Forum Topic

Socialism in One Family

Josef Stalin believed in Socialism in One Country -Russia.Russia is no longer a Socialist Contry as envisaged by Stalin. Thank goodness for that !There is at least one family in this country that seems to have done quite well out of Socialism in One Family.Ann Keen is the MP for Brentford and Isleworth. Ann Keen's husband Alan is also an MP. That is well known. Alan Keen MP evidently employs one of his sons.Ann Keen and Alan Keen both claim Additional Costs Allowance on a taxpayer funded second home in Central London even though they have a home in Brentford within 10 miles of the House of Commons.Ann Keen's sister Sylvia Heal is also an MP.Ann Keen's cousin Lady Glynis Kinnock is an MEP.Her salary is £61,820 per annum but her expenses are secret in accordance with the rules of the European Parliament.MEP's are paid £125,000 a year for office expense but do not have to account for how this is spent.Ann Keen's cousin's husband Lord Neil Kinnock is Chair of the British Council, former EU Commissioner and former Leader of the Labour Party and former MP.This will  entitle him to a number of generous pensions.Ann Keen's cousin Glynis Kinnock's son Stephen until recently at least was (and maybe still is) the head of the British Council in St Petersburg, Russia and therefore employed by the British Government organisation chaired by his father, Lord Kinnock.He has recently had some problems with the Russian authorities but, there again, many do and he cannot be blamed for that and who his parents are.Stalin believed in Socialism in One Country -Russia.The Keens and the Kinnocks may not believe in Socialism any more (after all who does ?) but they have certainly done quite well out of supporting Socialism in One Family.

David Giles ● 6692d10 Comments

Husbands and wives and partners in local government is one thing but in the Keen/Kinnock case it has been elevated to a fine art at national and indeed international level.The circumstances surrounding Ann Keen's selection as a parliamentray candidate on the basis of an all-female shortlist, which was subsequently ruled to be illegal, were of course the subject of considerably controversy and divison with the Brentford and Isleworth Labour Party at the time and for many years later. I wonder would she have been selected if someone other than Neil Kinnock had been leader of the Labour Party at the time ?And of course the abilities of all those concerned are very limited -quite apart from the stupidity and dishonesty of the various policies and causes this tribe has espoused over the years.

David Giles ● 6690d

And neither of us used "spell check"!

John Connelly ● 6691d

I agree with this in priciple, Neil

John Connelly ● 6691d

Lets just say all politcical parties "keep it in the family". I see nothing wrong with that. If people wish to serve then why not.

Neil Chippendale ● 6691d

And of course none of these people could have possibly got their jobs on merit could they? Relationship to any elected member HAS to be declared when seeking employment with a local authority, no doubt these will be the people on the Pip hit list?

Vanessa Smith ● 6691d

Phil, your paranoia is showing! The original "keep it in the family" thread began on 10th February was by one of your colleagues who supplements his employment income with allowances paid for by Hounslow taxpayers. His partner is also a beneficiary. The "people in glass houses" accusation is therefore pertinent.Had you engaged your brain before launching into your usual ranting reply you would have noted that I was agreeing with the substance of Justin's contribution about motivation in politics.I have raised no criticisms of the motives of any of the related groups on Hounslow Council. Houwever, the assumptions in your reply suggest that your own motivations may be little different than the Keens who you criticise so vociferously.Incidentally, do you think the financial crisis at CIP might have been less severe if some of your Executive colleagues with responsibility in this area spent more time on Council work and less time earning money elsewhere? I note that this year, like last, there was no budget proposal for CIP received by Scrutiny. Perhaps some attempt at financial control of CIP would have avoided the present shambles.

John Connelly ● 6691d

"Some of those most active in the innuendo against the Keens miss the irony of their own personal situations"JohnOne can only speculate as to your reasons for wishing to deflect attention from the activities of the Keens.However, the originator of the "Keep it in the family" thread, your former colleague Mr. Hughes, was himself part of a husband and wife team during the last administration.Had the voters of Bedfont been silly enough to re-elect him, he and Mrs. Hughes would be a husband and wife team on the present council.Your own partner stood for election as a candidate for the Hounslow Independent Alliance.  Had she been elected you too would have been part of the his-and-hers arrangement which you condemn in others.The "innuendo" against the Keens is not, as far as I can tell, a result of the fact that they are both involved in politics and are in fact both local MPs.  It is - as you well know - about whether two MPs who ostensibly live together in a dwelling nine miles from their place of work actually require tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to enable them to travel the very short distance to work in the morning.One is tempted to ask why you, as a person who is no longer beholden to the New Labour Party, make such a big deal about connections between individual non-Labour councillors, when as you well know so many friends, relatives and cronies of past and present Labour councillors happen to have found employment with the local authority under the previous administration.Your opposition to the PIP, and that of certain of your associates, is viewed with this in mind.

Phil Andrews ● 6692d

Sometimes I wish I could express myself as well as the last 2 comments and I could not agree more then what as already been said.

Dave Hughes ● 6692d

I personally have little time for our local MP's. However,I find the constant reference to their alleged financial motivations irritating. Assuming motivations in politics are fairly standard, the situation in Hounslow Council looks like this;-1)The Tories (22 + 1 "Independent" members) have 2 couples, one member whose wife is the group's well-paid political assistant, one member whose husband is a Party Agent, a mother and daughter as councillors2) The ICG (6 members) have 2 couples3) The Lib-Dems (4 members) have a father and son4) Labour (24 members) have a couple and a father and daughter5) The West Area independents (2 members) are a coupleGiven last year's increase in allowances the "keeping it in the family" smear would be easily applied here.The reality is that few people involved in politics remain attached to their families unless they are also interested in the activities. Some of those most active in the innuendo against the Keens miss the irony of their own personal situations.

John Connelly ● 6692d

I'm not quite sure what you are driving at but if your point is that there is something wrong with members of the same family being involved in politics at the same time then you are very much mistaken. Political families aren't a recent invention - the Pitts or the Spencer-Churchills spring to mind and there are many others where a tradition of public service has been passed on through the generations or where several family members have been served at the same time.With the greater involvement if women in politics there have been many more husband and wife partnerships which given that many people end up marrying people in the same profession or with similar views and interests is hardly surprising. There are several examples of husband and wife teams in local politics and I don't see any problem with that and it would be equally inappropriate to go around totting up their earnings with the implicit message that they are just in it for the money.Your assumption that everyone is venal and self-interested suggests you are judging people by your own personal standards and ignoring the reality that most people, of whatever party, go into politics due to a commitment to public service. 

Justin Harris ● 6692d