My MP gets "expenses" letter from the DailyTelegraph

I've had pretty good exchanges of letters and emails with my MP, Nadine Dorries over the years. While I don't share political beliefs with her, and disagree pretty fundamentally with her on a number of issues, I've found her quite responsive as an MP.

Of course, I'd been wondering when she'd get a communication from The Daily Telegraph as part of their investigation of the sleazy expense claims that MPs make - and I see from her blog that she has indeed received such a letter (Dorries Blog - The Daily Telegraph). Ms Dorries exudes a palpable sense of outrage in her response, which I suspect she wrote in a bit of a rage and in haste! It reads as though the letter was accompanied by a list of accusations, some of which would appear from her response to be errors.  The Daily Telegraph article is available online (MPs' expenses: Tory MP Nadine Dorries admits she only spends weekends and holidays in her 'main home').

However, the big claim is of a second home, in an unrevealed location (but which is, judging from the wording, somewhere other than London or her constituency). This issue is the big earner for many MPs, who seem to be able to redefine which is their second home at will, to maximise their benefit. I have a bit of sympathy for Dorries, who's separated from her husband fairly soon after becoming MP for Mid-Bedfordshhire, an event which must have made her housing situation a little complex.  It does seem to me that if an MP wishes to maintain a house that is not located in the constituency or London, then that is a private matter which should not be an expense that can be claimed on.  I have to say that the Telegraph article doesn't make it very clear what the situation over accommodation is. 

In a sense, the biggest revelation from the expenses claims stories has been the depth to which the "claim back" culture has developed within Parliament. As I blogged a while ago (Wacky Jacqui and NewLab expenses) the really insulting thing is the extent to which these people played the greed game - in Smith's case this included claiming 88p for a bath plug.