Doug Henderson, a former government minister, has claimed hundreds of pounds for telephone calls made from his family home which is more than four hours drive away from his constituency.
Doug Henderson, Labour MP for Newcastle North, sought more than £800 for landline calls he made in 2007/08 from the house he shares with his wife Geraldine in the fishing village of Anstruther, where he went to school.
The Scottish house is more than 150 miles away from Newcastle and more than an eight hour drive from his second home in London
When asked about the bills, Mr Henderson said he lived and worked in Anstruther, but was "in Newcastle very regularly, nearly every Friday and some weekends".
He said his presence in Fife was known about in the constituency because the Liberal Democrats "put leaflets out telling everybody".
In an analysis by The Sunday Telegraph, which assessed MPs' value for money based on how much work they did in parliament compared to their overall expenses, Mr Henderson came out as one of the worst for value-for-money.
He attended parliament for about half of all votes, spoke in just eight debates and submitted 23 written questions in 2007/08, but claimed a total of £151,860 in expenses, including travel, home, office and staffing costs.
1 comment:
The Lib Dems in Newcastle North are going to have a field day with these revelations at the next general election. At least the Tory MP with a moat lived in his constituency!
Post a Comment