Simon Danczuk's Troubles

by Brian Bamford

NORTHERN Voices' has seen correspondence which shows that the Metropolitan police were alerted on the 25th, January last year, to possible fraud with regard to Mr. Simon Danczuk's expenses claims as an MP for Rochdale.   Mr Danczuk was originally suspended from the Labour Party a year ago for sending 'lurid' texts to a 17 year old girl asking for a job?  Since then he has become entangled in the other allegations of expenses fraud.
The complaint at that time came from the office of Rochdale Councillor Andy Kelly, who now claims 'the ongoing investigation from the Met Police into Danczuk's expenses make being welcomed into the Labour Party "inconceivable".'  Mr Danczuk had had to pay back £11,583 in expenses for 'claiming expenses he wasn't entitled to' according to the Independent Parliamentary Standard's Authority (Ipsa).  Another member of the public had also complained.
Ipsa’s compliance officer, Peter Davis, has said in his report into the complaint:
'The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the MP obtained an increase to his accommodation expenditure budget by claiming dependent uplifts for his two oldest children for a period of over three years, when, at no point were either of the children routinely resident.'  
The compliance officer must also conclude that this was done knowing that there was no reasonable prospect of the children staying at the accommodation.
Because these very serious allegations are still hanging over Mr. Danczuk, Councillor Andy Kelly, leader of the Rochdale Liberal Democrats, has said in a statement that Simon Danczuk's recent claim that he is about to be reinstated into the Labour Party 'is yet another example of the cavalier attitude of our town's MP.'
Rochdale's Councillor Kelly quite reasonably added:
'We could have a situation were he is welcomed back into the Labour Party on the Monday, charged with misuse of public funds on the Tuesday and kicked out again on the Wednesday.'
A Crown Court judge in a recent local case said that the defendant lacked insight, well there could be no better example of a lack of insight than that presented by Simon Danczuk's bluster to gain re- admittance to the Labour Party.

Simon Danczuk's snare of self delusion

by Les May

THE snare of self delusion is one to which we all have a tendency to fall prey, though it is a trait which seems much better developed in some people than in others.  Kept to ourselves it may appear to others merely as misplaced ambition.  Shared too often with others and it may gain us the accolade of ‘bullshitter’.  If you find the term a little indelicate then in my defence I should point out that it has a respectable philosophical pedigree and been the subject of academic study.
https://www.stoa.org.uk/topics/bullshit/pdf/on-bullshit.pdf

These musings were prompted after reading Simon Danczuk’s latest outpourings to the Manchester Evening News and repeated in the Rochdale Observer and Daily Mirror.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/suspended-mp-simon-danczuk-claims-12382981

According to Simon 'Labour has "no choice" but to accept him back into the party in the new year' and backs it up with 'I’ve met with chief whip Nick Brown and he says there’s no case to answer.'  Big mistake Simon!

Now we don’t know what was actually said at the meeting because we only have Simon’s version to go on.  But I don’t imagine that he has made a friend of Nick Brown by immediately reporting a private conversation to the press.  At best it looks like an attempt to put pressure on the Labour party and put Nick Brown in the position of seeming to be at odds with its decision making process if Danczuk does not get his own way immediately.

He then stands reality on its head by going on to say '… it’s taken so long because I have been a vocal critic of the leadership.'  No Simon!  It’s because of your attacks on Corbyn that you have not been kicked out of the party long ago.  

Confrontation isn’t Corbyn’s style.  When he made an effort to be conciliatory towards Simon and listen to his complaints,  just as after his conversation with Nick Brown, Simon rushed off to tell his story to the press.  The only difference being that as his name was on that article he presumably turned it into a ‘nice little earner’.  
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3288055/Corbyn-night-President-XI-boring-SIMON-DANCZUK-got-hauled-leader-MoS-columns-result-best-one-yet.html

Corbyn is astute enough to know that if he is going to unite the Labour party kicking out a self styled critic will only give credibility to him.  The first time Simon tried to talk up his own importance in October 2015 just after Corbyn was elected, John McDonnell dismissed his threat to launch a leadership challenge, with the words 'That's Simon being Simon.'
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/simon-danczuk-threatens-topple-jeremy-6700810

