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MP Julian Lewis would be astonished to pay back expenses (From Daily Echo)
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MP Julian Lewis would be astonished to pay back expenses
11:49am Sunday 17th May 2009
HAMPSHIRE MP Julian Lewis has said he would be ‘astonished’ if he was asked to repay any of the £7,000 expenses he claimed for redecorating his second home.
The New Forest East MP denies any wrongdoing in his expenses claims and insisted he had only used it to carry out essential maintenance and had not abused the system.
Dr Lewis also said he only sought advice over whether he should claim £6,000 for a new wooden floor in his second home as part of the overall bill for refurbishing the flat.
Criticising reports that he asked Commons officials if he could claim for the wooden floor but was refused, he said: “It is slightly misleading to say that I “asked Commons officials if I could claim for a £6,000-plus wooden floor but was refused”.
“What I did was to send the Fees Office, in advance, the entire list of works I intended to undertake and to request guidance as to which would be claimable and which would not,” he said.
His claims included £2,369.75 for Bosch kitchen appliances, a £4,870 redecoration bill, a number of other household items such as a £119 trouser press, a £5 "sweater tidy" and a £4 tin of wax polish.
Defending the claims, Dr Lewis said the oven, hob, dishwasher and washing-machine were more than 10 years old and "damaged, worn-out or, in the case of the electric hob, extremely uneconomic.”
“Their replacements were the exact new equivalents of the worn-out units. They were not an upgrade. It was entirely appropriate to renew the items in this way," he said.
He added that he did not replace working items in his kitchen such as a fridge freezer.
"This is in stark contrast to cases where people have claimed many thousands of pounds for installing complete new kitchens," he said.
“Yes I did claim for a trouser press. I need a trouser press," he said.
"Anybody who wears a pair of trousers or a suit needs a trouser press unless they are going to stay up all night ironing them."
He descirbed the curremt MPs expenses system as “rotten”
Asked if he expected his claims to be deemed excessive by Mr Cameron's scrutiny panel, he said: "I do not want to prejudge but I would be astonished if any of it did."
The shadow defence secretary was among a number of MPs who backed a bill attempted to scupper the public release of their expenses.
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Your Say YourEcho
southy, redbridge says...
12:09pm Sun 17 May 09
Red & White Never Blue, Southampton says...
12:18pm Sun 17 May 09
Owl, Waterside says...
12:55pm Sun 17 May 09
Security word: cell-life (!)
Topsy Turvy, Andover says...
1:49pm Sun 17 May 09
Miles Way, Canada says...
2:52pm Sun 17 May 09
Topsy Turvy wrote:You've got to remember MP suits get ultra crumpled because they sleep in them in Parliament..
Both my husband and son wear suits to work and neither of them spend nights ironing. If clothes are looked after properly they shouldn't need ironing. But I suppose that it would be difficult for any MP to do anything properly!
King Mush, Woolston says...
3:10pm Sun 17 May 09
I'm surprised this whole story has never been broken before as it's being going on for years.
Roll out the guillotine - get the tumbrils rolling and les tricoteuses will be kept busy (go on- Google it......)
spitfiresRL, Southampton says...
3:13pm Sun 17 May 09
WIN THE NEW SPITFIRES RUGBY LEAGUE HOME SHIRT
Your chance to win the new Spitfires home shirt
Southampton Spitfires Rugby League Club are offering one lucky person the chance to win a replica shirt of their own.
Visit: www.southampton-spit
fires.co.uk for details.
Players wanted.
housewife, says...
4:17pm Sun 17 May 09
That is the clause that lets MP's set their own tax law.
Repeal it and they are in the same boat as the rest of us - as they should be.
Militant Ford Worker, Eastleigh says...
4:42pm Sun 17 May 09
Owl wrote:Well,there SHOULD be someone there. After all his expenses show that Taxpayers are paying £83,043 p.a for his staff.
Our Hon MP is certainly elusive. Just visited his website and there are no contact details except for a phone number right at the bottom of the page which just rings & rings. No email address provided. Get the feeling he's got lots to hide.
Security word: cell-life (!)
Surely that can't ALL be going to one person can it?
If it does, then I wonder who that person is?
He refuses to respond to emails btw, that's why there isnt an address.You have to write to him.
Militant Ford Worker, Eastleigh says...
4:50pm Sun 17 May 09
southy wrote:If elected NO2EU campaigners have declared they will take no more than the average working wage in salary.
well totton ric you and others can help your selfs this coming june 4th EU elections, vote for NO2EU lot, then next year vote for them again ( they will have a new proper name ) because you will get the vote on EU, and things like claiming for second homes tighty controlled, a reduction in mp pay and many other things. they will be well worth the vote and it will not be a wasted vote.
