Ben Bradshaw has an attitude problem...

TB is wondering exactly how buying some train reading at Exeter station, in the shape of

Attitude

magazine helped Ben Bradshaw MP with his parliamentary duties...?

P75

here

.

TB is working on some more serious, potentially criminal, larger scandals, but will try keep the smaller, funnier stuff coming.

Yawn...

TB work up with a bit of a groggy head this morning thanks to cocktails with a pretty lady.

Couldn't have asked for a nice hangover gift though:

Enjoy.

Calling all citizen journos...

At some point today the Parliamentary website will make five thousand odd .pdfs available of MPs expense claims and receipts. Although it is expected that these will be heavily censored, there may well yet be some things that the Telegraph have missed. Citizen journalists and wannabees out there - this is a golden opportunity.

TB sadly can't afford to take a whole room full of interns and researchers like the newspapers can, but that isn't to say that there can't be some fun to be had. If you fancy having a look through any of the stuff, why not email TB anything of interest or note that you find. Any MP you particuarly loath? Why not sniff around what they have been up to.

You can email TB here and if you think it's really juicy, send him your mobile number and he will give you a call straight back. TB has the facilities to get the stories out there to thousands of readers and push them further to the right places, (you never know you could even make a bit of cash if they can be sold onto newspapers, however as far as the bear is concerned, this is about lancing a boil, not taking advantage of an ill wind.)

So get sifting through the stuff.

Another Window Dressing Resignation

Kitty Ussher who, along with Caroline Flint, was one of the only vaguely attractive females in the government quit last night. Apparently she wants to spend more time with her family etc. Bear in mind this comes just twelve days after taking up a job in government.

She may look alright after a couple of pints, but that doesn't stop her being a

cheat and a liar

.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.

A little birdy told TB that Jim Devine won't still be smiling on Sunday morning.

Vintage Boris:

Apologies for the shameless use of Twitter for amusing stories today, TB isn't

the only one

, but having a very busy afternoon knee deep in the law. Looking into the ins and outs of fraud by misrepresentation and the legal nightmare this entails. All will be revealed...

Anyway in the mean time this made TB laugh. A lot:

Ken was born?

TB always presumed he congealed in a gutter somewhere.

Follow Tory Bear on Twitter

Do you need a receipt?

Nice to see that the NUS, an organisation with an overdraft almost the size as UK plc, isn't cutting back on presidential perks:

Seems President Streeting has as an equally causal disregard for his member's subs as the rest of the trade union movement.

Media handling - Fail.

TB bets that whoever designed Brian Binley's

shockingly bad website

didn't factor in the thought that the scrolling BBC news feed might one day be leading with a scandal about their boss:

You'd think he would want his own spin on the scandal, that he is denying, to be the most prominent mention of it...

FFS

Seems those pesky Lib Dems have decided to ban Tory Bear from their

forums

, again. Apparently they don't appreciate a little bit of scrutiny and think that banning one his many points of access will stop this. TB would avoid reading the Mirror tomorrow if you are of the sandal wearing, bearded, yellow freak variety.

Not so Liberal now are you?

Smoke and mirrors?

Strange timing on the

Devine show trial announcement

from the Labour Party. Could they perhaps be wanting to deflect a few headlines from a certain Minister who has been under fire all day and could well be on his way to resigning twice in quick succession?

Perhaps Mr Malik will be swinging by the Star Chamber soon.

Who is TB?

If you are one of those readers often enthralled about who the mystical TB really is, then you should probably tune into BBC News 24 sometime around 19.15 tonight.

Will Malik stand down again?

Tory Politico

raises an excellent point:

"The last time the Mr Malik was investigated, he stepped down from his role as Justice Minister. Now that a fresh probe of his expenses claim’s is on the cards will he stand down again?"

Guess we will have to wait and see...

The COPs close in on Malik

The

web is closing

in around Shahid Malik and his dodgy expenses. Sky are now running with the story so fingers crossed the pressure can be sustained.

Some people just don't know how to resign with dignity.

Labour is broken.

TB had the misfortune of bumping into an old Labour friend on the train home last night. Having spent a lovely evening with Sister Bear, and even running into a former Lady Bear, the journey back to the sticks was made even more painful by having to endure the shit chat from this chap that was mainly focused on what "a larf" it was that Bercow was going to be elected Speaker.

TB was at the hustings yesterday afternoon and had to endure this pathetic little brown-noser winking, laughing and waving at his imaginary friends in the audience, (also why is it necessary to nod in agreement to everything your opponent says when behind the scenes you are phone banking through the night slagging them off?) If he sows up the victory it will be another dark milestone for the Labour Party.

The fact that apparently over one hundred Labour members are "supporting" him shows just how morally bankrupt the PLP has become. They don't like this man, but, the thought of scoring one over the Conservatives is too much for many of them to take. It's this mentality that proves just how unfit Labour are for government. They are more concerned with scoring party political points than doing what is best for the country. Labour is rotten to the core. As

this report

shows, there are far better candidates running for Speaker than Bercow, and greater candidates have dropped out of the race for being in Bercow's position- hated by half the House. The Tories could have kept Frank Field in the race but they saw the light and realised what a pathetic thing electing someone who is hated by half the organisation they must represent would be.