Within days of Danczuk being suspended from the Labour party for what he later admitted was ‘inappropriate behaviour’, he was blaming his actions on a ‘drink problem’ and facing a police inquiry regarding a rape allegation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35204398
https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/937605/simon-danczuk-breaks-silence-on-sex-text-shame-i-was-drunk-horny-and-alone/
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/04/labour-mp-simon-danczuk-facing-police-inquiry-rape-allegation

That didn’t stop him threatening legal action against the party within a fortnight and demanding an explanation for action ‘detrimental to his reputation’.  Who says lawyers don’t have a sense of humour?  
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/16/simon-danczuk-threatens-legal-action-over-labour-suspension

Things didn’t improve for him in February when the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) launched an investigation into a complaint over expenses claimed for having his children stay at his London second home.  Expenses that, in the view of the complainant, he was not entitled to.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/01/simon-danczuk-investigation-mps-expenses-rochdale-ipsa
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/labour-mps-expenses/12118816/Investigation-opens-into-suspended-Labour-MP-Simon-Danczuks-expense-claims.html

Or March when IPSA reported:  'The compliance officer must also conclude that this was done knowing that there was no reasonable prospect of the children staying at the accommodation'.
Simon agreed to repay more than £11,000.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/18/simon-danczuk-labour-agrees-repay-expenses
http://parliamentarycompliance.org.uk/transparency/ClosedInvestigations/2015-16/Danczuk%20Simon/2016-03-18%20-%20Danczuk%20Simon%20-%20Statement%20of%20Provisional%20Findings.pdf

At much the same time came the announcement:  ‘Police confirm they are looking into allegation of fraud over money claimed for children.’
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/simon-danczuk-police-investigate-expenses-10993622

All this still left him time to interfere in the internal politics of Bangladesh.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/24/bangladesh-government-angered-simon-danczuk-sanctions


Simon was just as busy generating adverse publicity in April when The Sun ran a piece with the heading of ‘Expenses cheat Simon Danczuk now using taxpayers’ cash to pay ex-wife Karen to work for him’
https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/politics/1135202/expenses-cheat-simon-danczuk-now-using-taxpayers-cash-to-pay-ex-wife-karen-to-work-for-him/
Things did not improve in June.  The Sun ran a story with the header 'Shamed Simon Danczuk claimed money for ‘crisis management’ after The Sun exposed his sordid texts to teenage girl https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1352498/shamed-simon-danczuk-claimed-money-for-crisis-management-after-the-sun-exposed-his-sordid-texts-to-teenage-girl/
And the Zelo Street blog claimed to know who get the money for the ‘crisis management’.   http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/simon-danczuks-consultant-revealed.html
But he did get a richly deserved reward in June when he it was announced that he was to have a building named after him. http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/more-crappy-behaviour-surrounding.html
In August Simon got lucky, really lucky.  After a family row at their ‘gaffe’ in Spain ex-wife Karen emerged from hospital with some forty stitches in a her upper chest caused by Simon kicking in a glass door, parts or all of which fell on Karen.  Serious though this was, it could have been much worse and possibly fatal, if one of those pieces of glass had severed a blood vessel.  That was his first stroke of luck.
The second was that Karen did not press charges.  If she had he would have emerged from court as a ‘wife beater’ and, thick skinned though he is, even he would have had to resign or be expelled from the Labour party.  His third stroke of luck was that ‘harridan tendency’ in the Labour party, which usually has a lot to say about real and imaginary violence against women, were obviously on holiday that week and could not find time to comment. http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/danczuks-in-boozy-bust-up.html  https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1623573/karen-puts-injured-chest-under-wraps-as-she-heads-off-to-tell-court-to-free-mp-hubby/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1629869/karen-danczuk-spotted-with-gruesome-wounds-after-waiter-bust-up-with-estranged-hubby-simon/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1646861/karen-danczuk-says-shes-scarred-for-life-after-mp-hubby-simon-kicked-in-glass-door-during-crazed-bust-up-on-family-holiday/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1636054/mp-simon-danczuk-faces-second-police-investigation-for-attacking-his-ex-wife-on-holiday-in-spain/

