Auntie Beeb & Irony

It’s just been revealed that the BBC spent £10,000 on a Christmas party whilst whilst hundreds of it’s staff are losing their jobs!!!!!

The Christmas party, costing £10,445, was attended by Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, and the “guest list” included some of the highest paid in the corporation such as Sir Terry Wogan, Jonathan Ross and Jeremy Paxman.

The cost of the party were buried in expenses records released by the BBC Trust on Thursday which showed that Sir Michael Lyons, its chairman,
claimed £33,683 during a six month period.

Sir Michael claimed £15,000 for a chauffeur, although the Trust separated that cost in the figures
published last night, prompting questions over its commitment to transparency.

The expenses bill, released just a week after the Trust imposed a freeze on the bonuses of the corporation's executives, comes after 7,200 job cuts were made at the BBC over the past four-and-a-half years, with another 1,200 to be made this year.

This set of  figures released by the Trust showed that Sir Michael, who lives in Birmingham and is a friend of the Prime Minister, claimed £9,616 in hotel bills and travel costs of £8,208. His expenses did not disclose the £14,567 cost of his chauffeur, which were contained elsewhere in the accounts…..So much for transparency then!!!!!!

The chairman's expenses include £1,207 on "long distance cars", including a £251 trip from BBC Television Centre in west London to his home in Birmingham following the final of Strictly Come Dancing in December. He claimed £1,206 on cars for short trips, including to and from Paddington to Lord's cricket ground last summer.

The thirteen scroungers……Whoops sorry….Trustees, claimed a total of nearly £80,000 on entertaining, accommodation, food, travel and pay-TV
subscriptions in the six months.

Among the claims that were scrounged were tickets to launch of the Royal Opera House season, a premiere of a Bollywood film, a Morrissey concert and Scotland vs Wales in the Six Nations Rugby.

Last month Sir Michael laid himself open to accusations of hypocrisy after it was revealed that his salary package rose by 30 per cent to £213,000 last year while at the same time he was demanding cuts in costs from the BBC……Don’t forget that this “job” is part-time and completely unnecessary but it seems that under a Labour Government anyone awarded a Knighthood or Peerage also gets a seat on the “Gravy Train” .

BBC's annual report disclosed that Sir Michael's basic pay of 143,000 for the part-time position was boosted by a 70,000 benefits package – doubled from last year – which covered his travel costs to and from work, the use of a London chauffeur and overnight accommodation.

Sir Michael, a former chief executive of Birmingham City Council…….So he’s well qualified for slurping in the “trough” then…. Continues to live in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, and to commute to the BBC's headquarters in London.

He sparked controversy when the last set of expenses were published in February 2009 when it was revealed that he hosted a £9,803.99 – Trip for 'opinion formers' to Wimbledon, July 1998……This only goes to prove that these people think that they are untouchable and live in an alternative universe.

The sooner all these public scroungers are removed from their “jobs” the better and the “Gravy Train Club” closed for good……COME THE REVOLUTION!!!!!