Rather intrigued by the wording on Kit Malthouse's latest entry on the Mayor and Members Register of Gifts and Hospitality -
Kit Malthouse
18-APR-09
Drink, lunch and a ticket at the FA Cup Semi-Final in support of my constituents, Chelsea FC
Provided by The Football Association
Can this be translated as saying "being a GLA member is great because you can blag tickets to your favourite Footbll team, when they play at Wembley" or have I just totally misinterpreted the entry?
I suppose that as GLA members don't get a free second home, they probably feel entitled to the odd freebee.
Anyway, if I've got this wrong & Kit was doing vital work whilst quaffing free nosh & glugging free booze at the Semi, please let me know & I'll apologise & Donate £20 to the charity of his choice.
But it still pales in comparision to a certain Mr B.C.'s list.......
ReplyDeleteThe wonders of google blog alerts and your tempting offer of a charitable donation compel me to respond!
ReplyDeleteI accepted the offer of a ticket to the match for a few reasons:
1. I was happy to support Chelsea in a crucial match for them. As a team in my constituency they are a really conscientious community participant and they deserve encouragement and recognition. In particular they run an excellent "Kickz" diversion programme for young people (www.kickz.org.uk) - and I was honoured to be invited to launch this scheme for the club last year.
2. I sat next to the Chairman of the Football Licensing Authority who deal with stadium safety and we discussed a role for the FLA in the Olympics - a meeting is being called to discuss this vital work further as a result.
3. I also sat next to the Chairman of Wembley Stadium and discussed various issues around the planning environment. As a result a meeting is now planned with him and the chairman of the FA Lord Triesman to try and move things along around the area.
4. Most importantly for me, the visit meant I was able to see for myself the control room and security in operation during such a huge match, and to attend the half time police briefing (which meant I missed half of the second half). I met the police team in charge on the day and was able to give them my and the Mayor's personal thanks for the great work they do on a voluntary basis.
For what its worth I also "mystery shopped" several police officers during my journey from central London - all were very polite and wearing ID numbers.
For the record, I am a Liverpool supporter and I can afford my own "nosh and booze" thanks.
Payment to the Metropolitan Police Combined Benevolent Fund - you can make it online at:
http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/charitydetails.asp?ref=6871
With gratitude
Kit Malthouse
Kit,
ReplyDeleteFair enough, I guess that qualifies as work, so I'll give the MPBF the requisite donation tomorrow.
Well done for clarifying the matter.
Rog T
Hold your wallet Rog! Mr Malthouse hasn’t explained why it was actually necessary to attend Wembley to discuss these important matters. Politicians can get to see the control room at Wembley any day they want.
ReplyDeleteArsenal and Chelsea only received 25,000 tickets each for the game, even though both teams have far more supporters who were desperate to be there. As Mr Malthouse is a Liverpool supporter, a nicer gesture would have been for him to give the ticket to a genuine fan in his constituency who was not able to get one.
If you are giving £20 to charity, Mr Malthouse should give £200 to cover the cost of the VIP hospitality he received which, by his own admission, he can afford.