This incident had some remarkable parallels with what had happened between the couple in Spain eight years earlier:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3157459/Disturbing-questions-Simon-Danczuk-crusades-against-abuse.html

Throughout much of October Danczuk was embroiled in a dispute with the Greater Manchester Police Federation over ill considered remarks he had made over the investigation into claims of sexual abuse at Knowl View special school.
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/danczuk-having-realistic-chance-of.html
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/danczuk-given-ultimation-to-cough-up-by.html
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/tonightm-danczuk-in-lions-den.html
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/dodger-danczuk-doesnt-deliver.html

This spilled over into November and raised questions about Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd’s unwillingness either to praise his officers for the investigation of events at Knowl View or condemn Simon Danczuk for his comments.
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/tony-lloyd-pcc-is-there-conflict-of.html

If you listen to Simon he is full of stories about the support he gets from his local party and his constituents.  But lets face it so that does not count for much.  To judge from things which occasionally pop into my ‘Inbox’ his actual support only extends about as far as Labour Leader Richard Farnell’s remit runs.

Simon’s view seems to be that because the investigation into the rape allegation have been concluded and he has not been charged, his other antics during the past year should be ignored and the Labour party should lift his suspension.  What he conveniently forgets is that there is still the small matter of the Metropolitan Police investigation into whether the claims he made for his children residing with him at his London house constitute fraud.

Like the rest of us he will just have to wait and see.     

ROCHDALE ONLINE & Danczuk's Expenses

DISGRACED Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk's expense claims are being questioned again.
It has been revealed that Danczuk claimed £186.68 for a flight from a family holiday in Alicante to London Gatwick airport in May 2015.
In an email to the Independent Pariamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), Paul Mitchell has asked "why should the taxpayer foot the bill for a flight from a family holiday..."
Mr Mitchell's email reads:
 'Mr Danczuk has a holiday home near Alicante and spends considerable time there during school holidays.
 'On 19 May 2015, a day before flying back to the UK from his holiday home, he posted on Twitter that he had had a few days away.
 'On 20 May - the date of the flight claim - he posted, again on Twitter, that he was being sworn into Parliament.
'It does, therefore, beg the question why should the taxpayer foot the bill for a flight from a family holiday to be sworn into Parliament?
'I await to hear from you.'
For more go to https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/

Catfight on Twitter!

POLITICS hit a new low earlier this week with reports of a confrontation in the Stranger's Bar of the House of Commons, between Simon Danczuk, the notorious MP for Rochdale, and the Labour MP for the neighbouring constituency of Heywood and Middleton, Liz McInnes.  This encounter followed a catfight on Twitter between Ms. McInnes and Mr Danczuk's former wife, Karen Danczuk.

One witness to the bar-room altercation told The Mail on Sunday:  'Simon was pretty menacing towards her, and could be heard saying words to the effect that he had people who could dig up stuff on her and her team.'  
Danczuk is suspended from the Labour Party:  His suspension followed claims that he sent explicit texts to a 17-year-old girl after the break-up.  He is being investigated by the expenses watchdog IPSA over whether he legitimately claimed thousands of pounds in allowances for looking after his children. 
Since his suspension Danczuk MP has had a hard time with alleged scandals over his private life and finances.  The latest blemish has been the purloining of intellectual property, exposed this week on this Northern Voices Blog,  with regard to the use without permission of iconic material from the locally highly respected publication the Rochdale Alternative Paper (RAP), which ceased publication in the 1980s.  For which a former editor of RAP received a payment from Mr. Danczuk's publisher Biteback Publishing, which will now go towards an African children's charity for the erecting of a toilet block.
In the current catfight spat between Karen and Liz McInnes MP, Karen Danczuk, who works in Mr Danczuk’s Rochdale office, had tweeted: 

'I really want to fight Middleton and Heywood at the next General Election for MP!! It’s time they had a home girl putting the town first.'

