Wiltshire
| FATHER MOURNS A LOYAL SON WHO WENT OFF THE RAILS |  | | | CORSHAM FESTIVAL NEWS | | | | ST JOHN'S PROM, MARLBOROUGH | | | | PEWSEY VALE SCHOOL PROM | | | | RIDGEWAY SCHOOL PROM, WROUGHTON | | | | GRITTLETON HOUSE SCHOOL PROM | | |
|
|
|
Michael Ancram under fire over expenses
 |
| Michael Ancram, pictured at the opening of Haine and Smith Opticians, in Pewsey, last year |
Michael Ancram has admitted to claiming £20,000 in housing expenses last year which he used to paint his property and remove moss from the garden.
The multi-millionaire former Conservative party chairman and deputy leader claimed the expenses under the "additional costs allowance," which is meant to help MPs with constituencies outside of London with costs associated with additional housing. The MP for Devizes has not broken any rules.
Mr Ancram said he claimed the allowance to pay the costs of running his constituency house, a £1.5 million, five-bedroom home, Fairfield House, set in two acres in the Vale of Pewsey.
The revelation comes on the heels of expenses questions surrounding Derek Conway, a Conservative backbencher who was the subject of an inquiry concerning payments he made to his son, for work as a parliamentary researcher.
It emerged last week that the Tory MPs Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton had claimed thousands of pounds in housing costs, having transferred their London flat into a family trust in an apparent attempt to avoid inheritance tax. They claimed expenses worth £165,000 for rent they had paid to the trust.
The rules also allow members to claim for television licences, council tax, parking permits, burglar alarms, security lighting, buildings insurance, maintenance, cleaners, furnishings and utility bills, as well as up to £400 on food a month. MPs do not have to declare publicly how the money is spent.
8:29am Monday 11th February 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: Lachlan, Stirling on 10:34am Mon 11 Feb 08
During his brief spell as a Scottish M.P., the Member for Devizes, with a family pile in the Scottish Borders, was a great enthusiast for the introduction of the Community Charge.
The Poll Tax, as it was more colloquially known, was introduced in Scotland one year earlier than England and Wales?
This one piece of iniquitous legislation galvanised Scottish Civic Society, comprised of people from every socio-economic group, and it subsequently saw off every M.P. in the indigenous Tory Party!
The Scots Tory Party has never recovered, and is still treated like political pariah by the mass of Scots!
Many former indigenous Tory M.P.'s who could not hack it in Scotland then fled South where they carpet-bagged their way into English constituencies.
During his brief spell as a Scottish M.P., the Member for Devizes, with a family pile in the Scottish Borders, was a great enthusiast for the introduction of the Community Charge.
The Poll Tax, as it was more colloquially known, was introduced in Scotland one year earlier than England and Wales?
This one piece of iniquitous legislation galvanised Scottish Civic Society, comprised of people from every socio-economic group, and it subsequently saw off every M.P. in the indigenous Tory Party!
The Scots Tory Party has never recovered, and is still treated like political pariah by the mass of Scots!
Many former indigenous Tory M.P.'s who could not hack it in Scotland then fled South where they carpet-bagged their way into English constituencies.
Posted by: Bassettman, Wootton Bassett on 3:49pm Mon 11 Feb 08
Thanks for that boring rant Lachlan. Of what relevance is it to MPs expenses exactly??
Thanks for that boring rant Lachlan. Of what relevance is it to MPs expenses exactly??
Posted by: groper2007, Oxford on 4:48am Tue 12 Feb 08
Complete and utter rip off of the Tax Payer, again, no wonder M.P.'s are so keen on the Tv License etc., they can claim for it.
But the latest revelations about nepotism is beyond belief, no wonder there's so many capable people that can't get jobs, when M.P.'s line their pockets even more, by paying family members "to work", when they don't really need to, and in some cases didn't actually anyway.
Complete and utter rip off of the Tax Payer, again, no wonder M.P.'s are so keen on the Tv License etc., they can claim for it.
But the latest revelations about nepotism is beyond belief, no wonder there's so many capable people that can't get jobs, when M.P.'s line their pockets even more, by paying family members "to work", when they don't really need to, and in some cases didn't actually anyway.
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
