Why is MP hiding second home?

Jun 24 2009 by Alan Rennie, Stirling Observer Wednesday

Sir, – Gordon Banks, local Labour MP, has some explaining to do.

Last year he claimed a total of £171,106 in expenses. Of this £23,083 was designated second home allowance, the maximum claim allowed. The question is: where exactly is his second home?

I ask because for some reason Mr Banks is quite coy on this subject. He censored details of his address – along with much else – on the claim forms published on the House of Commons web site. What is he trying to hide?

Why can't he tell us, the people who help pay his mortgage (about £1000 a month) exactly what we are paying for?

Is his second home here or in London? Has he always claimed the allowance for the same home? Has he ever flipped the designation, as some of his Labour colleagues have done?

These are just some of the questions to which I, a Labour voter, expect an answer.

I'd also like to know why the Labour Party tolerates the likes of Michael Connarty and Eric Joyce in its ranks.

Connarty, proud owner of an alarm clock costing £250, was indignant when questioned about his expenses. Surely no one expects an MP to buy from a 99p store, he protested. Well, not when you can shop in John Lewis at our expense, I suppose.

Meanwhile Joyce, whose travelling expenses are truly astronomical – he must spend all his time on the road – turned nasty when questioned about his money matters on “Newsnight”.

Apparently we have no right to know whether or not he paid capital gains tax on the sale of not one but two homes.

These people have sullied the name of the Labour Party and damaged its electoral prospects. If they don't do the honourable thing and resign then they should be driven out of the party. Then it might have a chance of rebuilding its battered image. Yours, etc.

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