“Going green” in Westminster and Huntingdon

“Going green” in Westminster and Huntingdon is an article about the Green House in Huntingdon. When I read the headline I thought this was to do about Djanogly's main home in Westminster and his weekend retreat in Alconbury. I was wrong. The article is about Djanogly being appointed "Environmental Champion" for the Ministry of Justice. In the article it states: "This scheme is part of our determination, led by the PM, that Ministers should lead the way for the public sector to set an example in carbon reduction."

The way I read this is Ministers (Djanogly is an Under Secretary of State - lowest on the paid Ministerial rung) should lead the way. I take this to be personally and in public life.

This made me think about Djanogly and his claims on the public purse for his house in Alconbury and other ways he could reduce his carbon emissions.

Firstly, I was drawn to the cost of his two houses. Djanogly has a rather large house in Westminster and one in Alconbury. Working in London, not that far from his offices I thought he would be better off ditching his Alconbury house.

Secondly, there are the expenses of running this second house. The electricity and gas costs for 2008/09 are known as Djanogly claimed these and they have been published. Will Djanogly be leading the way by cutting down on his energy costs at his Alconbury home? He couldn't live at both houses at the same time but he claimed for the expense at living at one house whilst the other was empty.

Thirdly, Djanogly could always use public transport to get his family from their Westminster home to Alconbury and back again by train and bus. Of course no buses run through Alconbury on a Sunday. So Djanogly couldn't return to start work on Monday morning. A non-goer there.

I just feel it is rather ironic that our MP commuting between 2 large houses by car has yet to show anything about how he would change his life to cut his carbon emissions. As "Environmental Champion" he should lead by making personal cuts. At the moment it is everyone else and not Djanogly who is taking the lead.

Comment in Hunts Post

Whilst I do enjoy some of the leader comments I have to say this is a very disjointed. What is left out of this Comment is a critical analysis of Djanogly's actions. Instead this a banner waving pro-Djanogly comment which whitewashes what he did.

Lest we forget, Djanogly spent most of his time as a MP as a lawyer. He claimed for a cleaner and for a gardener - even though his London home has a very small garden. Although he paid back £25,000 he did claim the money in the first place!


Comment also asserts that Senior Tories deny having spoken to the Djanoglys' sleuths. As Hunts Post points out "any fool can find someone to describe someone else as "lazy", incompetent or ineffective". How does the Hunts Post know this? Is this the standard of journalism that exists at Hunts Post? Obviously it is!

If the private detectives were calling the wrong people that Djanogly didn't specify then they weren't doing their jobs properly. Djanogly should look for his money back!

Whilst Djanogly did good work over HLS, how long can he live on these laurels? The problem is Djanogly is out of touch with the local party. What is important to the Huntingdon Constituency is we have an MP in touch with local concerns and doing what is best for the constituency. Much of this is done by the employees and interns.

In hindsight the way Djanogly could have stopped all these problems was not to claim these expenses for a job he does part-time. All Djanoglys' problems are of his own creation. Blaming The Daily Telegraph for all these faults is deflecting the blame from the only person to blame for his woes and that person is Djanogly!

Djanogly and his non-apology

"I am sorry if some people judge that I made a mistake". Now is that an actual apology? Let me de-construct this sentence. Firstly Djanogly is sorry. Of course Djanogly is sorry but what for? Djanogly is sorry "...if some people judge I made a mistake." So Djanogly is not apologising for instructing private detectives. Nor is Djanogly apologising for spying on Conservative Party members and others.

In other words Djanogly is only apologising IF some people think he should. Otherwise he isn't.

This is a not an apology at all.


Djanogly's statement

Djanogly snoops on own supporters!

I was going to leave Djanogly and his expenses troubles to one side as he was re-elected by the people of the Huntingdon constituency. In my view much of the information about his expenses and conduct were in the public domain and still Djanogly was re-elected. So what had gone on before, that we all knew about, was behind us and really couldn't be used as the people have spoken.


