Portentous diary note on MPs’ expenses (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Portentous diary note on MPs’ expenses

11:26am Friday 29th May 2009

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SPECTATOR’S been reading Chris Mullin’s diaries in advance of the soon-to-retire Sunderland South MP’s appearance at the next Richmond Station literary event, organised jointly by Castle Hill Books, the D&S Times and the Station.

It’s a fine read and one very far-sighted, and topical, passage reads as follows: “Wednesday 1 May 2002 – Andew Mackinlay dropped a little bombshell at this afternoon’s meeting of the parliamentary committee. Apparently, under the Freedom of Information Act, by January 2005 MPs’ expenses will be subject to public scrutiny, retrospectively. Goodness knows what mayhem that will cause. ‘We are in a jam,’ said Robin Cook. ‘Few members have yet tumbled to the juggernaut heading their way’.” Quite so.

Mr Mullin will be speaking at the Station on the morning of Saturday, June 20.

Tickets, costing £10, can be had from the bookshop, the Station, or with a credit or debit card by phone from 01748-824243.

Spectator will be there.

Banking crisis

On Tuesday after the bank holiday, a long queue stretched out of the branch of Lloyds TSB on the corner of Coniscliffe Road and Skinnergate in Darlington, reminiscent of the Northern Rock queues last autumn.

It turned out to be the result of too many customers and not enough tellers, a not uncommon occurence apparently.

Note to manager (if there is one, somewhere): in these financially-precarious times such scenes are the stuff of rumour.

Good friends

Spectator is glad Richmond’s former mayor, the charming Coun Judith Steggles, and the new man at the helm in the town hall, former driving instructor and financial services salesman Coun David Gillson, are good friends, because those present at last week’s mayor-making could have been forgiven for perhaps thinking otherwise.

Coun Gillson made repeated references to his predecessor’s long windedness, suggesting at one point that Coun Steggles mayoral acceptance speech had started before the foundation of Richmond’s Friary (1257 to be precise). It was – just – a good joke.

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