November 2014:  Frank Roy British Labour Party politician

He is a British Labour Party politician, who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Motherwell and Wishaw since 1997. He was educated at Our Lady’s (RC) High School, Motherwell, and later at Motherwell College (1992) and Glasgow Caledonian University in Consumer and Management Studies (1994). Like many others in the area, he was a steelworker until he was made redundant in 1991 when Ravenscraig Steelworks closed. He worked as a parliamentary assistant to Helen Liddell MP, for a short time before becoming MP for Motherwell and Wishaw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dec 2000: MP censured over speaker bets

Frank Roy was singled out by the Commons standards and privileges committee, which declared “Betting by members on the outcome of any parliamentary business brings discredit on the House.” The committee backed a decision by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Elizabeth Filkin to uphold a complaint against Mr Roy by a member of the public. No action was taken against Roy, however, in a letter to Ms Filkin he expressed “sincere regret” for failing to anticipate the controversy that news of his betting would cause. (BBC News)

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 2001: Unveiling of Carfin memorial to the Irish potato famine deceased.

Roy resigned as parliamentary private secretary to Helen Liddell in the wake of the cancellation of a visit to Carfin Grotto by Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. He was widely criticised for writing to the Taoiseach warning his visit on the day of an Old Firm clash might cause security problems by raising sectarian tensions. In his letter of resignation he wrote “I am certain that if I had not highlighted my concerns about the timing of the visit, I would not have been fulfilling my duty to the people who elected me.” Critics said, “the Labour Lanarkshire mafia have dragged Scotland’s political reputation into the gutter and caused severe embarrassment to our country.” ( BBC News)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 2002: William Gage jailed for 20 years for killing of gangster Justin McAlroy

On the 3rd of March 2002 Justin McAlroy co-hosted a charity fund raising dinner for the Labour Party. The event was one of the now infamous “Red Rose Dinners”, which raised funds for the now Lord McConnell and other Labour election campaigns from businessmen, including the building firm run by Tommy McAlroy. Justin McAlroy was in the company of his friend Frank Roy, who is the Labour MP for Wishaw. Also present was Jack McConnell the First Minister for Scotland and John Reid the (then) Secretary of State for Northern Ireland together with various Special Branch bodyguards, senior police officers and a surveillance team from the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency (SDEA) who had Justin Justin McAlroy under surveillance for the previous four years.

The SDEA had recently tailed Justin McAlroy to and from Europe, at the time he travelled to Estonia where he met some men who were then arrested while trying to smuggle a multi-million pound consignment of heroin back into Scotland. McIlroy had been openly boasting about various meetings between himself and senior figures within the Russian Mafia. He further claimed that he had previously travelled out to meet them and had also entertained them in a Glasgow hotel.

The police “forgot” to detain Mcilroy, but arrested two other men. Four days after the charity dinner Justin MciLroy stepped out of his Mercedes jeep outside his house and was shot dead. The SDEA, asked why they had not witnessed nor filmed the incident said that (after four years of surveillance and despite Justin MciLroy’s serious criminal activities and associates) they had decided that MciLroy was no longer a person of interest and removed the surveillance.

Jack McConnell and Frank Roy were probably embarrassed by the later revelation that Justin Justin McAlroy had slipped more than ten thousand pounds into the Labour party coffers during the charity dinner. It was a serious business that their friend Justin Justin McAlroy had been a suspected gangster and heroin importer with links to the Russian Mafia but now they had over ten thousand pounds that they had not declared to anyone. In an amazing twist the secretary who worked in the Wishaw office (shared by Jack McConnell and Frank Roy) was subsequently jailed for misappropriating the money!  Frank Roy and Jack McConnell were never interviewed.

While it is clear that major heroin barons do amass millions of pounds, that money comes from ten-pound deals. Every tenner comes from someone finding their house burgled or some poor pensioner being kicked to death for her meagre pension money. On the 2nd of May 2002, two full months after Justin McAlroy murder (it was alleged by solicitor Bob Kerr) that the MP for Wishaw Frank Roy had been contacted by a person connected to Justin McAlroy.

Kerr claimed that one of the police officers involved in the murder enquiry told him that the MP for Wishaw Frank Roy had contacted a senior officer in charge of the murder enquiry and somehow put pressure on the officer to make a bogus arrest in order that Justin McAlroy case would be closed quickly. The very next morning an innocent man called William Gage was arrested and charged with the murder.

