Tag: London

Barrister for Government of United States of America asks for redactions (before disclosure to the press) to document during day 2 of UK (United Kingdom) High Court judicial review appeal hearing of earlier judicial decision not to extradite Julian Assange from the UK to America

Barrister for Government of United States of America asks for redactions (before disclosure to the press) to document during day 2 of UK (United Kingdom) High Court judicial review appeal hearing of earlier judicial decision not to extradite Julian Assange from the UK to America

Barrister for Government of United States of America asks for redactions (before disclosure to the press) to document during day 2 of UK (United Kingdom) High Court judicial review appeal hearing of earlier judicial decision not to extradite Julian Assange from the UK to America

                                                    

By John Brace (Editor)

First publication date: 28th October 2021, 20:24 (BST, GMT+1).
Updated 29th October 2021 to add Kromberg declaration links

Royal Courts of Justice, London, UK (resized). Picture credit sjiong, made available under the CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
Royal Courts of Justice, London, UK (resized). Picture credit sjiong, made available under the CC BY-SA 2.0 licence.

Please note that comments are turned off due to the ongoing nature of this case.

For the last 2 days (27th October 2021 and 28th October 2021) I have observed an appeal hearing
heard before the Lord Chief Justice (The Right Honourable The Lord Burnett of Maldon PC) and The Right Honourable Lord Justice Holroyde which is a judicial review from the earlier decision not to extradite Julian Assange from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“UK”) to the United States of America (“US”). This earlier decision was made in the Westminster Magistrates’ Court by District Judge Vanessa Baraitser on 4th January 2021 (all 132 pages can be read on the Courts and Tribunal Judiciary website) by following this link.
Continue reading “Barrister for Government of United States of America asks for redactions (before disclosure to the press) to document during day 2 of UK (United Kingdom) High Court judicial review appeal hearing of earlier judicial decision not to extradite Julian Assange from the UK to America”

Which councillor claimed £72.05 for a dinner?

Which councillor claimed £72.05 for a dinner?

Which councillor claimed £72.05 for a dinner?

                                                            

Cllr Leslie Byrom Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting 30th June 2015
Cllr Leslie Byrom Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting 30th June 2015

 

Above is Cllr Leslie Byrom, Vice-Chair of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. He is one of the Labour representatives from Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council. Some readers may recognise him as the councillor who chaired the public meeting when councillors decided to close Upton and West Kirby fire stations.

Last year he submitted an expense claim to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. You can see this expense claim and the accompanying receipt below.

Cllr Leslie Byrom expense claim September 2014 page 1 of 2
Cllr Leslie Byrom expense claim September 2014 page 1 of 2
Cllr Leslie Byrom expense claim September 2014 page 2 of 2
Cllr Leslie Byrom expense claim September 2014 page 2 of 2

So, as you can see from the above the hotel receipt is for one night bed and breakfast (£100) and dinner (£72.05) which comes to a total of £172.05.

On the claim form however, despite Cllr Byrom signing a declaration that “I declare that I have actually and necessarily incurred additional expense” this £172.05 amount becomes £180. Someone has reduced the value of the claim £180 to £172.05.

Dinners costing £72.05 are of course technically within the expense claiming rules as if you read page 202 councillors can claim up to £180 for a subsistence allowance for stays in London.

However under the expenses system had Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service paid his accommodation directly, Cllr Byrom would’ve only been allowed to claim up to £47.81 for meals (a daily allowance of £56.82 minus £9.01 for the cost of breakfast).

As to whether spending £72.05 on a dinner is necessary. On an earlier stay at the same hotel, Cllr Leslie Byrom’s dinner was only £45.70 (see below).

Cllr Leslie Byrom hotel invoice February 2014
Cllr Leslie Byrom hotel invoice February 2014
Cllr Leslie Byrom expenses February 2014
Cllr Leslie Byrom expenses February 2014

As you can see he didn’t claim for the cost of the £45.70 dinner for that trip, but someone at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service has increased the value of the claim to include it anyway!

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Expense claim form for Councillor Phil Davies (Wirral Council) 2013 (continued) £241.10 claimed in 1 week!

Expense claim form for Councillor Phil Davies (Wirral Council) 2013 (continued) £241.10 claimed in 1 week!

