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It's a hard life
BenB - 18/5/10 at 11:18 AM

"Hague and Clegg share country house"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8689187.stm

"Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Foreign Secretary William Hague will have to share an official country residence, Downing Street has said."

Oh dear, poor diddums. So what if Hague and Clegg will have to share a home provided by the tax payer. Most of us have to pay for our own houses!

And the house that they have to share:



Poor things. Hope they don't feel too cramped!

fha772 - 18/5/10 at 11:38 AM

I knew a coalition, would cause hardship for everyone!!!

coozer - 18/5/10 at 12:02 PM

Looks like there's room there for another one to me.. and a few old bangers, and maybe some cars

Ninehigh - 18/5/10 at 12:39 PM

"Aw bless them, how are they going to cope?"

Missus does sarchasm so well

nick205 - 18/5/10 at 02:02 PM



Get on with the job in hand and stop fannying about. They shouldn't have time to ponce around "country residences" like the lord and lady they are

and

cd.thomson - 18/5/10 at 02:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by BenB
"Hague and Clegg share country house"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8689187.stm

"Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Foreign Secretary William Hague will have to share an official country residence, Downing Street has said."

Oh dear, poor diddums. So what if Hague and Clegg will have to share a home provided by the tax payer. Most of us have to pay for our own houses!

And the house that they have to share:



Poor things. Hope they don't feel too cramped!


Don't you have a similar house provided indirectly by the taxpayer too ben

Fozzie - 18/5/10 at 02:22 PM

Playing Devils Advocate here....

But...

You are all getting cross about 2 people/families sharing one (huge) 'country' residence .....

So .....

Why did none of you 'complain' when only 1 person/family from the last Government had the same place as their country residence/weekend party place......?

Seems to me as though this government, instead of allocating 1 residence per Minister, have said .... 2 of you can share 1 ......

Logical, in my book......
Why get the country to pay for yet another place?.......

Fozzie

dan__wright - 18/5/10 at 02:42 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Fozzie
Playing Devils Advocate here....

But...

You are all getting cross about 2 people/families sharing one (huge) 'country' residence .....


the way i read it was they were making out they were hard done by having to share, not that fact they were sharing.

cd.thomson - 18/5/10 at 02:49 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dan__wright
the way i read it was they1 were making out they2 were hard done by having to share, not that fact they were sharing.


they1 = newspapers

they2 = clegg and hague

[Edited on 18/5/10 by cd.thomson]

richardh - 18/5/10 at 02:49 PM

ah, more people into one house to claim second home status.

get a few more in there too and then lock it and put hungry lions in there

dan__wright - 18/5/10 at 02:52 PM

quote:
Originally posted by cd.thomson
quote:
Originally posted by dan__wright
the way i read it was they1 were making out they2 were hard done by having to share, not that fact they were sharing.


they1 = newspapers

they2 = clegg and hague

[Edited on 18/5/10 by cd.thomson]

whs

Fozzie - 18/5/10 at 03:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by richardh
ah, more people into one house to claim second home status.

get a few more in there too and then lock it and put hungry lions in there


LOL as very tempting as it sounds......no second home allowance allowed on that particular one, or, AFAIK any of the 'grace and favour' homes.

That 'country pile' in question was actually bequeathed, primarily to any descendant, widow/widower, relly, of King George VI... the bequeather hoping that Charlie boy would take it on eventually.....in the meantime, it was to be used by the Government/Cabinet Ministers of the day........

So all the while there is a descendant of George VI it cannot be sold........I bet the upkeep costs of it is astronomical though.

So....in 'rent' terms and 'allowances to be claimed' ... it's a nil balance......to the Tax Payer ....

If the place has to maintained by the nation, we might as well get our monies worth, and have the 2 next 'top' geezers (to the PM) there, who will have to do loads of entertaining/hosting of visiting dignitaries and the Euro big-wigs, in their roles of Deputy PM and Foreign Secretary.....

Oh and for good measure, there are plenty of rooms for said big-wigs and foreign dignitaries to stay in too .... so...no extra hotel bills..or extra security measures.....

Seems like a logical/sensible use of said premises to me.......

BTW .... do you always believe what the Press has to say?

Fozzie

MakeEverything - 18/5/10 at 05:41 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Fozzie
Playing Devils Advocate here....

But...

You are all getting cross about 2 people/families sharing one (huge) 'country' residence .....

So .....

Why did none of you 'complain' when only 1 person/family from the last Government had the same place as their country residence/weekend party place......?

Seems to me as though this government, instead of allocating 1 residence per Minister, have said .... 2 of you can share 1 ......

Logical, in my book......
Why get the country to pay for yet another place?.......

Fozzie


But what youre missing Fozz, is that the price of the two homes is probably still less than the cost of the shared one.

Also, they rationale behind sharing would be so that they can both claim their second home allowance and expenses i suspect.

I wish i had an office like this that i could retire to when im not in London....

BenB - 18/5/10 at 05:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by cd.thomson
quote:
Originally posted by BenB
"Hague and Clegg share country house"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8689187.stm

"Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Foreign Secretary William Hague will have to share an official country residence, Downing Street has said."

Oh dear, poor diddums. So what if Hague and Clegg will have to share a home provided by the tax payer. Most of us have to pay for our own houses!

And the house that they have to share:



Poor things. Hope they don't feel too cramped!


Don't you have a similar house provided indirectly by the taxpayer too ben


Only to keep my surfs and peasants in

Fozzie - 18/5/10 at 06:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MakeEverything.......But what youre missing Fozz, is that the price of the two homes is probably still less than the cost of the shared one.

Also, they rationale behind sharing would be so that they can both claim their second home allowance and expenses i suspect.

I wish i had an office like this that i could retire to when im not in London....


No......I am not missing anything....

It is a 'grace and favour' residence.....
They cannot claim the second home allowance....regardless as to whether or not the place was occupied or not, the upkeep will still be paid for by the rest of the country.....as the 'country pile' in question cannot be sold........

Therefore, AFAIK, they cannot claim 'second home' allowance or 'second home' expenses.....

Fozz

RK - 18/5/10 at 08:43 PM

is it just me, or is there more than one house on that property? They will have to share the drive though, won't they?

Hellfire - 18/5/10 at 08:54 PM

On the 'plus' side, it'll only take 50% of the time to cut the grass and trim the hedges..........

Phil

nick205 - 18/5/10 at 09:56 PM

like I said, do the feckin' job that needs doing "for the good of the country" and stop poncing about. they clamour for our vote spouting all manner of "shared pain" shite (try stomaching a 35% pay cut to keep you job level of pain) then romp about in mansions (shared or otberwise).

we sbouldn't be paying for it either way. if it can't pay for itself bulldoze it and use the land for something more worthwhile.