 

 

Frank Roy

 

 

 

 

Follow up: Gage was tried and convicted of the murder of McAlroy and sentenced to 20 year’s without remission He is still in Shotts Prison. He has consistently denied the offence but despite two appeals he remains in jail.  Full story: 

https://innocent.org.uk/2016/04/08/man-kept-in-prison-due-to-spurious-immuendo-2006/  

http://paulviking.websitetoolbox.com/post/police-are-creating-an-us-and-them-environment-1523749

http://s11.invisionfree.com/Creativewriters/ar/t2291.htm

http://shirleymckie.myfastforum.org/ftopic420-0-asc-200.php

 

 

 

 

After-note:

The McAvoy Link to Estonia was later confirmed with a vengeance when it was revealed that Tommy McAlroy, 52, Secretly visited the country, to meet with two businessmen, friends of his late son Justin and himself.

Robert Wright and Les Brown, (millionaire criminals) fought but lost a long legal fight against extradition to Estonia, where they were each jailed in 2005 for 4 years and seven months (but were allowed home immediately because of the time they spent behind bars before the court case) for trafficking £2.4million worth of heroin destined for Scotland which was seized in the capital, Tallinn.

The pair, whose front firms included security and catering businesses were accused of using every trick in the book to delay the extradition process and stay in Scotland.  Brown was once one of Scotland’s top house-breakers but quickly realised the profits to be made from the drugs trade.

 

 

 

 

13 Feb 2011: Robert Wright – Convicted Heroin Trafficker and Dealer is Allowed to Sell £610k Mansion Despite Drugs Plot

A major heroin smuggler is free to flog his £610,000 mansion … as it wasn’t targeted under proceeds of crime laws. Security firm boss Robert Wright, 45, has put sprawling home Ten Acres on the market. The house has six bedrooms, snooker room, cinema and is set in 10 acres of land. Buyers are told the driveway is big enough to park a fleet of 20 cars. At one time Wright owned his own Formula One racing car and a fleet of other expensive motors. Wright’s wife Gillian paid £275,000 for the property in the village of Westfield, near Bathgate, West Lothian, 12 years ago. (The Record)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2008: Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

In the abortion amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (now Act), Frank Roy voted for the abortion time limit to be lowered to 12 weeks against scientific and medical consensus which is currently 24 weeks.

After four separate parliamentary votes on varying time limits, the majority of MPs voted to keep the abortion time limit at 24 weeks, in keeping with scientific and medical consensus, hence no abortion amendments were added to the bill.

he also voted for Nadine Dorries’s amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill on 7 September 2011, which was ultimately defeated by 368 to 118 votes.

This amendment would have stopped BPAS and Marie Stopes from providing counselling for women with unwanted pregnancies and allowed ‘independent’ counselling including that provided by faith-based organisations.

He voted first against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at its Second Reading in February 2013, and then for the bill at its Third Reading in May 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Dec 2010: MPs cash in on ‘Third Home’ ploy: Despite strict new expenses rules some are now £1,000 a month better off

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) was set up to curb cheating MPs. But after a tip from MPs outraged at alleged continuing abuses it has been established that, several MPs have used a loophole in rules phasing out second-home mortgage expenses to move into a third subsidised home.

Some now claim more for new rented third homes than they did when their second homes were bankrolled by voters. By using a second loophole, they can avoid a penalty clause intended to recoup profits made from any rise in property prices. Instead, they can pocket every penny of any gain, even though taxpayers have footed most of their monthly home loan bills.

Before the 2010 Election, Motherwell Labour MP Frank Roy claimed £885 a month expenses for the second-home mortgage on his £500,000 flat in County Hall, the former GLC building across the Thames from Parliament.

He now claims £1,430 per month rent and declares in the Commons register a, “residential flat in London from which rental income is received”. It is understood to be his Southwark flat, which has an estimated monthly rental value of up to £1,750.

Assuming that former steelworker Mr Roy’s mortgage still costs him £885, it means he is now nearly £1,000 better off every month than he was under the old system. Meanwhile, the cost to the taxpayer of supplying him with a London home has increased by £545 a month. (Daily Mail)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11 Jul 2012: The Hall of Shame – The 117 Labour and Tory MP’s Who Voted Against Lords Reform

Last night, 91 Conservative and 26 Labour MPs (including Frank Roy) voted against the manifestos on which they were elected, voting against the second reading of the House of Lords Reform

But the Labour 2010 manifesto was explicit: “We need fundamental reform of our politics to make it more accountable. “We will let the people decide how to reform our institutions and our politics,  changing the voting system and electing a second chamber to replace the House of Lords.”

The Tory manifesto supported Labour’s position. It said::“We will work to build a consensus for a mainly elected second chamber to replace the current House of Lords, recognising that an efficient and effective second chamber should play an important role in our democracy and requires both legitimacy and public confidence.”

The Liberal Democrats are understandably furious at what they see as a Tory betrayal of the coalition agreement, having delivered the votes on tuition fees, health reform and other policies many in their party loathe.

