Chancellor Osborne caught attempting fraud..

[sphericalfox]

If you can't see why the Chancellor might need the space and privacy of first class on a peak time train I'm not going to be the one to explain it to you.

As I said there are no exemptions. I know lots of public sector CEOs would argue the exact same. However, here's an extract from a travel policy document. This applies to everyone.

3.2.2 All officers travelling on official business, must use the most

efficient and economic form of travel, taking into account not only the cost

of the travel, but also subsistence costs and potential savings in official time

and proper consideration of work-life balance. Advantage must be taken of

any reduced/low cost facilities that are available, eg daily, monthly or

season tickets.

[Daggers]

If you can't see why the Chancellor might need the space and privacy of first class on a peak time train I'm not going to be the one to explain it to you.

If you can't see why an elected representative of the people should travel with "the people" and abide by his party's policy on public travel then I don't need to try to explain it to you - I need to draw a picture for you to try to colour in without going outside the line.

[MPH]

Shit stirring, class war inciting arseholes. Who the hell sits in standard when they go on business trips?! I certainly don't so I'd be surprised to hear that the Chancellor of the Exchequer does.

How does this kind of bullshit make it into the news.

I think the news part is that the aide refused to pay for the upgrade...

Thats the sort of smuggery that is making this a story. Sure... by all means.... sit in first class.. pay for a first class ticket.. It is indeed a buisness trip...

But to pay for a standard ticket and then try and sneak into full class?

If that was me and i had refused to pay the upgrade costm i would be thrown off the train at the next available station

[THEFATBASTARD]

I have no problem with any member of the government going first class..as long as they have paid for it rather than try to dodge it...paying cheap and sitting expensive..diddling a business out of the fare is wrong.. they have already tried to diddle virgin out of a franchise..

[Babylon]

All public servants have been banned from travelling First Class since the Conservative coalition came into power. They must travel at the lowest cost possible on all their business trips. I don't see how he might be exempt from this policy.

Does Cameron get Ryanair flights everywhere then?

[Babylon]

I have no problem with any member of the government going first class..as long as they have paid for it rather than try to dodge it...paying cheap and sitting expensive..diddling a business out of the fare is wrong.. they have already tried to diddle virgin out of a franchise..

They paid for an upgrade, perfectly legal. Done the same myself to get a seat and the conductor had no problem with it at all.

[sphericalfox]

Does Cameron get Ryanair flights everywhere then?

Is this thread about David Cameron the Prime Minister, or is it about someone in his Cabinet? Of course if there is a high security risk a person such as the Prime Minister using a liw cost aurline is impractical, as his entourage and security would take up half the plane, so he has his own MoD approved vehicle to transport him and shouldhis Cabinet members be joining him they would join this flight. Your comparison isn't the same.

[Babylon]

Is this thread about David Cameron the Prime Minister, or is it about someone in his Cabinet? Of course if there is a high security risk a person such as the Prime Minister using a liw cost aurline is impractical, as his entourage and security would take up half the plane, so he has his own MoD approved vehicle to transport him and shouldhis Cabinet members be joining him they would join this flight. Your comparison isn't the same.

And your first post was incorrect. They haven't been banned from travelling in first class, they have been stopped for claiming for first class. They are free to pay an upgrade should they wish... And they did.

[sphericalfox]

They paid for an upgrade, perfectly legal. Done the same myself to get a seat and the conductor had no problem with it at all.

If he paid for the upgrade out of his own pocket and didn't claim it back, no probs, but I very much doubt it. Whilst you are right about this being a storm in a teacup, the principle of policy applues to all politicians who waste our money due to their self importance

[Babylon]

If he paid for the upgrade out of his own pocket and didn't claim it back, no probs, but I very much doubt it. Whilst you are right about this being a storm in a teacup, the principle of policy applues to all politicians who waste our money due to their self importance

I'm sure he will pay for it himself, otherwise it'll just come out that he didn't and he'll be in even more shit.

This kind of stuff is why I'm fed up of politics in this country. Parties seem to spend more time trying to point score on nonsense stories like this or the pleb one than they do advertising their own policies (if they have any).

[Mack]

He'll pay for it himself now it's all over the media.

He gives the 'we're skint and all in it togehter' speech at conference then is photographed quaffing champers with his Eton chums, then thinks he's too upper crust to sit in standard class.

Quite how anyone can believe Dave and chums, The Eton Trifles, a bunch who were born into wealth would ever understand the things that are needed for the everyday family to get by is beyond me.

And whilst those who listen to Dave and his freeloader rants as genuine, well they are, a genuine wish to put the poor back into forced labour and hardship.

This lot are waging a class war to make a substantial gap between the haves and have nots.

[Finnegan]

A lot of people missing the point in defending Osbourne. Whether or not you think it's harmless for a busy individual to upgrade to First to get some privacy on a train journey is entirely irrelevant in this instance.

This story, from start to finish, is about image. Osborne is only on the train in the first place for the sakes of appearances and the fact it's become a weapon for theopposition highlights exactly how much he's dropped the ball.

There are so many ways to twist the situation to do damage to his reputation. The Tories won't get any solace from the fact Brett and Moose think he was in the right, they're guaranteed votes anyway.

But any Conservative supporter who doesn't look at situations like this and cringe is massively naive to the damage it does to contested votes. Behind the scenes the party will be absolutely fuming at Team Chancellor.

[Babylon]

He'll pay for it himself now it's all over the media.

He gives the 'we're skint and all in it togehter' speech at conference then is photographed quaffing champers with his Eton chums, then thinks he's too upper crust to sit in standard class.

Quite how anyone can believe Dave and chums, The Eton Trifles, a bunch who were born into wealth would ever understand the things that are needed for the everyday family to get by is beyond me.