The new evidence, in The Daily Telegraph, that Djanogly hired private detectives raises new questions on Djanogly's way of doing things and his suitability as our MP. This rakes up much of the past and re-opens what was closed. It also shows how the Liberal Democrats flunked it with with Martin Land.

I have to wonder whether the Conservative Association knew he had hired private detectives to investigate members of the constituency association they would have kept him as candidate!

On the BBC website Djanogly says: "I instructed a firm of private investigators to try to find out the source of these stories because I was extremely upset that my private family life had been invaded.". Your private life was invaded because you claimed £13,962 in public money for a cleaner who worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday at  your secondary home in Alconbury. Your Alconbury home must have got very dirty at the weekends!

What I also found interesting in The Daily Telegraph article is the following:

 ". . . please be on notice that I will defend my reputation through the courts if necessary."

Djanogly also said roughly the same about the animal rights election leaflet. Nothing heard since!

"Mr Djanogly was, perhaps, aware of rumblings of discontent in his constituency, where some Tories were unhappy with the job he was doing and with the fact that he had carried on working as a lawyer."

"The other problem is his [Djanogly’s] wife who is quite rude and openly expresses her lack of interest in the Conservative Association and has been known to go to bed in the middle of dinner parties. This does not go down well in a traditional Tory constituency like Huntingdon."

"Sir Peter “confirmed he had resigned over the expenses scandal” rather than for health reasons, as Mr Djanogly had claimed at the time, while Mr Holley refused to say anything."

"They (the conspirators) claim that if Peter Down(e)s, the respected leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, stood against you in the general election, it would be a close call."
The Liberal Democrats put up multiple Political Agent Martin Land instead.


Lets get this into perspective. Djanogly is the candidate of the Association. The Conservative Association is paramount. It looks to me that Djanogly thinks he is the Association and he is paramount. This is wrong! Has Djanogly been good for the Huntingdon Conservative Association? I think not!


The problem with all this is there anyone else who Djanogly sent Private Detectives to investigate? Can we believe his answer?

Has Jonathan Djanogly got a Government job? The answer so far is NO! This may be down to the Liberal Democrats in the coalition and having to find jobs for them. I feel this is part of the answer. The other part is Djanogly and his expenses problems have caused him problems. Chris Grayling got demoted from the Shadow Cabinet to a junior role. Djanogly couldn't be demoted any further than being on the backbenches. 

Having given up is £300,000 pa solicitor partnership for a job in Government, he hasn't got the job. This is a rebuff. But Djanogly has only got himself to blame. I believe if Djanogly had actually held a public meeting over his expenses claims he would have gone up in most peoples estimations.

Update: Djanogly is on the lowest paid rung of the ladder and has been appoint as an Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice. 

Who should represent Huntingdon? Not Djanogly!

With the General Election called, the question that each Huntingdon constituency elector should ask themselves is: Who do I want to represent me in Parliament? Now I'm a bit of a right winger. I don't like Brown and Labour. I want rid of this rotten government. What I cannot do is bring myself to vote for Jonathan Djanogly as the person whom I want to represent this constituency in Parliament. 

Why do I feel this way?

Because Djanogly should be held to account by the electors of the Huntingdon constituency. Djanogly is quite happy to call for others to be transparent (example here), but when it comes to himself these rules seem to change with transparency becoming opaque. What do I mean by opaque? Well, I feel Djanogly tells us the information he allows us to know. I give a couple of examples below:

Where does Djanogly live? - He and his family do live in the constituency - at the weekend. They also live in London in an exclusive part of Westminster where his children go to school. His family lives in and around London. For much of the time, Djanogly worked as a Partner in SJ Berwin LLP. He and his wife, Rebecca, donated a seat at The Hampstead Theatre. Much of their lives are based in London. Other than being the MP how much of Djanogly's life is based in the Huntingdon constituency? Not much!

