop. That article is printed further down, after Danny Kennedy's statement.

We will leave it to you to draw your own conclusions!

Danny Kennedy MLA, the Deputy Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, said today that he was "shocked" by the amount of money being raked in by our double-jobbing MP's.

"Last month we had a debate in the Assembly demanding the end of this dubious practice and the vote as usual was steamrollered by the DUP and Sinn Fein. Now that the figures are in the public domain, I can see why their defence of this practice, which is unique to Northern Ireland, is so important to them and why they were so up-tight about it in the Assembly debate."

"It is shocking when you realise that our Finance Minister is earning significantly more than the Prime Minister and, at £360,000 a year in pay and allowances, earns about the same as the US President."

"The factor which I think is most disturbing - thought, to be honest, I think all of it is disturbing - is the doubling up of allowances for MP's and MLA's. This effectively means that the 16 MP's who are also MLA's are raking in £206,000 on average in allowances."

"The spending power this gives them in terms of staffing is enormous. The 9 DUP MP's for example who double-job as MLA's between them haul in £1,858,946 a year in expenses, over and above their generous salaries. £1,337,816 of this is in Westminster allowances and £521,130 is in Assembly allowances. That raises a very serious issue of political balance in those seats where the local DUP MP is also an MLA. It effectively means his or her spending power is more than treble the amount other MLA's have at their disposal. In terms of staffing, support, office costs and publicity that gives a massively disproportionate advantage to those DUP MP's who are also MLA's. It is well beyond what is acceptable and it is definitely bound to have an impact on the electoral result in those constituencies."

"This is very serious for democracy. A reasonable man would say that the unfairness inherent in this system is a completely unpalatable use of public money. The Senior Salaries Review Body which determines Parliamentarians, Judges and Senior Civil Servants' pay, has already flagged up this issue and has suggested that where an MP is also an MLA in any constituency that they should receive only one allowance and not two for doing what amounts to the same job. I think most people would say that this was fair and reasonable. What I am suggesting is that this should happen immediately and that this scandalous use of public money should end forthwith."

Wad a joke!

(Source: News Of The World, here)

Meet the Robinsons... married MPs laughing all the way to the bank. They have SIX salaries, employ FOUR relatives and rake in nearly £600k a year including expenses and it's YOU who pays

By IAN KIRBY & KEVIN WIDDOP, 05/04/2009

MARRIED backbench MPs the Robinsons are laughing all the way to the bank - by making a family fortune from politics.

Peter Robinson, 60, and wife Iris, 59, are pocketing £571,939.41 a YEAR in salaries and expenses.

And their relatives are cashing in too. The couple pay four family members up to £150,000 in salaries out of their allowances.

Neither has broken any rules but the scale of their earnings will anger voters as the controversy over greedy MPs' expenses and allowances rumbles on.

The News of the World can reveal that the couple are the best-paid backbench MPs in politics. Between them they have SIX salaries,

They rake in almost twice as much as other married politicians because they have seats at both Westminster and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Mr Robinson is the province's First Minister.

Despite living in the same posh east Belfast house valued at £490,000, last year they BOTH claimed the controversial second homes allowance, receiving a total of £40,342.

The average claimed by MPs not married to another MP was £17,960.

We can reveal how the Robinsons:

BILL the taxpayer with expenses of £325,921 from Westminster and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

DRAW salaries of £246,017 a year between them.

OWN three homes in Belfast, London and Florida worth more than £1.3million.

Costs

Peter is MP for East Belfast and his wife MP for Strangford - for which they are each paid £63,291 a year.

In addition the couple earn £109,884 from the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Mr Robinson, who is leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, is paid £71,434 for his role as First Minister plus a third of the £43,101 salary for being an Assembly member because he is also an MP.

Wife Iris pockets a total of £24,296 as an Assembly member and as chairwoman of its health and social services committee, official figures reveal.

She also has another job as councillor for the Castlereagh borough in Northern Ireland where she earns £9,550.

Staffing costs account for the bulk of the couple's expense claims.

This includes employing family members-for which they appear to fork out more than £150,000.

Mr Robinson employs their daughter Rebekah as office manager and private secretary and son Gareth as parliamentary assistant.

His wife employs other son Jonathan as office manager and daughter-in-law Ellen Robinson as part-time secretary.

The pay scale given for Rebekah's job is between £21,320 and £40,052. Gareth, who is also a councillor for Castlereagh, is on a pay scale of £27,780 to £40,052.

Jonathan earns between £27,780 and £40,052 and Ellen is on £36,000 a year.

Last night Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, stormed: "The Robinsons are receiving a staggering amount of taxpayers' money, and this certainly puts paid to the myth that no one gets rich in politics."

The Robinsons' mega earnings-based on last year's figures-have left them with enough spare cash to splash out on their three plush houses. Around five years ago they paid £450,000 for a luxury apartment in east London near the Thames which overlooks a park and boasts great views of the capital.

Former estate agent Peter also purchased a holiday home in sun-drenched Orlando, Florida.

It is located in the exclusive Warwick at Vista Lakes community and was bought for £410,000 last summer.

The Robinsons spent almost £20,000 on flying between Belfast and London.

Iris clocked up a further £1,820 in mileage claims between 2007-08. Her husband has a personal driver.

Mr Robinson even cashed in during the property boom by selling off part of his back garden in Belfast for an undisclosed amount. He said in 2007: "I'm one of thousands of people who have sold land over the last few years and I don't see anything remarkable about it."

Our source close to the Robinsons told the News of the World: "With Iris and Peter, it's more a case of what recession?

"Their taste for expensive furnishings and decoration betrays the magnificent opulence the couple enjoy in stark contrast to the poverty of many of their constituents.

"Their east Belfast home displays the trappings associated with a successful entrepreneur or businessman rather than the more modest tastes of Ulster's other MPs.

Sculptures

"Almost every room displays a chandelier and walls, even in bathrooms, display expensive frescos.

"No expense has been spared as the house displays exquisite interiors in every room. Sculptures and ornaments adorn every room and hallway.

"It's the very best of the best only for the Robinsons' primary domain. They have separate studies. Peter's is oak-lined and is dominated by a flatscreen TV on which he watches Chelsea when he has the time.

"Hand-printed wallpaper displays a Latin quotation that translates to 'one does not value things easily obtained'."

Fashionable Iris used to drive an MG sports car in London. At one time she had three Minis but is now more often seen driving an open top Audi.

In 2007, son Gareth caused her major embarrassment after he was snapped kissing a man and sitting on the partygoer's knee at a Belfast bash.

This came shortly after controversial MP Iris branded homosexuality an abomination.

She was cleared last month over the verbal assault in a radio interview just a day after Peter took the job as First Minister in June last year.

She had told BBC Radio Ulster that homosexuals were "disgusting, loathsome, nauseating, wicked and vile". The only married MP couple who earn more than the Robinsons are Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper. However, they are both Cabinet Ministers, each paid £141,866 - and they claim less (£308,185) in expenses. Their total income works out as £591,917.

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