Yet, her record as a local councillor left something to be desired, and her principle political assets seem to be from the neck down!   Certainly that seems to be the area of her anatomy on which she has based her reputation in politics and beyond. 

To her credit the Heywood and Middleton MP, Liz McInnes, had responded by trying to tone things down by tweeting:  

'Karen, I have no intention of getting into a slanging match with you. Have a nice day.'

*******

Case Work & Mrs Danczuk!

This chart above from Mr. Danczuk's office (slightly obscured) provides a breakdown of the varying types of case work dealt with by the team in Simon Danczuk’s constituency office in Rochdale.

In total, staff handled 56 significant new cases, dealing with everything from immigration to police matters.

On 13^th, August 2015, the SUN NATION WEBSITE ANNOUNCED:

'Selfie queen Karen Danczuk is touting for a new career in PR after she lost her old job when she split from her MP husband.'

The article continued:

'Karen, 32, known for her selfies, earned around £20,000 as Simon’s secretary but lost the job after their June split. Now she has taken to her blog in a bid to land a public relations job.' 

And she said:

'I decide I want a part-time job in PR. I click away and enthusiastically upload my CV and covering letter.'

Now eight months later, she has landed a job for £12,000 back in the Rochdale constituency office of ex-hubby Simon Danczuk, the now slightly tarnished MP for Rochdale.  Mr. Danczuk is still suspended from the Labour Party.  

Today, ROCHDALE ONLINE reported that Councillor Ashley Dearnley, the Rochdale Conservative Group Leader, refused to condemn the Danczuks, he said:
'It is not for me to say who an MP should or should not employ.  It is after all public money and all information is in the public domain.'
Whilst there is no 'rule' that MPs should advertise positions, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) publishes guidance that advises MPs to: 'Advertise the vacancy and conduct appropriate assessments to ensure you have the best candidate for the role'.

Mr Danczuk did not advertise the position.  Asked why he had given a taxpayer funded job to Mrs Danczuk without advertising the role and conducting interviews, a spokesman for Mr Danczuk said: 'Karen brings a significant level of knowledge and experience to this vital role.'

Well, no doubt she will be well qualified to deal with the work load of the '56 significant new cases, dealing with everything from immigration to police matters' mentioned above.'   The chart above though not fully shown, give us some idea of what Madam Danczuk will have to get her head around and we all know that she is competent on Twitter and handy at doing selfies.

Who are we to judge who Mr. Danczuk should employ?  Even if it does come out of the public purse!

Over-claiming Rochdale MP to pay back money

SIMON Danczuk will have to pay back £11,583 he claimed in expenses for accommodation for his children, and for a parking charge he claimed while on holiday in Spain.  The troubled MP for Rochdale was told by Peter Davis, Ipsa's complaince officer, that:
'The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the MP obtained an increase to his accommodation expenditure budget by claiming dependant uplifts for his two oldest children for a period of over three years, when, at no point were either of the children routinely resident.

'The compliance officer must also conclude that this was done knowing that there was no reasonable prospect of the children staying at the accommodation.'

Alongside the £11,583 excess, Mr Danczuk was also found to have wrongly claimed £96.50 in parking charges while on holiday in Spain.

Mr Danczuk said:

'Regrettably, due to the vague wording of the rules, I inadvertently claimed 10% more than my annual living allowance, money which was paid directly to my landlord in London and not to me.  I hold my hands up and admit that this was an error on my part.'

Parliamentary Watchdog Probes Mr. Danczuk

The report that appears below was issued

to Northern Voices last night by

the Rochdale Liberal Democrats:

SIMON Danczuk will be officially investigated for a 'mis-use' of public funds it has this morning been confirmed.  The Parliamentary Watchdog IPSA said in a letter to Rochdale Lib Dem David Hennigan, "It is my intention to open a formal investigation into the accommodation claims referred to in your complaint." They also confirmed that they are liaising with Greater Manchester Police, who will wait for the outcome of any investigation.