Is Djanogly a hard working MP? - Depends on what you mean by hard working! During much of the time he has been representing Huntingdon he was a working partner in SJ Berwin LLP. So much so that he was on the electoral roll for this firm in the City of London. Jonathan was a director on his wife's firm Canalside Studios Management Ltd based in Finchley, North London. Obviously, Jonathan is hard working. When it comes to Parliamentary/Constituency business much is undertaken by staff employed through Parliamentary Allowances in both Parliament and the Constituency. Djanogly also has an intern and has had solicitors seconded from SJ Berwin LLP. So much of the Parliamentary day-to-day business is completed by his staff. 

What got my ire? - Normally, I would be voting for Djanogly. But his attitude to his expenses claims and the  electors ability to hold him to account changed my voting intention. When Djanogly was caught out, his leader was urging his MPs to hold a public meeting. This Djanogly didn't do. Instead Djanogly held a meeting of the Conservative Association which wasn't open to the public. 

The problem is the modern politician is expected to have the facade of being LOCAL. In Djanogly's case this facade hides a good family life in London.

What to do? - This is a defining election for Djanogly. When Djanogly wins the election on 6th May 2010 he will wipe the slate clean of his expenses scandal. The reason is the people have spoken and have re-elected him with the full knowledge of these claims and his actions afterwards. As a convention this has to be respected and I will. What I will do until the close of polls on 6th May is show up what I feel is wrong with having Djanogly as our MP and find an alternative to Djanogly.

The General Election will pass the Huntingdon Constituency by. The only real question for this constituency is:

Do you want Djanogly to represent this constituency? If the answer is YES, then vote for Djanogly. If the answer is NO then vote for an opponent. Originally I was voting UKIP.

But having seen Jonathan Salt's website I might change my mind!

Djanogly and his expenses if re-elected

I've had a quick read through the ISPA publication on future MPs' expenses. Whilst there are many changes these don't necessarily apply to Djanogly if he get re-elected.

The first change I came across is about an MPs office. An MP will be restricted in the number of employees is 3.5. Read it again. MP plus 3.5 staff plus interns. So when people talk and write about our MP being "hard working" remember he 3.5 staff behind him doing most of the mundane work.
Also part of the reforms is the restriction so an MP can only employ one "connected party"or family member. As the electors don't know who works at his office this may or may not affect Djanogly.

We do know Djanogly employs interns, they will now have to be made with a standard contract by IPSA. As these aren't currently published 

The Constituency Office sees some changes with an allowance of £10,663 including utilities. As Djanogly rents his office from HCCA (currently £592 pm or £7,104 pa) there will need to be an independent valuation to ensure this is at market rates.

Second Home Expenses becomes very restrictive. Djanogly "owns" his luxury 5 floor semi in Little Venice, London and his second home situated in the Constituency. So he won't be getting any money for these. Cleaning, Gardening, Furniture purchases or maintenance is were what most of Djanoglys' published claims were for. These have been banned from the new Parliament onwards.

If re-elected Djanogly won't be claiming much. Much of what he claimed for has been stopped. The reality is if Djanogly is re-elected he can put much of what has gone on behind him. 

I see Djanogly is catching up with his expenses!

I was surprised to see Jonathan Djanogly has caught up with his expenses on Conservatives.com. At 6.18pm, last night, I published that Djanogly was behind on his expenses.

As published on 22nd March 2010.

Today I find the page has been updated.

As found on the afternoon of 23/03/2010

I see Djanogly has added his Constituency Office rent and back dated this to last July. There isn't much else added on this update to Djanogly's Conservative.com page.

Djanogly and his current expenses!

I would have thought with all the problems over his expenses, Jonathan would have been keeping up to date with his expenses. This was a promise given by David Cameron that all the Shadow Ministers should publish their expenses. But Djanoglys' expenses have been static since 18th January 2010.

Another Shadow Minister, Grant Shapps, is very happy to update his expenses on Conservatives.com.

Indeed Djanogly's leader, David Cameron, updates his expenses claims.

Could it be that this blog is having such an effect on Djanogly and his campaign that it has been decided not to publish any more expenses? It was this blog that pointed out that Djanogly claimed for a leaflet that has never seem my doormat?

