Posted on 04/07/2014 6:40:23 PM PDT by JSDude1
(Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron's handling of an expenses scandal engulfing one of his ministers has put him under pressure before European elections, threatening his Conservative party's already clouded electoral outlook.
Cameron, whose party risks being beaten into third place in next month's European Parliament elections behind the anti-EU UK Independence party (UKIP), has stood by Maria Miller, Britain's minister for culture, since a parliamentary report ordered her to pay back wrongly claimed expenses last week.
But the media and public backlash against Miller shows no sign of abating despite Cameron's efforts to end it. Many of his own MPs have privately questioned his judgement over the issue and he is under growing pressure to rethink his decision.
At a time when he is trying to take on UKIP and woo voters by claiming credit for Britain's economic recovery, he instead finds himself being asked every day why he hasn't sacked Miller.
The issue is a sensitive one in Britain after lawmakers' expenses claims were leaked to the media in 2009, exposing widespread real and perceived abuse, shaking the political establishment and denting public confidence in politics.
"Maria Miller is in her job and she is doing a good job as culture secretary," Cameron said on Monday, refusing to cave in to calls to fire her.
Conservative MPs are uneasy about the way the case has come to dominate politics so close to the May 22 European poll.
Nicola Blackwood, a Conservative lawmaker and ministerial aide, was one of the few willing to publicly comment on Monday.
"Clearly it's very unhelpful for this to drag on in the way that it is," she told BBC Radio Oxford.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
Clearly this could benefit UKIP..
I’m no longer a full-throttle UKIP supporter since their evolution on homo marriage, but if they can win a blowout, it could destabilize the EU, and that is good for freedom.
Meanwhile Nigel Farage is throwing a party. :-)
The EU is going to collapse into a bloody mess.
The sooner it happens, the lower the toll will be.
If I were British, the Conservative Party would be dead to me for the way they imposed same sex marriage on the nation.
Notice that the MP involved in this scandal (along with HMPM Cameron-; I am not British either, but I have deep..deep respect for our shared cultures). IS THE MP who WAS THE MAIN PUSH/LOBBY FOR “HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE” in the UK.
Why would a man, in the US, believe that the UK and US have a currently shared culture?
Historically, my friend ;).
Uh, most polling suggests that the Liberal Democrats will struggle to cling onto fourth place. No one thinks they’re coming second.
I guess I’m no one, thanks.
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