David Laws. Chief secretary to the treasury.

[Chicken Runner61]

Actually yes and I could have in all my previous jobs. If I stay away from my main home for a night for work I have a choice :

1. Get the company to pay for a hotel

2. Claim the over night subsidy that allows me to pay a relative or friend to stay with them

Nice try but a friend or relative is not the same as a wife or girlfriend - well thats not unless you are palace fan.

 

[Eric Potts]

First casualty of the unholy alliance.

BBC News - Treasury Minister David Laws resigns over expenses

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

First crooked member of the LIB/CON COALITION resigns.

Less than three weeks and the wheels are coming off already.

 

[Bwian]

No comment from Clegg yet then?

Will be interesting to see how the coalition deal with this, what with Cameron campaigning on a mandate to clean up politics.

Nick Clegg: "I have great respect for the dignity with which David has acted"

A dignified promise to pay back the £40,000 he shouldn't have claimed? No Laws-you got caught. I wonder if he'll resign his seat before his constituents are given the power to kick out corrupt MP's as promised in the election campaign?

 

[simonsimon]

Quote from Liberal Democrat Election Manifesto 2010

"Put trust back into Politics by giving you the right to sack corrupt MPs"

At least the mult millionaire fraudster knew the game was up and resigned, or was he pushed.

May be more revalations in the Sunday newspapers.

 

[Blackadder]

Blimey. Is that the shortest ever appointment?

 

[aftershavedave]

his attempt at justification was shocking. a disgraceful example to other gay men imo.

 

[simonsimon]

Shortest ever cabinet appointment apparently

 

[The Modfather]

I am sure he will not be the last.

There are plenty of corrupt MP's on all sides, but I suspect the Telegraph will have cabinets ministers in there sights.

The sooner we 'out' the bent MP's (no pun untended) the better

 

[simonsimon]

LibDem Chief Secretary To The Treasury brought down by the Daily Telegraph, inhouse magazine to the Tory Party?

Are the Barclay Brothers reaping their revenge?

 

[clapham_gull]

In your job would you be able to pay rent to your wife or girlfriend?

This is the bloke in charge of sorting out the deficit - if he can't tell the right and wrong between what he did here how can he tell whats right and wrong in a countries finances?

Funnily enough, I'm known a couple of couples who had such an arrangement

All I'm saying that to me, it's rather insignificant against the many MPs who have cashed in on the property boom.

 

[Easy 10]

I think this is the only occasion I can recall where I genuinely regret the resignation of a politician.
Laws, for me, has come across as a considered, intelligent man who could have done a damn good job as secretary to the treasury. I was very happy to see him in such a position of influence.

Now we find out he's had his sticky fingers in the till like so many of the others, and as a result, his considerable skills are lost to the new government. And we get some ginger nonentity in his place.

Very sad. Very disillusioning.

(and BOY do I feel old, posting about politics at half eleven on a Saturday night. OK middle age - here I am)

 

[Blackadder]

Just watched BBC news. This could be disasterous for the coalition! Laws was a Conservertive leaning Lib-Dem (how does that work?). Just the sort of politician they needed to make the coalition work! He was happy to make Government Department cuts.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

At the moment, the government is like a window with a little crack in the centre. Gradually it's growing. How long until it breaks? A month, 3 months, a year? It's inevitable.

 

[Easy 10]

Disappointing.
I was always very impressed with Laws on QT, and was happy to see him gain a position of influence in the government. He certainly has the intelligence and seemed to have the integrity as well.

You just cannot trust any of them, can you.

 

[Chicken Runner61]

So he has resigned because he paid his lover rent?

Did that make his lover his "Rent boy"?

 

[desprateseagull]

David Laws resigns over rent expense claims..

BBC News - Treasury Minister David Laws resigns over expenses

but how come this never came to light with all the rest last year, or at least in the run up to election?

 

[Chicken Runner61]

The Telegraph didn't know he was his lover and Laws hid it to cover up he was Gay.

 

[Chicken Runner61]

Opik Lembit was trying to say earlier that he can't have been fiddling expenses as Laws is extremely rich.

If he is extremely rich and wasn't fiddling why did he use public money (and not his own) to pay his lover rent then? It would have been less likely to come out that he was gay then?

 

[Easy 10]

You don't get rich by passing up a free lunch.