Expense claim form for Councillor Phil Davies (Wirral Council) 2013 (continued) £241.10 claimed in 1 week!

                                             

Councillor Phil Davies is a Labour councillor for Birkenhead and Tranmere ward. During the period covered he was Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance/Best Value. The first eight pages of his expense claims I published on this blog last month.

However the page below was only provided last Friday, which accounts for a further £241.10 claimed (October 2013).

This breaks down to:

1) Mersey Tunnel tolls Fast Tag (£1.30 * 10 (5 return trips on 17/10, 18/10, 21/10, 23/10 & 24/10)) = £13
2) Return train from Liverpool to London for LGA Workforce Board meeting (21st October 2013) = £220.80
3) London tube for LGA Workforce Board meeting (21st October 2013) = £7.30

Total (for 17/10/13 to 24/10/13): £241.10

These were for meetings to see an unspecified Police and Crime Commissioner (which could be Jane Kennedy), a meeting of the City Region Cabinet, a meeting of the LGA Workforce Board (in London), a meeting of NWIUF (spelt incorrectly) and the LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership presumable the Liverpool City Region one).

In fact NWIUF is an error on the expenses form and should instead be NWUIF (which is the North West Urban Investment Fund).

For four meetings that are not at Wallasey Town Hall (Police Commissioner, City Region, NWUIF and LEP) Cllr Phil Davies should have included the place he was going to on the form. However, as he claimed Mersey Tunnel tolls for going to these meetings, it is assumed they are all outside the Wirral and to the east.

Looking on the bright side though, Cllr Phil Davies’s expense form is typed, which makes it far easier to read than those councillors who fill them in by hand! The total of £241.10 seems to have originally been a different figure, but then tippexed out and replaced with £241.10. However it is to be expected that the Leader of Wirral Council has a busy schedule and diary.

Cllr Phil Davies expenses claim 2013 page 1 of 1
Cllr Phil Davies expenses claim 2013 page 1 of 1

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Expense claim forms for Councillor Moira McLaughlin 2013 to 2014

Expense claim forms for Councillor Moira McLaughlin 2013 to 2014

Expense claim forms for Councillor Moira McLaughlin 2013 to 2014

                                                   

Councillor Moira McLaughlin is a Labour councillor for Rock Ferry ward. She claimed for the expenses of going to two conferences (plus the cost of meals). The first one was “Improving the outcomes for young carers” and the second one was a London-based conference titled “Challenges of Ageing Population” (thus covering both ends of the age spectrum).

For the first conference her expenses are London Tube costs to do with Oyster cards, hotel costs, dinner and lunch costs. For the second conference her expenses are for the train, tube costs, breakfast, evening meal and tea. However a breakfast claim here for £8.60 (which sounds like an expensive breakfast) was reduced to £6.00 because councillors have set limits on what they can claim for meals. Her two pages of claim forms are below.

Cllr Moira McLaughlin expenses claim 2013 2014 page 1
Cllr Moira McLaughlin expenses claim 2013 2014 page 1
Cllr Moira McLaughlin expenses claim 2013 2014 page 2
Cllr Moira McLaughlin expenses claim 2013 2014 page 2

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Merseytravel agree pilot of Liverpool City Centre bicycle hire scheme

A report on Merseytravel’s Annual Meeting held on the 27th June 2013 | Liverpool City Centre bicycle hire scheme

Bicycle

Merseytravel agree pilot of Liverpool City Centre bicycle hire scheme

Merseytravel councillors last month at its Annual Meeting agreed to start a pilot of a Liverpool City Centre bicycle hire scheme. A pilot will start this month and if successful the project for a larger scheme will go out to tender with the first phase rolled out in March 2014 (just in time for politicians to take credit for it in the upcoming local elections next May).

So, is Liverpool looking to copy London’s “Boris Bikes”? Will it be used by the locals or will it just mainly be used by the tourists?

On cycle related news, I spotted quadricycles being hired at New Brighton for £10 an hour recently. Certainly they seemed popular with the increasing number of tourists that are visiting New Brighton, so maybe Merseytravel can make it a success. Please leave your best bicycle related puns on Merseytravel’s new project as comments.