Dave Hennigan, who made the complaint on behalf of the Rochdale Liberal Democrats said: 

'I am pleased that the relevant authorities are taking my complaints so seriously.  What is clear is that Mr Danczuk is in serious, serious trouble and this could spell the end of a colourful Parliamentary career. All MPs are paid expenses to ensure that they can carry out their roles in both their constituencies and Parliament.  Mr Danczuk has used them to fill his already swelling coffers.'

Councillor Andy Kelly,Leader of the Rochdale Lib Dems said:  

'People in our town deserve better.  There are so many urgent issues that need tackling like for example child grooming, flooding and a raw deal from this Tory Government.  Instead, what we have is an MP all over the papers for the wrong reasons.  It's one thing being caught 'sexting' a 17 year old Constituent or having your chaotic private life splashed all over the media.  Mr Danczuk has clearly claimed for expenses that he should of.  Other former MPs have gone to prison for less. I hope that our MP can be open and honest during this process - he owes Rochdale that much.'

Commenting on Greater Manchester Police's involvement, IPSA said, I have spoken with Greater Manchester Police and they are content not to open a criminal investigation at this stage.  This leaves me free to progress my investigation.  A Spokesperson  from the investigation said: 

'I have spoken with Greater Manchester Police and they are content not to open a criminal investigation at this stage. This leaves me free to progress my investigation. IPSA and I are signatories to a memorandum of understanding with the police that requires me to inform the police if I have reason to suspect that a criminal offence may have been committed. I will adhere to this requirement should I develop such a suspicion.'

He continued:  'At the conclusion of the investigation and following the receipt of any representations from IPSA and the MP, I will draft a Statement of Provisional Findings. This will indicate whether I consider Mr Danczuk to have been paid an amount under the Scheme that should not have been allowed.'

Simon Danczuk the 'Anything Goes' MP

'Ipsa Rules Are Too Vaguely Worded,' says Rochdale MP

HARD-WORKING Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk, among other things studied sociology and politics at Lancaster University.  Some years before Simon commenced his studies at Lancaster
the philosopher Paul Feyerabend had written his book 'Against Method:  Outline of an Anarchist Theory of Knowledge' published in 1975, about the philosophy of knowledge.  Some of the academics in the sociology department at Lancaster University such as the ethnomethodologist, John Hughes, and the post-modernist, Scot Lash, were influenced by Feyerabend's writings.  Feyerabend proposed an 'Anything Goes' approach to the sociological and scientific method which amounted to a 'rough-arsed' approach to the accepted rules for doing research and breached Karl Popper's recommendations of the methodology of 'falsification'.
Thus, it may be that Simon Danczuk's case that the 'Ipsa rules are too vaguely worded' with regard to his lavish expenses claims may have its roots in his own intellectual upbringing at Lancaster University: the Rochdale Observer this week states:
'An initial analysis of the accommodation claims for the parliament suggests Mr Danczuk had the highest total claim in the country between 2010 and 2015.'
Purists may complain about this, but it well be that Simon Danczuk the politician in filling -in his expenses claim forms is merely following the intellectual requirements and recommendations put forward by Paul Feyerabend - 'Anything Goes'.
The rules of Ipsa state that the allowance for dependent children for accommodation is only available to MPs whose children are 'routinely' living with them and being cared for in London.  Mr. Danczuk MP seems to have put in a claim on the off-chance that his children of which he has four by two different mothers may come down to live with him:  as Danczuk says - 'I have always made it clear that my children are welcome to come and live with me at any time and I have made sure I was able to support them properly when that would happen.'   But did it happen?  Well, Mr Danczuk also claimed for 34 train tickets - many of them first class - for his children to travel to London since 2013.
Mr. Danczuk has said:  'My Ipsa claim was made4 properly and at a time when it was expected all four of my children would regularly come and stay with me at the same time.'
So there you have it!  The rules are 'vague' and a busy hardworking MP living a modern family life like Simon Danczuk schooled in an 'anything goes' methodology and philosophy at Lancaster University, may assume that this would give the right to put his expenses claims in a similar spirit of what Feyerabend himself called 'epistemological anarchy'.