My thieving bastard MP, David Wright, clearly has a different view of what’s reasonable to the rest of us.
He thought it was reasonable to keep a 17 grand bung from a property developer for changing the tenancy agreement on a flat in Westminster the taxpayer was paying the rent on rather than give it to the Fees Office to go towards the inflated rent the taxpayer was paying as a result of the new tenancy agreement.
He thought it was reasonable to claim £599 for a TV for his flat in London so he could watch the news when he was down there. Tesco are selling a 15.6″ HD LCD TV with built-in Freeview tuner and DVD player for £129.97. Is that good enough for watching the news on? I might take a trip to Tesco tomorrow and find one and take a picture of it showing the news, purely for scientific purposes of course.
He thought it was reasonable to claim £64.99 for a razor to keep at his London flat so he didn’t have to take one with him when he went to London (his explanation). The Fees Office didn’t think it was reasonable and rejected it. Tesco are selling an electric razor for £11.
The other thieving bastard MP in Telford, Mark Pritchard, also has a problem grasping what is reasonable to your average taxpayer.
He thought it was reasonable to move from one flat to another in Westminster and claim £1,000 for new furnishings, £199 for a new vacuum cleaner, £145 for a microwave, £55 for new kitchen utensils and £45 for new bedding rather than take what the taxpayer had already paid for from his old flat to his new flat. What happened to the old furnishings, vacuum cleaner, microwave, kitchen utensils and bedding? Were they sold and the money paid into the Fees Office? Or were they left in his old flat for the next tenant, thus depriving the taxpayer of a nominal return on their investment? If he absolutely needed to replace all these items then Tesco are selling a vacuum cleaner for £16.59, a microwave for £29.39 and a full set of kitchen utensils for £29.36.
Pritchard said:
Rather than but new furniture and kitchen appliances, I purchased second hand goods – again, keeping the costs down.
I have only claimed for the necessities for living in my flat and had no luxuries.
Second hand? £199 for a second hand vacuum cleaner? £145 for a second hand microwave? Second hand, my arse.
Come the revolution, these two thieving bastard politicians will be the first against my wall.
Technorati Tags: David Wright, Mark Pritchard, Fraud, Corruption, Expenses