Check this out too:
http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=2v9IxDRip
Lw
Owl, Waterside says...
5:22pm Sun 17 May 09
m11, southampton says...
5:23pm Sun 17 May 09
southy, redbridge says...
5:42pm Sun 17 May 09
Militant Ford Worker wrote:yes i all ready know, and its a good thing it will save this country a lot off money.
southy wrote:If elected NO2EU campaigners have declared they will take no more than the average working wage in salary.
well totton ric you and others can help your selfs this coming june 4th EU elections, vote for NO2EU lot, then next year vote for them again ( they will have a new proper name ) because you will get the vote on EU, and things like claiming for second homes tighty controlled, a reduction in mp pay and many other things. they will be well worth the vote and it will not be a wasted vote.
Check this out too:
http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=2v9IxDRip
Lw
Musicjunkie, Hythe says...
6:41pm Sun 17 May 09
fatboy, Southampton says...
6:54pm Sun 17 May 09
Red & White Never Blue wrote:The last person to enter parliament with honest intentions was Guy Fawkes.
I've just heard that David Blunkett has claimed for a new motorbike, hanglider and a pair of binoculars !!
Linesman, Fareham says...
7:03pm Sun 17 May 09
southy wrote:They are not the first 'one issue' party to be formed that has promised the moon!
Militant Ford Worker wrote:yes i all ready know, and its a good thing it will save this country a lot off money.southy wrote: well totton ric you and others can help your selfs this coming june 4th EU elections, vote for NO2EU lot, then next year vote for them again ( they will have a new proper name ) because you will get the vote on EU, and things like claiming for second homes tighty controlled, a reduction in mp pay and many other things. they will be well worth the vote and it will not be a wasted vote.If elected NO2EU campaigners have declared they will take no more than the average working wage in salary. Check this out too: http://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=2v9IxDRip Lw
The thing to remember is that there have been lunar landings, so they could be asked to deliver!
As a matter of interest, as Europe is now are biggest export market, what new market has NO2EU got in mind?
You are either IN the EU or OUT, there are no half-measures.
S Pance, Morten Harkett says...
7:22pm Sun 17 May 09
So, he was only acting AFTER taking advice.
With regards to emails, I won't give out his private address here.
However, you can email him C/O the NFECA office, details can be found: http://www.newforest
eastconservatives.co
m/
You WILL get a response!
Bill-B, DeSoto says...
7:38pm Sun 17 May 09
mollie, southampton says...
8:41pm Sun 17 May 09
rabbitlady, Totton says...
9:22pm Sun 17 May 09
rabbitlady, Totton says...
9:22pm Sun 17 May 09
Militant Ford Worker, Eastleigh says...
11:46pm Sun 17 May 09
Linesman wrote:Yes, the "EU is now are biggest export market"
southy wrote:They are not the first 'one issue' party to be formed that has promised the moon!
Militant Ford Worker wrote:yes i all ready know, and its a good thing it will save this country a lot off money.southy wrote: well totton ric you and others can help your selfs this coming june 4th EU elections, vote for NO2EU lot, then next year vote for them again ( they will have a new proper name ) because you will get the vote on EU, and things like claiming for second homes tighty controlled, a reduction in mp pay and many other things. they will be well worth the vote and it will not be a wasted vote.If elected NO2EU campaigners have declared they will take no more than the average working wage in salary. Check this out too: http://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=2v9IxDRip Lw
The thing to remember is that there have been lunar landings, so they could be asked to deliver!
As a matter of interest, as Europe is now are biggest export market, what new market has NO2EU got in mind?
You are either IN the EU or OUT, there are no half-measures.
...and our biggest export is our manufacturing jobs!
Johnson & Johnson gone from Havant to Bulgaria, Pirelli from Eastleigh to Spain and now the Transit is going to Turkey from Swaythling.
We are not opposed to fair and free trade with Europe.
We are opposed to a Bosses Europe where British workers are exposed to unfair competiton.
Big Boy, Hythe says...
5:32am Mon 18 May 09
Linesman, Fareham says...
9:13am Mon 18 May 09
Big Boy wrote:Another 'one policy' party.
I'll be voting UKIP, it has a policy
What is their defence policy?
What is their foreign policy, other than an exit from the EEC?
Income tax? Education?
NHS?
Transport policy?
Regional policy?
Free travel on Hythe Pier Railway for pensioners?
One policy is not enough to run a country Big Boy, so perhaps you could tell us what their policies (plural) are.
kinkyboots70, harefield says...
11:52am Mon 18 May 09
Forest John, Lyndhurst says...
7:59pm Mon 18 May 09
MP defends expenses claims
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Bright Spark, Titchfield on the Solent says...
12:09pm Sun 17 May 09