If the Labour Party elect their slimy little pet then they should hang their heads in shame. We can't go on like this. This bunch of tribal, vicious, partisan fools must be booted out before they cause irrevocable damage to this nation and forever destroy our once great institutions. If they can't even elect a decent Speaker, someone respected by both sides, someone who is suitable for the job, then they deserve to be routed even sooner than will already happen.

A Bercow victory?

Will the last person to leave Westminster turn off the light...

Lifting the lid on the sand pit...

The Independent

have written a deep feature on the youth wings of the British parties. The close-to-death Young Labour/Labour Students barely get a mention, though this is hardly a surprise given the decline in membership and the total rejection of socialism by the next generation who have grown up with twelve long years of lies. CF get the standard write up, not as right wing or embarrassing as we once were apparently. Which is nice. Liberal Youth are given plenty of room to spin their thang, but their failings are exposed too. Favourite opener from Bagshaw: "Errr nooo"

Helped along gently with the odd quote from TB.

Intriguing...

TB just found this in his inbox:

"Dear all,

The Daily Mail requires six people to work for them from Thursday 18th June through to Monday 22nd June. They need them to pore over the MPs Expenses which are being released sometime on the 18th/19th June. You will be paid and it should be possible to work from home. If you would like to share out the work of one person and do it as part of a group, this should also be fine.

If any of you would like to be considered or have any further questions, please contact blah blah blah"

Having been done over by The Telegraph for the last month you can put money on the Mail praying there is still some juice for their little room of helpers to find. Interesting they went through the

ASI

as well. There must be a hundreds of desperate hacks finishing various journo courses right now who would kill for a break on a national paper.

Not long till the second wave of expenses scandals...

UPDATE 1am: A commenter makes a very good point:

"This might have something to do with an article in the Daily Mail (pre-Telegraph revelations) which suggested that unredacted MPs expenses would show that a number of MPs were having affairs (i.e. claiming for the same hotel room). Just a thought."

Russia's Got Talent

Not for the light hearted.

Tip of the Hat to

Old Holborn

Guest Post - Muheed Jeeren

TB's good buddy Muheed Jeeren has penned this from Sri Lanka where he has returned to live after studying in the UK. A big player on the Boris campaign and a general legend, he gives an interesting insight into the relationship between the Muslim community and the Conservative Party.

I am a Muslim who is very loyal to the Conservative Party. I recall my first journey into conservative politics while I was at the University of Portsmouth doing my degree. I got the impression from my ethnic minority friends that conservative politics was forbidden territory for us. This created a certain curiosity in my mind to explore the party’s policies and aspirations. After I joined the Conservative Party and started to work with my fellow conservatives, I got convinced of the true image of the conservatives. The Tories are very eager to look after the interests of ethnic minorities and also eager to build better relationships and goodwill among all communities.

During the London Mayoral Election 2008 election a vicious campaign was carried out against the Conservative Party and Mayoral candidate Boris Johnson alleging that he was going to interfere with the religious activities of Muslims in the capital by banning their holy scripture. A ridiculous idea designed to distract the Muslim voters from supporting the Conservatives. False allegations like this made it harder for me to campaign within the Muslim community. But I kept my great confidence with the Tory candidate for Mayor and the party for it’s commitment to serve the minorities. However The Labour Party won the votes of the majority of Muslims by using this dirty trick. But we won the election and today Boris is doing a fantastic job by serving everybody alike without any discrimination. A case in point is the appointment of Munira Mirza and Kulveer Ranger as his advisers. The Labour Party’s myth that Conservatives don't care about minorities has been exposed by this act to be untrue. I am very proud to call myself a loyal Conservative activist who comes from a Muslim background.

I am confident that the Conservative Party will become the next government. It will have the right solutions to all the problems faced by the British people. Also it will offer satisfactory responses to the minorities. I am confident that David Cameron will give effective leadership to the nation to achieve prosperity.

The Conservative Party is wants to give people more power and control over their own lives to make the right decision themselves unlike Labour, who believe in top down governmental control over people. It believes in the people's wisdom and is willing to trust the people with the important decisions of their lives, sharing the responsibilities of governing with them. These principles above make me proud be a member of this great party.

(ed: Sound. )

Homophobia is Gay...

TYC

has been digging out photos of Luke Richards, the (former?) President of the Warwick University Liberal Democrats. TB too wonders what Brian Paddick, the gay Lib Dem candidate to be Mayor of London, would have to say about Mr Richards comments regarding the shooting of homosexuals in order to prevent the spreading of "the disease". The comments have now been pulled from the closed section of the

Liberal Youth Forums

where they were prominently displayed until late yesterday. TB wonders how active Richards was during this recent campaign from Liberal Youth:

Guess we will have to wait until later this morning to find out what Cowley Street will have to say about this matter. As TB said last night, if this was a tory who had made these comments, the tabloids would be running it by now and kicking up a right fuss.

Why the double standards?

Nothing yet...

No word from the Mirror newsroom, yet. Here, TB will make it a little easier of you. Here is a picture of the Liberal Democrat student leader who said that gay people should be shot. Even an MP in the picture too, for good measure. Well done to

TYC

for digging it out.

Any newspaper that wants to buy the original images of the quote in question should contact TB.

You would if it was a tory standing next to Dave...