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It seems to me that there are at least two main types of 'financial assistance' for Peers:
1. Allowances.
These are entitlements and are paid out according to various qualifying criteria and at a specific rate.
2. Expenses.
These have to be claimed and usually may (or may not, depending on, say which year was being claimed) have to be supported by receipts.
Baroness Warsi seems to have been claiming 'Allowances' for overnight stays but seems to have been accused of claiming these allowances as 'expenses' by her polital foes. This seems to have led to confusion,
If she was rightly entitled to claim 'allowances' for these overnight stays then as to whether she actually incurred any expense is irrelevant. The 'Allowances', if that is how they were claimed by her, were her rightful entitlement.
As to whether or not her friend Naweed Khan passed any of the alleged contributory monies payed to him by the baroness to the owner of the property, Dr Wafik Moustafa, then this is irrelevant too.
As to whether she has declared a full amount of received rental income for tax seems to be another matter of confusion. The likely answer to this seems to be 'Yes'.
As to whether she has sent in information on this rental income so as to fullfill all of the registry requirements laid down as being necessary for peers also seems to be a confusing matter. It seems she has sent in all of the required information but not necessarily in duplicate or triplicate. If such info' is required to be submitted in duplicate or triplicate, then that would seem to me as being somewhat of a fairly stupid requirement - as well as one that is somewhat difficult to keep in one's personal records. So no wonder she has come unstuck with it - and particularly so with her political enemies.
I have a concern about her relationship with Dr Moustafa. He has taken a previous opinion that he was her friend and that this was substantiated by the fact that he was staying in his home. However, she was not staying in his home as his guest or as his friend. She was staying in that house as a guest and friend of Naweed Khan. Albeit that this latter may have contravened his tenancy agreement by apparently sub-letting to the baroness, who it seems was a very regular guest. So regular, that she could have been a sub-tenant. However, Mr Naweed was actually staying rent-free at Dr Moustafa’s home in London, meaning that only by extension Baroness Warsi was receiving his hospitality. Though he stated it was not personal, Moustafa was in a political dispute with Warsi concerning the Conservative Arab Network. Hence he has clearly been affronted and seems to have become her political enemy too.
Certainly she has been naughty with her ommisions on the declaration of her business interests (eg, the Rupert's Recipes share holdings, albeit that these might have been held only temporarily). I believe these only have to be declared in connection with remunerated postions, anyhow.
Her business partner, Abid Hussein, who accompanied her abroad to Pakistan on several occasions, seems to be a bit of a 'mystery man'. Indeed, a bit too much so. She leaves herself a bit vulnerable because of this strange relationship - if there actually really is one.
Certainly she has been very lax and 'not pucker enough' to continue as Chairman of the Conservative Party. She has let Cameron down greatly by embarrassing him concerning his 'politically crusading topic' of 'open-ness', IMHO.
I will be interested to see how it all pans out.
Last edited by Begonia; 04-06-2012 at 1:36 PM.
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28-05-2012, 5:25 PM
E. & O.E.
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