| Author | Message | | Diceros | | Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:40 am Post subject: |
| The full story might never be disclosed but dare we hope that a few more will be revealed before the next general election ?
Brown to outline Iraq war inquiry
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to announce details of an inquiry into the Iraq war in the Commons at 1530 BST.
Opposition parties - and many Labour MPs - have been calling for an inquiry since shortly after the 2003 invasion.
They will now be watching closely to see whether the long-awaited inquiry is to be held in public or private.
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Hutton and Butler inquiries
The Lib Dems have argued that the inquiry must be conducted in public to ensure it is not a "whitewash" and leader Nick Clegg has said the party would boycott a private inquiry.
Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Iraq, told the BBC that she believed the inquiry had to be held in public.
She said: "It can't be held behind closed doors.
"It was our sons that were sent there, our sons that have been killed."
The reasons for going to war in Iraq - including the now discredited claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction which could be used within 45 minutes of an order being given - have been a source of long-standing controversy.
Two inquiries - the Hutton and Butler inquiries - have already been held into aspects of the Iraq war.
The Butler inquiry looked at intelligence failures before the war while the Hutton inquiry examined the circumstances leading to the death of former government adviser David Kelly.
IRAQ INQUIRIES
Iraq invasion: March 2003
Hutton Inquiry: Jan 2004
Butler Inquiry: July 2004
At-a-glance: Butler report
In depth: Hutton report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8100432.stm
cheers | |  | | ktholcombe | | Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:11 pm Post subject: |
|
Olympic village 'is MP housing solution'
Housing MPs in the Olympic village could provide the solution to Westminster's problems with the second home allowance, a report has suggested.
The Taxpayers' Alliance has proposed that Commons authorities could provide permanent homes for all MPs with constituencies outside London, following the completion of the Games, for a cost of £110m.
Monday's report suggests the move would see the end of the £11.5m-a-year second home allowance, although MPs could still claim for utility bills and council tax.
Taxpayers' Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott said the scheme would pay for itself within 10 years.
And he said it could lead to a profit for taxpayers if there is growth in the housing market.
The Olympic village has already faced problems with its finances, with extra state funding made available after it struggled to raise private funding.
The report pointed out that in Sweden MPs are accommodated in 250 apartments belonging to the parliament.
"We have been paying for MPs to build their property empires for too long," said Elliott.
"It is clearly necessary to consider radical proposals to ensure that we don't continue haemorrhaging taxpayers' cash every year."
He said that taxpayers "won't want to see large amounts spent buying second homes for MPs when they are struggling to pay their own mortgages".
"Using the Olympic village after the Games are over, which is already being built at the taxpayers' expense, would offer an affordable and sustainable way forward and aid the regeneration of the East End," he suggested.
Source.... | | | | Diceros | | Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:07 pm Post subject: |
| Would'nt renovation of the Chelsea Barracks be even less costly. Afterall if it was suitable for Her Majesty's soldiers for many years, new sinks and bathrooms plus a cocktail cabinet should do the job, right. ?
Besides think of the time/ transport cost from Westminster to East London and back. 
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