Minister for Justice, don't make me laugh

Shahid Malik, the "Justice Minister", who ran up the highest expenses claim of any MP, has defended himself and insisted he will not pay the money back to Parliamentary authorities.

Speaking from his home in Dewsbury, West Yorks, he insisted he was "as straight as they come" and blamed the controversy on the system of allowances being "in complete tatters". 

Not his fault, it's the systems fault.......That's why he milked the system to the enth degree! He really maxed out.

During the first year as an MP, he made 13 separate claims for different items of furniture or electrical appliances totalling more than £7,000. The fees office blocked several items and he eventually received £6,147. He also regularly claimed the maximum allowable £400 a month for food. The most contentious item was a £2,600 home cinema system including a 40in flat-screen television. The fees office paid half, after initially rejecting the claim. It blocked claims for a portable DVD player and an iPod during the same year.The spending on the Peckham house continued during 2007-08, with 24 separate claims for furniture, decorating and electrical goods. These included a £671 fireplace, a leather daybed sofa and a £510 fitted wardrobe.Mr Malik was also reimbursed for a £730 “massage chair”. Last night, the MP said he had a “back problem”.The Justice Minister said he would repay the £65 he claimed for his non-payment of council tax courts summons. In total, in three years, Mr Malik claimed £66,827 for the property - £18,173 less than the original cost of the house.

Justice Minister? No wonder our country is in such a state, even the Justice Minister is a greedy, troughing politician. Is it too much to ask that our Justice Minister has a sense of what's right and wrong or am I being naive?

I hope your constituents get rid of you. Infact, I hope all the MP's that have taken advantage of the system are ousted by their constituents.

People are angry!

Public anger over MPs' expenses boiled over yesterday when the office of Andrew MacKay's Tory MP wife was attacked by an angry constituent.

Windows at the front of Julie Kirkbride's Worcestershire offices were smashed by a brick as her husband resigned over the scale of his excessive claims. 

The attack last night raised fears that their shocking abuse of taxpayers' money is putting the safety of MPs at risk.