Scandal Tom Wise caught in NOTW Sting

devilskitchen · 12-05-2008, 09:55 PM

I think that Tom Wise should be allowed to stand for selection as a UKIP MEP again.

It would test the mettle of those in the party, would it not...?

Anthony Butcher · 13-05-2008, 12:58 AM

The Wisbech Standard - FENLAND: Fire crews tackle garage blaze caused by electrical charger

Quote:

EURO MP BRAGS ABOUT 'MAKING SHEDLOADS OF MONEY'

EAST: A Euro MP who recently visited the Fens only a fortnight ago has been exposed bragging about cashing in on British taxpayers money on dodgy allowance and travel claims.

UKIP MP Tom Wise was caught on camera during a two month investigation by a leading Sunday national to follow the goings on within the European Parliament.

The MEP - who recently attended a St George's Day even at the Three Tuns pub in Doddington - said his job is "the opportunity to make shedloads of money.'

In the undercover footage, filmed by a News of the World Reporter, also said: "I don't know what an MEP's job is. No one's ever given me a job description. I've no idea what an MEP should or shouldn't do. So you make it up as you go along."

• Fenland UKIP leader denounces Euro MP - full Story coming later.

Anthony Butcher · 13-05-2008, 12:59 AM

The Cambs Times - TOM WISE: Fenland UKIP chairman disowns him, and party confirms his suspension after News of World s

Quote:

TOM WISE: Fenland UKIP chairman disowns him, and party confirms his suspension after News of World s

18:05 - 12 May 2008

A EURO MP - who visited the Fens just a fortnight ago - has been exposed bragging about cashing in on British taxpayers money on allowance and travel claims.

Tom Wise made the shocking revelations during a two month investigation by the News of the World about the goings on within the European Parliament.

The MEP - who recently attended a St George's Day even at the Three Tuns pub in Doddington - said his job is "the opportunity to make shed loads of money.'

Len Baynes, chairman of UKIP's Fenland Branch, has 'emphatically apologised' in a letter penned to the Cambs Times about Tom Wise's behaviour.

"I must hold my hands up and publicly admit I was wrong [about Tom Wise]," he said.

"For over a decade I have looked on Tom Wise (MEP) as a close personal friend of mine, whose corner I have argued constantly and consistently, against my own party's NEC and against my own party's leadership.

"I have been proved wrong and to those people I most emphatically apologise and on behalf of UKIP and to the public in general I most emphatically apologise."

Mr Wise represents Cambridgeshire and is one of seven European Parliament members from the East of England.

In undercover footage, Mr Wise also said he has 'no idea what an MEP should or shouldn't do' about his 'cushy' £60,000 salary.

He told the reporter, who was posing as a work experience student: "I don't know what an MEP's job is. No one's ever given me a job description. I've no idea what an MEP should or shouldn't do. So you make it up as you go along."

About his salary, he added: "It's cushy - £60,000 a year. Thank you very much indeed. What have we got to do for it? Not a lot!"

It is also alleged that the independent MEP flies on budget airlines for his commute to Brussels but claims expenses for full-price flights.

Len Baynes added: "One thing has come out of this and that is it strengthens my own belief in our own ability to govern ourselves, for if the ability to be corrupt, to commit fraud, and downright criminality is so prevalent in the corridors of power in Brussels, what the hell are we doing in such an organisation?"

Mr Wise's office has refused to comment.

Stuart Gulleford, Political Advisor to Jeffrey Titford, MEP for UK Independence Party, said: "Would you please note that Mr Wise is not a UKIP MEP. He was suspended by the Party as a UKIP MEP last year, pending disciplinary proceedings, which are ongoing.

"His current position is that he sits in the European Parliament as an independent MEP."

He added: "Some people in the Party persisted in giving him the benefit of the doubt in regard to allegations made against him last year and prior to that.

"He should not have been invited to the Fenland meeting and certainly shouldn't have been introduced/publicised as a UKIP MEP but that particular Chairman was, until the News of the World story broke, a big supporter.

"As you have seen from the letter to which you refer, he has now changed his mind. I do give the Branch Chairman some credit for being big enough to admit his mistake.

FENLAND UKIP CHAIRMAN'S LETTER IN FULL OVER TOM WISE

WITH the exposé and revelations published in the national press this weekend, I feel I must hold my hands up and publicly admit I was wrong.

For over a decade I have looked on Tom Wise (MEP) as a close personal friend of mine, whose corner I have argued constantly and consistently, against my own party's NEC and against my own party's leadership.

I have been proved wrong and to those people I most emphatically apologise and on behalf of UKIP and to the public in general I most emphatically apologise. We all have our weaknesses and who knows how anyone would react when faced with the overriding ability to make money beyond our wildest dreams.

I can only hope that had I ever been in that position I would have done the right thing. At my age that is pure supposition.

