Should Sinn Fein MPs claim expenses?

Should Sinn Fein MPs be allowed to claim parliamentary expenses, despite the party’s policy of not taking their seats?

Following questioning in PMQs by DUP MP William McCrea, David Cameron told the Commons:

“I would like us to look and see if we can make the argument where there isn’t a case for Sinn Fein members not to take their seats. I think at the moment we let them off the hook. So I would like to re-examine this argument and see if we can find a new way of doing this.“

His answer came despite a near consensus that Sinn Fein should not be allowed to claim expenses at all.

Speaking last year as Shadow Minister, the Conservative Secretary for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson concluded:

“It is absolutely inconceivable that a Tory-dominated House of Commons is going to vote for allowances for MPs who don’t turn up.”

DUP Deputy Leader, Nigel Dodds has previously described Sinn Fein’s ability to claim expenses as “an iniquitous situation” and for the SDLP, its Leader Margaret Ritchie has previously criticised the payment of expenses as well. The Ulster Unionist MLA, Tom Elliott, also sought to re-buff Sinn Fein’s argument against taking the oath to the Queen. Elliott commented last year:

“It is time for Sinn Féin to stop being so hypocritical. They sit under the Crown in the Assembly, a devolved institution within the United Kingdom. In that assembly they pass legislation which is ratified by the Queen. Some may ask what the difference is.”

As part of its coverage of the expenses scandal, the Telegraph reported that:

•Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams jointly claimed a total of £3,600 a month to rent a shared two bedroom flat in north London. The paper reported one local estate agent who said that a fair monthly rate for a flat of that kind in that area was about £1,400.

•Sinn Fein’s three other MP’s together claimed £5,400 a month to rent a shared house which the estate agent questioned, saying that it should have been in the region of £1,800.

•All five Sinn Fein MPs have claimed more than £310,000 in five years from the public purse by submitting receipts from one man, an Irish landlord living in London, and his family.

Sinn Fein responded by publishing details of their claims which suggested that the party did not claim £50,000 a year communications allowances, or overnight or food allowances, with each MP claiming £100,205 a year worth of staff subsidies.

Defending the claims, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinnness has previously said:

“The citizens who vote for Sinn Féin are as entitled to get a first class service as the service provided by any other MP. That is exactly what we are doing. That money does not go into our pockets. It employs people. It rents buildings. It buys computers. It does all sorts of things in the interests of the citizens.”

In the Northern Ireland Assembly meanwhile, the DUP have recently vetoed new rules to limit the number of family members an MLA can employ to one, reduce the mileage payments and prevent MLAs from renting offices from relatives. The DUP had argued that they want a new independent body on pay and allowances to be created to oversee any change to the expenses system. Sinn Fein responded by claiming that many, “would question the DUP’s motivation”.

http://twitter.com/houseoftwits/status/16928525953 House Of Twits
http://twitter.com/hitchineng/status/16929562457 Hitchin England

Should Sinn Fein MPs claim expenses?: http://bit.ly/abfNqa via @leftfootfwd
http://twitter.com/philcane/status/16929739689 Philip Cane

Should Sinn Fein MPs claim expenses?: No http://bit.ly/abfNqa
http://twitter.com/houseoftwits/status/16929805540 House Of Twits

RT @PhilCane Should Sinn Fein MPs claim expenses?: No http://bit.ly/abfNqa
Liz McShane

The fact that they don’t take their seats does not necessarily mean that they are not effective representing & lobbying on behalf of their constituencies. But I suppose a line needs to be drawn somewhere.

I am sure an extra 5-6 MPs in The House might have changed the complexion of the Coalition Government & outcome…!
Mr. Sensible

Liz, how can you effectively represent your constituents if you do not take your seats in the house?

I think that if they will not take their seats they should not be able to claim expenses.

The 1 thing I would say though, Ed, is that when the Government looks at this it should tred carefully otherwise trouble could occur.
Liz McShane

Mr Sensible – It’s not ideal I agree and I personally don’t see a reason for them not to take their seats especially if they can take them seats in Stormont which for years/decades was very an anathema to SF. Although they are voted in on this abstentionist basis so the voters are well aware of this when they cast their votes.

I am sure they are in contact with key MPs & ministers via their Westminster parliamentary office as they do make use of these facilities – it’s just things like voting on Bills etc that they do not engage in.

I do think that the internal SF argument against taking their seats in Westminster will eventually weaken and not be such an issue for them.
G-Laf

And the day that they take their seats is the day I, and many others, will stop voting for them. The key issue for many Nationalists is that we don’t believe Britain should any role in Northern Ireland at all. The SDLP go to Westminster, but the footage of their MPs taking the oath made my stomach churn. Even their own voters require a strong stomach watching that spectacle.

Sinn Fein can do effective constituency work without sitting inside Westminster and they do require access to expenses to perform their duties on behalf of their constituents.
http://blacktojack@hotmail.com jackhayes

I understand the principle taken by Sinn Fein in not taking the oath and so not being able to take their seats in the HoC, however it seems to me that to claim expenses and for that matter to stand for election to Westminister anyway debases the principled stand in refusing to take the oath. I would have thought that Sinn Fein would want to give Westminister a wide berthe in every respect.
Liz McShane

I am not sure that he DUP’s record of attendance is that great they might want to think about that before they start criticising others.
http://thepoketown.com Ben

I think that a fair range of comments have been made. I certainly understand G-Laf’s statement, however the question isn’t that they don’t want the British to be involved – That’s fact. It’s more to do with Sinn Féin wanting a United Ireland.

If you’re telling me they’d be happy to see an independent Ulster, it’d just never be.

Having said that, I understand that they do local work, but how can you they expect to be allowed to take money from the people they are fighting? It’s just unreal. They didn’t seem to be unhappy with the British whenever they gave them 200M for the Irish language – A disgrace. However, saying that, I think that both funding for both the Irish Language and the Ulster Scot’s Language should be scrapped. If people are so willing to learn the languages, pay for it yourselves, especially in time of crisis.

It’s all a big scam as far as I can see. Whenever Nationalists wake up they’ll realise that Sinn Féin are a shower of sh*t and will vote for the SDLP. At least they’d have a better chance of a United Ireland, rather than getting it through terrorism. And, before anyone tries to deny Sinn Féin’s lasting links with the IRA, then tell me why they don’t tell the IRA to stop?

I am a liberal, and this is what I see. It’s unfortunate to think that people could vote for Sinn Féin, rather than for the fairer, more for-the-people SDLP.

Thanks, Ben.