Paul Rowen MP attacks priest - very late at night.

Not a case of bishop bashing... (as with fellow Rochdale Lib Dem Mohammed Shafiq)

Bishop Ali, previously bashed by Mohammed Shafiq- who claims to be an adviser to Nick Clegg's on diversity issues.

For troubled MP Paul Rowen, this is more a case of priest poking. At 2.06 am Saturday morning.

In his desperate defence of his Parliamentary salary, expenses and allowances, Paul Rowen (and frantic “agent” Dave Hennighan) has been pushing an urban myth of 80-100 hour working weeks.

Rather than working himself thin, portly Paul looks as though he has been living off the fat of the land.

Does sleepless Paul consider his trolling about on local internet messageboards as “work”?

In a week when the BNP have attacked the clergy for getting involved in politics, why has Paul Rowen (and associated local Lib Demmers) jumped on the bandwagon of publicly dressing down men of the cloth?

The answer is intriguing. The “Heywood Parish Priest” -Paul Daly- has asked some simple questions about Paul Rowen's income, including a time after 2005 when Paul Rowen MP remained a Rochdale Councillor (claiming civic cash).

Here is what the MP typed at 2.06am:

PaulRowen Bronze Member United Kingdom 138 Posts

Posted - 23/05/2009 : 02:06:27 What I used my Councillors Allowances On I've read with some interest the thread on MPs Allowances. Given what has been happening in Parliament in the last few weeks and the need for fundamental reform I'm disappointed at some of the comments. in particular: (a) Ian Duckworth - I appreciate that losing your Council seat to the Liberal Democrats TWICE is a personal disappointment and has nothing to do with the topic in this thread. If you cannot contribute positively to this discussion please shut up! (b) HeywoodPP - as a Catholic Priest I am disappointed that you cast doubts on my honesty. I was a Councillor for twelve months when first elected an MP. I continued to Chair the committee that set up the IMPACT partnership. I played a full part in the running of the Council and attended Council meetings. I made a voluntary decision to donate my allowance after tax to charities. I did not have to do this and my decision has nothing to do with council tax payers. The bulk of these were Catholic based charities hence my disappointment at your carping critism. If you spent as much time ministering to souls as you should be doing I would have more respect for you. However, in the interests of total transparency I will post up a full list of those charities over the weekend. After which I will expect a full public apology from you.

The ugly nocturnal gnashing by current Rochdale MP Paul Rowen is very telling. He has never been backward in coming forward as a good catholic boy. Lots of lame press releases from Dave Hennighan about associated Roman Catholic and 'Oirish' issues.

Was this designed for Paul Rowen to hoover up sectarian votes? Attending "Catholic brotherhood" dinners, wrapping himself in flags, and apparently giving his claimed council cash to charidee.

So taxpayers' money was claimed by the MP who refused to step down as a town councillor. Paul insists he gave OUR money to several, unnamed charidees. Which worthy causes have benefited from Paul's largesse (of our money)? Palestine perhaps? (no, he only discovered Palestine in late 2008). Abused, vulnerable young people? Drug and alcohol abuse treatment? Paul has promised to name the charidees and demands an apology from the Parish Priest for his nerve in asking where taxpayers' cash has gone.

In a nasty side swipe at the Catholic padre, Paul suggests much of the money went to... Catholic charidees?

Well fancy that.

Al Capone was known to be a generous businessman with other peoples' money. The Chicago gangster's downfall came from an unexpected source. Discrepancies in his tax records.

Here is a simple question.

What are the tax implications for Cllr Paul Rowen MP claiming civic cash in 2005-2006 but then giving it "after tax" to charidee? By giving this cash away, were there any knock-on tax benefits for other elements of Paul Rowen's income?

On that note, where else has Paul Rowen derived other income and benefits in kind from?

How much has Paul Rowen received in other jollies? "Fact-finding" trips to overseas tram factories and award dinners?

What about other expenses and allowances that might not fall under the Westminster remit? Council of Europe travel, lodging and food? There looks to be a large Paul Rowen shaped hole in those decalrations. We guestimated that it cost £6.66 a word for Paul's trip to Strasbourg earlier this year. Have these receipts been dusted down yet?

On overseas trips paid for by various sources, do UK taxes get paid?