David Cameron pledged to get his party back onside by the autumn, though there are real fears he will fail, with some Conservatives, like Peter Bone MP, openly advocating for minority government, feeling they’ve nothing to lose, with no desire to please Nick Clegg.   (Leftfootforward)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 2014: Heated Independence debate in Motherwell

Labour MP Frank Roy experienced two of the more torrid hours of his political career

The MP was putting forward the argument for maintaining the Union in a debate organised by the Lanarkshire Forum for Independence. During his introduction at what was a lively evening, he admitted to the 300-strong capacity audience that his wife had warned him beforehand he’d “get a doing” at the event and the warm reception this prescient prediction received from the largely pro-independence crowd proved to be as good as it got for the long-serving MP.

Indeed, his misery was compounded towards the end of the evening when one of the audience – an Englishman to boot – took the mic and criticised the elected member for his, “unconvincing arguments” declaring the debate had persuaded him to change his previously unshakeable No stance to Yes.   (Daily Record)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mar 2014:  30 Scottish Labour MPs That Voted For Osborne’s Welfare Cap

Frank Roy and 29 other labour MP’s voted with the Tories limiting the financial level of support able to be provided to those in most in need in the community

 

The List of shame:

Margaret Curran – Glasgow East – Tom Greatrex – Rutherglen & Hamilton West – Ian Murray – Edinburgh South – Willie Bain – Glasgow North East – Gordon Banks – Ochil & Perth 

Tom Clarke – Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill – Dame Anne Begg – Aberdeen South – Alistair Darling – Edinburgh South West – Ian Davidson – Glasgow South West

Thomas Docherty –  Dunfermline & West Fife – Frank Doran – Aberdeen North – Gemma Doyle – West Dunbartonshire – Sheila Gilmore – Edinburgh East – David Hamilton – Midlothian

Tom Harris – Glasgow South – Jimmy Hood – Lanark & Hamilton East – Cathy Jamieson – Kilmarnock & Loudon – Mark Lazarowicz  – Edinburgh North & Leith –

Gregg McClymont – Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East – Anne McGuire – Stirling – Anne McKechin – Glasgow North – Iain McKenzie – Greenock & Inverclyde –

Grahame Morris – Livingston – Jim Murphy – East Renfrewshire – Pamela Nash – Airdrie & Shotts – Sandra Osborne – Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock – John Robertson – Glasgow N. West  

Frank Roy – Motherwell &  Wishaw – Lindsay Roy – Glenrothes – Anas Sarwar – Glasgow Central        (petewishart.wordpress)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28 April 2014: Frank Roy will provide some light relief for the Yes campaign

Frankie boy was at one time an official of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a kind of Catholic Orange Order. In his teens he was a flautist member of the Muirhouse Division of the AOH and the St Francis Xavier Flute Band, Carfin.He will provide plenty of spark between the patrician Darling and the real Scottish Labour party and don’t forget how hated John Reid is by the Brownites who in turn can’t stand Darling. (This is Labour, remember). I see even the mainstream have stopped pretending that Darling and Brown have buried the hatchet. They haven’t and won’t.

What we are now seeing is jostling egos as the campaign enters the panic zone. Frank may be an ace card in one way. He at least knows the core vote and relates to them in a way far beyond Darling’s capability. It is shoring up those waverers in the West that holds the key to success. Clearly they have deduced that Johann can’t do it – and her figures are truly mind-boggling – so it’s Frank’s turn. It may work, if he can stay out of trouble but it’s hard to think something wont turn up to add to the disastrous decision-making by Darling and McDougall. (Derek Bateman)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 July 2014: Better Together – Frank Roy wants fewer egos involved in campaign

When Better Together needed someone to whip the operation into shape they turned to Roy. One senior Labour figure said: “You’ve got Douglas Alexander poking himself in where he’s not wanted, Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling competing for attention and the Labour party careering around the country in a big red bus with the words Vote No plastered along the side like something even Ian Paisley at his height would have deemed over the top.

Now working alongside the Tories and Lib Dems in Better Together headquarters. Frank said, “Back in the ’80s I worked with people from other parties in the fight to save Ravenscraig. “I disagreed with Tories on nearly everything except this issue. Once the campaign is over I will get back to normal campaigning to kick the Tories out of Downing Street and the nationalists out of Bute House.”

Evelyn McCulloch commented:

“Well, well, well, You did a great job with Ravenscraig working alongside the other parties! I wish you the all the same success!”  (Sunday Post)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 Mar 2016: Scottish Labour general secretary Brian Roy and father, ex-MP Frank Roy, in party cash row

Kezia Dugdale’s top official is at the centre of a cash row that has split one of Labour’s most marginal seats.

Scottish Labour general secretary Brian Roy is facing questions over how his dad Frank Roy spent around £1400 owed to Scottish Labour HQ on his own re-election campaign. The money represented two years of affiliation fees owed to Labour HQ by Frank Roy’s constituency Labour party (CLP) in Motherwell & Wishaw.

