Hypocrisy – alive and well and living in the Labour Party's second home
The last few days have been full of the large claims made by London MPs for second home elsewhere in the capital. Minister Tony McNulty has come under fire for claiming £60,000 for his parents’ home in Harrow, whilst living just nine miles away in Hammersmith. Labour MP Dawn Butler has claimed £37,245 over the last two years so she an have one house in Stratford, east London and another in Wembley. The difference in travel cost and time to the House of Commons is negligible.
At the next General Election, boundary changes throw Ms Butler up against fellow Brent MP LbDem Sarah Teather. Since she was elected in 2003, Sarah has pointedly refused to take any money for a second home and has spoken out against the rules that allow them. Now she has launched a bid to stop the allowance for all London MPs. It is interesting to note that no London LibDem MP claims the allowance.
But why stop at the GLC boundary? My MP, Labour’s Claire Ward, claims for a second home, despite living opposite a station with a 16 minute journey to central London. Her journey is certainly easier that the MPs for say Enfield North or Romford. She also refuses to give the location of that taxpayer funded home, leaving us to speculate as to whether it is a pied-a-terre in SW1 or a country estate in Surrey.
Is this reasonable? Most people think not. Still the next General Eelction’s not so far away. I’m not sure waht Watford’s residents will think of Ward’s taxpayer-funded second home, whilst they struggle to pay the bills.
Related posts:
- Misogyny and sexism: alive and well and living next door to the Home Secretary
- I don't really live in Watford because it's a long way from London, says town's MP
- How our MP takes more for her second home than most of her constituents earn in a year
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