However, one thing has come out of this and that is it strengthens my own belief in our own ability to govern ourselves, for if the ability to be corrupt, to commit fraud, and downright criminality is so prevalent in the corridors of power in Brussels, what the hell are we doing in such an organisation?

We have, over the past year or so, seen this raising its ugly head in our own parliament but at least as a nation we are able to sack those found guilty even to the extent of the whole government. No such power is available to us with the Brussels parliament, that's wrong, isn't it?

I have no intention of turning this into a party political broadcast. I am not, and have never claimed to be, a politician. I am an Englishman and proud to be so and my belief is in my country's history, it's heritage and it's sovereignty, which in my eyes is second to none and the power to retain that must stay in these islands, in our own parliament, elected by our own people in Westminster. I don't know maybe I'm wrong in that too!

Again I most emphatically apologise.

Len. Baynes

Chairman

UKIP Fenland

Anthony Butcher · 13-05-2008, 01:03 AM

There is an interesting sentence in that article above:

Quote:

Stuart Gulleford, Political Advisor to Jeffrey Titford, MEP for UK Independence Party, said: "Would you please note that Mr Wise is not a UKIP MEP. He was suspended by the Party as a UKIP MEP last year, pending disciplinary proceedings, which are ongoing.

I could have sworn that DD said that there wasn't any disciplinary action against Tom Wise... ?

Anthony Butcher · 13-05-2008, 01:06 AM

Brussels sleaze? So what! : May 2008 : Daniel Hannan : Politics : Telegraph Blogs

Quote:

I ask again: why is it a resigning matter when an MP uses his allowances improperly, but no big deal when an MEP does the same thing?
</IMG>
MEPs are drawn into an intrinsically corrupting system
The News of the World has exposed some shabby behaviour in the European Parliament, above all from the ex-UKIP MEP, Tom Wise. Regular readers will know that I am no fan of Tom Wise – or, as I have come to think of him, Tom Fool. And, to its credit, UKIP had already withdrawn the whip from the venal ex-copper.
But UKIP’s prompt action doesn’t explain the lack of interest in the story. The Derek Conway affair brought the media shoaling like piranhas around every detail of MPs’ expenses for weeks afterwards. Yet, in this case, the NoW relegated the story to page 12, and the RestoW ignored it altogether.
According to a lobby correspondent quoted by Open Europe “MEPs being corrupt isn’t really a story”. True. But stop and ask yourself why this should be. Is it because the European Parliament attracts greedy and immoral candidates? Or isn’t it more likely that something happens when they get there to make them behave as they do?
The truth is that MEPs are drawn into an intrinsically corrupting system: a system that tends, over time, to turn good people into crooks. From the moment you arrive, you are encouraged in a particular habit of thinking. You feel insulated from – even contemptuous of – public opinion. Witness, for example, the statement by another British MEP when asked by the NoW why he was paying a good deal of money to family members: “It’s very complicated and I don’t suppose any of your readers would understand it.”
Oddly, the worst shysters tend to be the Euro-federalists. For a long time, this puzzled me. After all, you’d have thought that those who wanted the EU to succeed would be the keenest on cleaning it up. Conversely, it suits us sceptics for the system to be sleazy: it vindicates our critique. Yet, over the years, it has tended to be the tiny number of anti-federalist MEPs – above all from Britain and Scandinava – who have pushed hardest to reform of the allowances regime, and the EPP/Socialist duopoly that has blocked us.
I think I now understand why. Federalists have to train themselves to disdain their electorates: that is how they justify disregarding the “No” votes thrown up by virtually every referendum. Having convinced themselves that their opponents are ignorant xenophobes, they find it easy to dismiss all criticism – even on the narrow grounds of financial irregularities – as beneath contempt.
That is why it is so depressing when a Euro-sceptic behaves the same way. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard, we souverainistes. It’s true that we tend to get clobbered for the slightest error, while federalists get away with gargantuan malpractice. But that is no excuse. If we lower ourselves to the other side’s level, we are lost.

Anthony Butcher · 13-05-2008, 01:10 AM

The News of the World says... | News | News of the World

Quote:

The money-pit leeching EU dry

A News of the World investigation finally exposes the European Parliament for the shambles it is...

A money-pit for cash-grabbing freeloaders who cynically milk our taxes for thousands of pounds a week each.
We have also discovered British MEPs who use the allowances and expenses system to funnel cash into their families' bank accounts.
Clearly, there are exceptions who represent us with integrity. But MEP Tom Wise's disgraceful utterances represent the worst of those who govern the annual £5billion of OUR taxes that go to Europe.
"Yes, I'm milking the system," he sneers. And: "I clean up the profit ...tough!"
Leeches like Wise get away with it because the rules let them. So those rules must change.
Every member should provide receipts for everything they claim. All MEPs should publish their expenses. Mistrust those who don't. And remember that at the next election.