First elected an MP in 1997, Frank Roy stood again in the seat again last May. At the time, Brian Roy had newly taken over as Scottish general secretary and treasurer. However a leaked internal audit shows the Motherwell & Wishaw CLP hadn’t paid its annual subscription to Labour HQ since 2013, despite having funds to do so.

The report states: “No Labour affiliation fees have been paid since 2013 despite having a balance of £8737.70 in the CLP account in 2013. This leaves the CLP in debt of around £2000. The balance of the CLP account on 28/9/15 was £109.48.”

Although failing to pay the fees to HQ didn’t disqualify Frank Roy from standing, it did leave more in the CLP account to spend on the election. The fall-out from the audit is now dividing the CLP and the Labour administration on North Lanarkshire Council, with many members furious at Frank Roy’s election agent Paul Kelly, who has been accused of failing to explain the state of the CLP’s finances.

Kelly, last week elected the council’s deputy leader, was CLP chair during the election. The audit report says that in early 2014, the CLP’s general purpose bank account of around £3200 was merged with a previously separate election account of £2800. “There are no minutes recording that this change of policy was agreed by the CLP,” it says.

The resulting single account was then cleaned out in the election – again without any minutes of the CLP agreeing to it – as Roy defended his 16,800-vote majority. The report states: “There are no minutes of the CLP agreeing to the level of expenditure to be used on the General Election.” Roy’s campaign cost £13,701, compared to £6,852 for the SNP’s Marion Fellows, who nevertheless won by 11,900 votes.

Roy got £4703 worth of staff support from Scottish Labour HQ, but the bulk of his campaign money, around £8600, came from draining the CLP account. The total outlay was twice that of the 2010 election, when Roy’s campaign cost £6766. The political co-ordinator of Better Together, Roy is now campaign director of the Scottish arm of Britain Stronger in Europe.

The failure to pay affiliation fees emerged last week after an audit into Motherwell & Wishaw CLP, which found “total unknown deposits” of £4474 were paid into its bank account last year without explanation, and “total unknown expenditure” of £2108 left it. The auditor noted: “These matters were raised by CLP members on several occasions from July 2015 and as far as I am aware the issues have not been properly addressed.”

A senior Labour source said the draining of the CLP account in election, including affiliation fees, had left the local party struggling going into the Holyrood election, when Labour MSP John Pentland is defending a 587-vote majority in Motherwell & Wishaw. The insider said: “There are very unhappy people here. The council Labour group is very fractious. We can’t even pay our bills far less run an election campaign.”

Kelly did not returns calls. Frank Roy could not be contacted. A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “The Labour party is working with this CLP to address any outstanding issues, including payment of affiliation fees.” (The Herald Scotland)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And How Much Did Franks Westminster day’s Cost the Good People of Motherwell & Wishaw??

Total Running Cost (2011-2012)

Constituency and Staffing Costs

Office Costs office rental – stationery – mobile phone rental/use – web site cost – accountancy charges
£8,960.05

General Admin new boiler £1500
£1,769.92

Staffing Expenses
£192.69

Constituency Rental 1 month only
£1,220.70

Payroll staffing costs
£102,799.68

Direct Parliamentary Expenses

Accommodation rental £1430 monthly = ancillary costs
£18,754.80

Travel and Subsistence personal travel by air Scotland London – car use home (Motherwell to airport) – Food drink in parliament parking charges London
£16,490.08

Total
£150,187.92 grand total for year; £252,987.60

 

 

 

Total Running Cost (2012-2013)

Constituency and Staffing Costs

Office Costs office rental – stationery – mobile phone rental/use – web site cost – accountancy charges
£19,754.36

General Admin
£1,769.92

Staffing Expenses
£3657.34

Constituency Rental
£1,220.70

Payroll staffing costs
£106,804.93

Total £166,636.90

Direct Parliamentary Expenses

Accommodation rental £1430 monthly = ancillary costs
£19,739.20

Travel and Subsistence personal travel by air Scotland London – car use home (Motherwell to airport) – Food drink in parliament parking charges London
£16,681.07

Salary
£65,738.00

Total £102,158.27 Grand Total for year; £268,795.17

 

 

 

 

Total Running Cost (2013-2014)

Constituency and Staffing Costs

Office Costs office rental – stationery – mobile phone rental/use – web site cost – accountancy charges
£14,548.92

Staffing Expenses
£120,820.37

Total £135,369.29

Direct Parliamentary Expenses

Accommodation rental £1560 monthly = ancillary costs
£14,826.65

Travel and Subsistence personal travel by air Scotland London – car use home (Motherwell to airport) – Food drink in parliament parking charges London
£20,100.00

Salary
£66,396.00

Total £101,302.69 Grand Total for year; £236,671.98

Approximate full 5 year parliament cost £1,250,000