And whilst those who listen to Dave and his freeloader rants as genuine, well they are, a genuine wish to put the poor back into forced labour and hardship.

This lot are waging a class war to make a substantial gap between the haves and have nots.

Sounds to me like you are waging a class war not him. "Man Drinks glass of champagne" and "man pays for ticket upgrade". I fail to see how either of those things really matter, I've done both myself quite recently and I'm not some horrible toff.

[Finnegan]

Sounds to me like you are waging a class war not him. "Man Drinks glass of champagne" and "man pays for ticket upgrade". I fail to see how either of those things really matter, I've done both myself quite recently and I'm not some horrible toff.

No but you're not an elected member of parliament being watched at every turn.

This is the media age and everything is up for scrutiny, it's not about what is actually moral, just or right it's about what you can be smeared with and Osbourne and his team have seriously bollocksed this one up. Just like the Labour politician being dragged back in to the expenses row has done the same.

You give the opposition ammunition and they're going to shoot at you. That's what politics is, it's an image game, and this has been one of the worst governments in history at managing that. It's posh gaffe after posh gaffe and it doesn't matter if YOU can forgive it, it's still all over the papers making them look ridiculously pompus and incompetent - whether they actually are or not.

[Guest]

If you can't see why the Chancellor might need the space and privacy of first class on a peak time train I'm not going to be the one to explain it to you.

Even if he were, shouldn't he then pay the correct ticket price and not a lower ticket price knowing that he is too importnat to travel in anything but first class?

[Babylon]

No but you're not an elected member of parliament being watched at every turn.

This is the media age and everything is up for scrutiny, it's not about what is actually moral, just or right it's about what you can be smeared with and Osbourne and his team have seriously bollocksed this one up. Just like the Labour politician being dragged back in to the expenses row has done the same.

You give the opposition ammunition and they're going to shoot at you. That's what politics is, it's an image game, and this has been one of the worst governments in history at managing that. It's posh gaffe after posh gaffe and it doesn't matter if YOU can forgive it, it's still all over the papers making them look ridiculously pompus and incompetent - whether they actually are or not.

If the newspapers want to make someone look like an idiot they can do. Case in point drinking a glass of champagne and upgrading a ticket. These aren't gaffes, they are run of the mill things happening thousands of times around the country each day.

If papers have an agenda they will find a way to smear the government, champagne or no champagne. If the twat reading the paper can't distinguish between what's actually bad or not then they have no hope anyway and will be brainwashed with whatever the newspaper (Murdoch) wants them to believe.

I'm not sticking up for the conservatives here, I have zero affinity with any party and would be saying this whether it was Milliband or Clegg.

[Guest]

Babylon enough with the champagne.

I hate the stuff.

[Babylon]

Babylon enough with the champagne.

I hate the stuff.

So do I... but for some reason you get handed a FREE glass as quite a few events. Would prefer a pint of San Miguel myself.

[Jon the Hat]

So do I... but for some reason you get handed a FREE glass as quite a few events. Would prefer a pint of San Miguel myself.

Heathens. Champagne is great. You can't quaff a pint and look posh.

[Webbo]

I don't mind a bit of Lambrini.

[Finnegan]

If the newspapers want to make someone look like an idiot they can do. Case in point drinking a glass of champagne and upgrading a ticket. These aren't gaffes, they are run of the mill things happening thousands of times around the country each day.

No, no they're not. Not by politicians and definitely not by Tories. They're desperate to convey themselves as a party that represents the broader demographic, not just their stereotypical voter base, and they're going to need to seriously succeed in that to take power.

It's like sending your children to private schools, plenty of middle and upper class people do it and they're arguably right to do so. If you can afford to give your children the best level of education then why wouldn't you? But if you're, for example, the Conservative minister for education all of a sudden it's a different story. It's "education secretary has no faith in public school system," et cetera.

You might not like that that is how the world works but that is how the world works.

I'm not saying that Osborne is right or wrong in this. I myself got fined twenty quid only last week for sitting in the first class section of a Southern Trains carriage from East Croydon to Victoria without a ticket, I'm not for one moment suggesting that this is an act of any evil. I'm just pointing out it's a monumentally stupid thing to do if you're a Tory MP taking part in the mass popularity contest that dictates our country's politics.

And, further more, if I was a Tory voter and a Conservative party member I'd personally be annoyed with Osborne for further enforcing the tired archetypes of the "liberal media" and not defending him against "loony lefties" on internet message boards.

[Jon the Hat]

So now Virgin trains have confirmed that there was no dispute and they just paid for the upgrade, and the Guardian reported Osbourne's travel expenses claimed last year were less than a fifth of Ed Balls can we acknowledge that this story is literally complete bollocks??

[Webbo]

So now Virgin trains have confirmed that there was no dispute and they just paid for the upgrade, and the Guardian reported Osbourne's travel expenses claimed last year were less than a fifth of Ed Balls can we acknowledge that this story is literally complete bollocks??

Yeah but they are tories so they must be guilty of something.

[sphericalfox]

So now Virgin trains have confirmed that there was no dispute and they just paid for the upgrade, and the Guardian reported Osbourne's travel expenses claimed last year were less than a fifth of Ed Balls can we acknowledge that this story is literally complete bollocks??

Sounds like someone wants to win a upcoming train franchise....

[Daggers]

And your first post was incorrect. They haven't been banned from travelling in first class, they have been stopped for claiming for first class. They are free to pay an upgrade should they wish... And they did.

"They"?

Where the fvck does "they" come from.

He boarded a train without a ticket for 1st Class.

He boarded a train without the wherewithal to pay for an upgrade.

His little man refused at first to pay for him.

Clearly the intention was to occupy a place he believed he deserved without the intention to personally pay for it.

Osbourne is an odious little cvnt.