Anthony Butcher · 13-05-2008, 01:11 AM

Euro MP brags of 'cushy job' - Cambridge News

Quote:

Euro MP brags of 'cushy job'

A EURO MP who represents Cambridgeshire has been caught on camera bragging how he milks British taxpayers of thousands of pounds in allowances and travel claims.

Tom Wise, who is one of seven European Parliament members for the East of England, was filmed during a two month News of the World investigation into the goings on in the corridors of power in Brussels and Strasbourg.

In undercover footage, Mr Wise said one of his favourite things about his job was "the opportunity to make shed loads of money."

The independent MEP, who turns 60 tomorrow, also said: "I don't know what an MEP's job is. No one's ever given me a job description. I've no idea what an MEP should or shouldn't do. So you make it up as you go along."

Speaking about his salary, Mr Wise, a former policeman, said: "It's cushy - £60,000 a year. Thank you very much indeed. What have we got to do for it? Not a lot!"

The Sunday paper also claimed Mr Wise told how he flies on no-frills airlines but claims the expenses for full-price flights.

He told the undercover reporter: "Every MEP travelling from their home country to Brussels gets their travel expenses on exactly the same basis, and it's usually business class airfare. And when I fly Ryanair I say 'Thank you very much!'

"I could actually put the Ryanair ticket in and just get that back - but that would be denying me a legally, well I say legally, a genuinely available funding."

He also said: "Yes, I am milking the system, in as much as I'm overpaid for the amount of expenses I've had."

Mr Wise was last year suspended by the UK Independence Party after being accused of claiming £36,000 for a researcher who he was actually paying just £6,000.

Mr Wise was cleared of any wrongdoing by a European Parliament inquiry, but still awaits the outcome of an investigation by the EU's anti-fraud chiefs OLAF.

Mr Wise's office refused to comment.

mkpdavies · 13-05-2008, 08:14 AM

What a hero Tom is. He took one for the team and sacrificed himself on the altar of media, but gorging himself silly on taxpayers cash. All to expose the system.

He has certainly brought the issue up in the papers. Just a shame he had to destroy his own, UKIP's and the anti-EU movements credibility in the process.

Fat slug.

Akebono · 13-05-2008, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkpdavies

What a hero Tom is. He took one for the team and sacrificed himself on the altar of media, but gorging himself silly on taxpayers cash. All to expose the system.

He has certainly brought the issue up in the papers. Just a shame he had to destroy his own, UKIP's and the anti-EU movements credibility in the process.

Fat slug.

Correct and some more.
Although he is a former guardsman he is a shambles for taking all of the cash he can get.
It is an outright and complete and abject failure and the fella should be ashamed.
Fattie.

Tony Bennett · 13-05-2008, 08:40 PM

Apart from anything else Tom said or did, I think the word 'shedloads' will be the one word remembered more than any other.

I read Len Baynes' letter, on another thread I think. He's been Chairman of Fenland Branch UKIP since 2000, when he joined. I met him a few times and it would be hard to find anyone more dedicated to UKIP's cause nor more enthuiastic, loyal and hard-working. His admission that he was 'wrong' about Tom Wise would have been hard for him to make, but it emphasises the sense of betrayal that will be felt by many UKIP members and supporters.

UKIP's opponents and the pro-E.U. media will be bound to bring this up in the weeks before the Euro elections next June. References may also be made of course to the short post-election UKIP service given by Ashley Mote (expelled after 2 months) and Robert Kilroy-Silk (resigned after 7 months)

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12-05-2008, 09:55 PM	#71 (permalink)
devilskitchen Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London Posts: 419	I think that Tom Wise should be allowed to stand for selection as a UKIP MEP again. It would test the mettle of those in the party, would it not...? __________________ Unio Europaea delenda est

13-05-2008, 08:14 AM	#78 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 32,059 Party: Libertarian Party	What a hero Tom is. He took one for the team and sacrificed himself on the altar of media, but gorging himself silly on taxpayers cash. All to expose the system. He has certainly brought the issue up in the papers. Just a shame he had to destroy his own, UKIP's and the anti-EU movements credibility in the process. Fat slug. __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Lib Dems

13-05-2008, 08:40 PM	#80 (permalink)
Tony Bennett Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,133	'Shedloads' Wise Apart from anything else Tom said or did, I think the word 'shedloads' will be the one word remembered more than any other. I read Len Baynes' letter, on another thread I think. He's been Chairman of Fenland Branch UKIP since 2000, when he joined. I met him a few times and it would be hard to find anyone more dedicated to UKIP's cause nor more enthuiastic, loyal and hard-working. His admission that he was 'wrong' about Tom Wise would have been hard for him to make, but it emphasises the sense of betrayal that will be felt by many UKIP members and supporters. UKIP's opponents and the pro-E.U. media will be bound to bring this up in the weeks before the Euro elections next June. References may also be made of course to the short post-election UKIP service given by Ashley Mote (expelled after 2 months) and Robert Kilroy-Silk (resigned after 7 months) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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