David Laws has fallen

**Philippus Flavius Homovallumus** · 05-30-2010, 01:14

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10191572.stm

Uh-oh.

this is not good, and so soon.

All because he wanted to hide the fact he was Gay (who says the Tories are the homophobes?)

So, what do we think? How will the markets react?

He certainly looke promising, but now who will replace him?

**PanzerJaeger** · 05-30-2010, 03:27

It is hard to tell from the article what exactly he did wrong.

**Lemur** · 05-30-2010, 04:04

Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

It is hard to tell from the article what exactly he did wrong.

Hmm ... it seems that he paid his partner rent ... and then claimed it as an expense ... and somehow that's wrong. Your guess is as good as mine.

I mean, if rent is claimable, then what's the problem? And if rent is not a claimable expense, then it hardly matters to whom or why he paid it.

**PanzerJaeger** · 05-30-2010, 04:17

Originally Posted by Lemur

Hmm ... it seems that he paid his partner rent ... and then claimed it as an expense ... and somehow that's wrong. Your guess is as good as mine.

I mean, if rent is claimable, then what's the problem? And if rent is not a claimable expense, then it hardly matters to whom or why he paid it.

Indeed. The associated article consisted mostly of David Cameron and Nick Clegg talking about what an great guy he is, what a good job he's doing, and how they wanted him back as soon as possible. It also mentioned that he did not gain financially from whatever transpired. Certainly in modern Britain someone wouldn't be run out of office for being gay....

**Tellos Athenaios** · 05-30-2010, 04:38

The associated article talks about “revelations in the Daily Telegraph”; which one can look up fairly easily. Their take on the news: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...ses-claim.html

**Lemur** · 05-30-2010, 04:44

Thank you Tellos, that makes things much clearer. It's yet another MP naughty expense story, much like the dude who claimed his moat cleaning. Here's the salient part:

[Laws] claimed as much as £950 a month in parliamentary expenses for eight years to rent rooms in two London properties.

The houses were owned by his partner, James Lundie, a political lobbyist. In 2006, MPs were banned from “leasing accommodation from a partner”.

So really it's got jack-all to do with being gay, and everything to do with claiming a rent paid to a "partner," which is against the rules.

**tibilicus** · 05-30-2010, 03:29

A pretty stupid mistake on his part. I understand there are aspects of his personal life he might want to keep from the public view but when he uses tax payers money to hide such aspects it's to far. The sheer naivety in thinking he could keep something of this nature a secret when he has such a high degree of public visibility also seems stupid to me. I mean, wasn't he actually living with the guy?

It's a shame in many ways though. He did a pretty good job so far and managed to keep his role in the treasury distinct from Osborne in many ways. I don't expect much from his replacement, Danny Alexander though. He seems to be a bit lost in government and unlike Laws he will probably just cave to whatever Osborne demands. Although I'm wondering who will fill the Scottish position. I assume another lib dem?

As for the grand scheme of things, I think this will just be a blip.