There is also the issue of rent for Djanogly's constituency office. As I found out Djanogly is paying to HCCA £592.00 a month in rent. But this hasn't been published on Djanoglys' expenses. Look no further than Grant Shapps MP and accounts for the rent he pays for his constituency office.

I just think it is time that Djanogly came forward with his expenses rather than being all SECRET about publicly funded expenses.

An apology to Jonathan Djanogly

When looking up information about Djanoglys' expenses I have been looking here. These are all the receipts and claim forms that Djanogly has submitted. Whilst checking his expenses I found another database here which started in February 2010. On this database I found the following results to searches. This for 2008/09 and this for 2009/10.

As I have discovered Jonathan has been paying rent to the Huntingdon Constituency Conservative Association at the rate of £592.00 a calendar month or £7,104.00 a year. It is not as though I hadn't looked up the HCCA accounts which make no mention of a rent paid by the MP for HCCA offices. Nor does this rent appear on Djanoglys' expenses on Conservatives.com. Fellow MP Grant Shapps has rent on his published expenses. So why doesn't Djanogly?

I therefore apologise to Jonathan Djanogly MP because I made the assertion that he wasn't paying rent for the offices he occupied at HCCA. As new information has come to light I realise that I am wrong in this instance. I had made an assertion because I couldn't find the evidence as it wasn't published. As it has now been published I have apologised and corrected the information here.

snrednek

New(ish) website for Djanogly

Wow, the election is nearing and Jonathan Djanogly has gone into election mode. There is even a section for vote for change by registering your e-mail address, name and postcode.

But hold on there!

Much of the content is from Jonathan Djanogly's old website which was paid for by the taxpayer via the Parliamentary Communications Allowance. The total annual cost is estimated to be £3,450.00.

But that isn't the end of it. There is a section for donating to this multi-millionaire's campaign. There is nothing wrong with that as we don't really want Djanogly to pay for his own election. Do we?

Of the course changing the website loses a few embarrassing problems for Djanogly. The deletion of the Winter Edition that I never received covers this problem up. 

All Djanogly has done is turned his Parliamentary website, paid by the taxpayer, into a campaign website by adding a few bells and whistles to it. Knowing Djanogly this is very legal. To me it doesn't seem right!

Grant Shapps is now following this blog via twitter

I was very surprised that a friend of Jonathan Djanogly MP has started following this blog via twitter. All I have to say is welcome. Grant Shapps MP is currently the Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing. An up and coming star, Shapps was elected to Parliament to represent the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield in 2005. Shapps beat a Minister, Melanie Johnson to win the seat. Looking at the evidence Shapps and the Conservatives have done very well. Welwyn Hatfield used to be a Labour stronghold but Shapps turned this around.

There are big differences between Shapps and Djanogly.

Shapps lives in his constituency. Djanogly's main home is in London and his weekend retreat is in the constituency.
Shapps engages with his electors through the use of a website, forum, youtube and twitter. Djanogly has a website.
Shapps doesn't have a second home. Djanogly has his main home in London and his second constituency home in Alconbury.
Shapps and his fellow Conservatives go campaigning. Djanogly hardly gets out to campaign.
Shapps is copying Cameron with a series of Unscripted Events. The best we got was Djanogly is a Conservative member only meeting.

When the local Conservatives use the term "hard working MP" I think of Grant Shapps. In comparison with Grant Shapps, our MP Jonathan Djanogly looks third rate.

Djanogly fights? for improved Broadband services

I've just been reading the latest press release from our MP. It is entitled "Djanogly FIGHTS for improved broadband services." So I thought I would find out what is meant by "FIGHTS".

I read through the press release to find seems to mean Djanogly wrote to the Parish Councils. Obviously these councils know what Broadband services are needed for their areas?! Apart for attacking the Labour government tax on phone lines and promoting the Conservatives' proposals there is nothing in this press release about "FIGHTS".

