As you will have seen the government climbed down (though should never have climbed up in the first place)on the whole transparency of their expenses.
Well done all for rallying!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Great Obama quote
In his speech today as he moved from president elect to president Obama he used the line "If you unclench your fist we will offer the hand of friendship". It was aimed at the dictators of the world, and those who rule with fear. It can of course be applied to a number of situations where people bluster and posture with apparent power.
I like the line, I like the visual. Good luck to him.
The full text is here on his blog
I like the line, I like the visual. Good luck to him.
The full text is here on his blog
Monday, January 19, 2009
What MP's want to hide their expenses from us?
Nows the time for a bit of government 2.0 action. It seems that for some strange reason our public servants in the commons, our voted in ministers of parliament seem to be heading for hiding their expenses from us all?
You can read more about this here on http://www.mysociety.org/2009/01/17/6-days-to-stop-mps-concealing-their-expenses/
"Ministers are about to conceal MPs’ expenses, even though the public has just paid £1m to get them all ready for publication, and even though the tax man expects citizens to do what MPs don’t have to. They buried the news on the day of the Heathrow runway announcement. This is heading in the diametric wrong direction from government openness."
Whats great too is the ease with which you can write to your MP on the matter (or any other) http://foiorder2009.writetothem.com/ has been set up, postcode locates your MP then fill in the form. Its suits us digital natives, and blends with the house of commons procedures.
So get on with it! If you are bothered that is.
"Dear Mark Hoban,
I am writing to ask that you vote against the draft Freedom of
Information (Parliament) Order 2009 this Thursday and sign Jo Swinson's
Early Day motion with regard to ensuring that MP's expenses are
released and open to public scrutiny.
I regard an open parliament and process as key to our democracy.
I find it strange that other public officials have to account for their
expenses but that MP's are pushing not to.
I do hope you will support transparency, the world is changing and
closed systems are no longer valid in government nor in business.
TheyWorkForYou has taken a keen interest in this issue and will be
displaying the voting records.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Hughes
"
You can read more about this here on http://www.mysociety.org/2009/01/17/6-days-to-stop-mps-concealing-their-expenses/
"Ministers are about to conceal MPs’ expenses, even though the public has just paid £1m to get them all ready for publication, and even though the tax man expects citizens to do what MPs don’t have to. They buried the news on the day of the Heathrow runway announcement. This is heading in the diametric wrong direction from government openness."
Whats great too is the ease with which you can write to your MP on the matter (or any other) http://foiorder2009.writetothem.com/ has been set up, postcode locates your MP then fill in the form. Its suits us digital natives, and blends with the house of commons procedures.
So get on with it! If you are bothered that is.
"Dear Mark Hoban,
I am writing to ask that you vote against the draft Freedom of
Information (Parliament) Order 2009 this Thursday and sign Jo Swinson's
Early Day motion with regard to ensuring that MP's expenses are
released and open to public scrutiny.
I regard an open parliament and process as key to our democracy.
I find it strange that other public officials have to account for their
expenses but that MP's are pushing not to.
I do hope you will support transparency, the world is changing and
closed systems are no longer valid in government nor in business.
TheyWorkForYou has taken a keen interest in this issue and will be
displaying the voting records.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Hughes
"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
