James Duddridge MP, who was caught up in an expenses scandal back in 2014...had this to say about yesterday's demo by desperate Taxi drivers in Whitehall.
He not only tweeted this, but pinned it to the top of his account.
He said "Every time the black cabs protest, blocking the streets in Westminster, I resolve to only use @Uber in London for a month, obviously looking for good favour there then.
This, from the Southend Tory MP, with two homes in the capital, who claims £11k in expenses for accommodation.
Southend Echo carried a story about Conservative MP for Rochford & Southend East claiming over £11,000 in accommodation expenses for 2013/14.
“A TORY MP has come under fire after for claiming £11,348 of taxpayers’ money, mostly on London hotels – despite having two homes in the capital.
“In the latest round of MPs expenses for 2013/14, Rochford and Southend East MP James Duddridge claimed the bulk of the cash on overnight accommodation in the city, from April to December.
“The rest of his claims were made up from renting a property in the city until March 2014.
“According to his financial declarations, the MP owns two properties in London, which he rents out.“
Interesting, no? He owns two homes in London, rents out another, and still manages to stay in hotels.
Meanwhile he lives and represents a constituency which is less than an hour from London away by train.
Bear in mind that this all dates from before he was made a junior minister at the Foreign Office. I fully expect that the amount of expenses he claims will have, similarly to his salary, risen since his promotion.
In light of this, I’m not going to add a whole lot of ranting, because I do think it’s unnecessary. What I am going to do is leave these facts here, without comment, for you to contemplate.
- James Duddridge has voted “moderately for” the bedroom tax, according the The Public Whip — including voting against an exemption for disabled persons or in cases where there is no alternative smaller accommodation available.
- James Duddridge has voted “strongly for” reducing spending on welfare — including voting for the benefit cap to limit the amount that those on lower incomes can claim for, er, accomodation.
- An annual season ticket from Thorpe Bay (James Duddridge’s local train station) to London Fenchurch Street, including travel card, costs £4,640.00. The journey from Thorpe Bay station to Westminster takes around 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- The salary of a Member of Parliament is £66,060. The salary of a junior minister (such as, for example, a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) is £68,710.
- The average salary in the UK is £26,000. A full-time job on the minumum wage amounts to £13,124.