I would expect a FIGHT if Djanogly is writing to the telcos demanding better services. Campaign by using Petitions and/or a letter writing campaign. As part of any campaign I would have expected Djanogly to ask his rural constituents through a proper survey. It is not as though he hasn't got a Communications Allowance for this. Indeed Djanogly has spent £2867.47 on the winter edition of his newsletter that I haven't seen yet. Winter will soon be over.

If fighting for constituents just means a survey of Parish Councils I dispute the use of the term "FIGHTS".

More on Djanogly and HCCA

Sometimes I have to recognise that certain expenses are inevitable. Most MPs, but by no means all, have a constituency office. Indeed Djanogly has a constituency office in Huntingdon (see picture right). He also orders supplies for the constituency office and even pays a telephone bill there.

So Djanogly is using the property of the HCCA as a Constituency Office. So what is he paying towards this cost of this? From the accounts of HCCA I can see "contributions to office expenses". But nothing about rent. Now this isn't something special. This is an on going cost and Parliament should pay for property MPs use. MPs for other parties do this so it is common.

From my investigations I feel Djanogly is not getting HCCA the best deal he can. Djanogly is bad for HCCA. Why the Conservatives carry on supporting him is beyond me.

An example:
Stewart Jackson MP of Peterborough
Expenses
PCA 2008 Accounts.

Should Djanogly stand for Westminster North?

As Joanne Cash has resigned as the Conservative candidate for Westminster North, I thought I know the perfect candidate for this seat. Our MP Jonathan Djanogly! He has many qualifications for standing for Westminster North. These are:

1. He and his wife have their main home in the constituency.

2. He is a former Westminster City Councillor.

3. Jonathan and his wife Rebecca are well known in Westminster.

4. Their kids go to school in London.

5. He is an experienced MP who will be a Minister.

Other reasons why this would be a good idea!


For Djanogly:

1. He isn't that far from work.

2. Very likely to be an overnight count.

3. He could sell the house in Alconbury.

4. He would be living near the rest of his family and parents in London and Marlow.

5. His family wouldn't have to travel up to Alconbury each weekend.

For the constituency:


1. HCCA could make more money.

2. John Major could be seen out with the new Conservative candidate.

3. Might get some activists out to campaign for the party.

For me:

I can vote Conservative at the General Election rather than using my vote to protest against Djanogly.

Djanogly Expenses Update

From the report:


Huntingdon
Mr Djanogly was paid gardening costs of £11,066.66 over the five-year period
(2004-05 to 2008-09). That exceeds £1,000 a year by a total of £6,066.66.
He was also paid cleaning costs of £21,192.35 over the five-year period (2004-05 to
2008-09). That exceeds £2,000 a year by a total of £11,192.35.
He was paid £105.75 in 2007 for call-out charges for the repair of a laptop computer
at a property not listed as his second home.
Total repayment recommended: £17,364.76
Total repayments received since 1 April 2009: £25,000.00
Balance recommended to be repaid: £0.00


Link to publication.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmmemest/348/348.pdf

Appealing Djanogly?

I had this thought over Djanogly's appeal over his expenses. What I find strange in all this is Djanogly has exercised his undeniable right to appeal Legg's decision over his expenses claims. This obviously effects Djanogly financially and, of course, he did appeal his expenses claims.

When it comes to wind farms Djanogly takes a different approach. On his website he says:
"I am disappointed to learn that N-Power have decided to appeal the decision made in November by HDC’s Development and Control Panel, it shows little regard for local democracy."


So it is OK for Djanogly to appeal against a decision on his expenses claims.
It is NOT OK for a Power company to appeal against a planning decision.

Why the difference?

Whatever happened to Djanogly and his Legg letter?

I was watching the BBC iplayer of the Daily Politics Show and I saw a piece on MPs' expenses and the Legg "atomic bomb" to be released on 4th February 2010. So I thought I would do a bit of investigating of what a couple of other MPs have been up to. I found:

Austin Mitchell has pre-empted the whole caboodle with an admission of having to pay back expenses.
Anne McIntosh has also pre-empted the whole circus with a press release.

And what of our MP Jonathan Djanogly?

Looking at his website there has been more activity than normal. News releases are coming out every few days. The raw statistics show a greater number of news releases are happening. Even this one:

That is it. The news release is Djanogly sitting next to David Cameron. Just a picture. Nothing about where they are or the major topic under discussion. No words and no context. To me this is starting to smack of desperation.  Is Djanogly that desperate? Obviously he is worried. This could be getting the good news in before any bad news comes out on 4th February 2010.

On the otherhand if Djanogly and the Conservatives have been looking at the same data I have then Djanogly should be very worried.

Has Djanogly done good for HCCA?

I was ploughing through Google on a Djanogly search when I found out about the Huntingdon Industrial Advisory Council. In an e-mail from Simon Burton on this website the following is said:

"Jonathan Djanogly, the Member of Parliament for the Huntingdon Constituency, is hosting a HIAC dinner at the Carlton Club in London on 27 October 2009 with guest speaker, Chris Grayling MP, the Shadow Home Secretary.
Huntingdon Industrial Advisory Council is a group chaired by Mr Djanogly.  It currently meets twice a year in the sumptuous setting of the Carlton Club in London where it provides an excellent opportunity for local businesses to network and meet with leading politicians in the Conservative Party and future Government.
The evening takes the form of a drinks reception and three-course dinner.  Following dinner, Mr Grayling will give a talk on current issues and there will then be an opportunity for a question and answer session.
Unfortunately, places are limited but if you would like to attend tickets have been priced at £100.00 and I would be grateful if you would be able to complete the proforma below.  If you have any questions about this event, please feel most welcome to contact me on (01480) 453062 or by e-mail at huntingdon.conservatives@btconnect.com . With all good wishes. Yours sincerely Simon Burton".

Having read this I thought I would look at whether Djanogly was good for HCCA? This association is in a very safe and should be making loads of money. I therefore went through the accounts and picked out some relevant years from the Election Commission website.

	2001	2005	2008
Full Members	863	910	712
Non Constituency Members	25	25	15
Club Members	0	50	195
Income	127,125	127,161	96,313
Expenditure	147,979	126,124	94,228
Surplus/(Deficit)	(20,933)	1,375	2,085
Donations	2,271	2,650	4,127
Subscriptions	28,342	29,082	25,133
Branches	23,247	22,801	13,958
Fundraising	52,462	48,140	27,030

There seems to be a holding pattern until after the 2005 General Election. After which the Full Membership has dropped and Branch fundraising/subscriptions/fundraising has decreased. This is a definite drop off of financial support to the Conservative cause.

What will be interesting are the accounts for 2009, due out in May 2010, probably after the General Election. This will show what effect there was on the MPs' expenses scandal. It will not be until 2011 the full picture will become clearer.

From what I read it is an Association that is slowly failing. There is still much life, so the Conservatives have some way to go before death. Whilst this is happening across the UK, if the MP wants to keep getting re-elected he needs to ensure the local party is well financed and has enough activists to keep the MP in his/her seat. With the Association going down hill this will cause problems in the future for our current MP and Conservative Councillors.

Under legislation this political association/party has to publish its accounts. It should be noted Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green, Labour and UKIP aren't required to publish their accounts as they don't meet the threshold or are organised in a different way.

Will John Major campaign for Jonathan Djanogly?

According to a The Daily Mail article:

"The former Prime Minister has told friends that he regards the behaviour of Jonathan Djanogly as 'greedy' and 'inappropriate'."

A Tory with close links to the constituency party told the Daily Mail: 'John Major is very unimpressed with what has been going on.'

'He has kept silent in public but he has let it be known that he thinks Jonathan has behaved badly. It's completely inappropriate.'

'People have told Jonathan they don't approve and that John doesn't approve but he (Djanogly) keeps insisting that he did nothing wrong.'

'Why would someone with extensive share holdings want to expense £1,500 a month for a cleaner and gardener when he has a hugely lucrative job in the City as well. I tell you why - pure greed.'

So will John Major be campaigning for Jonathan Djanogly?