BBC Radio 4’s Today, starting at 8.22 and running for ten minutes, had John Humphrys, the Splott Rottweiler, hammering Jacqui Smith about her expenses claims.
So far, so good.
What made less sense was Humphrys’ repeated assertions that Smith was properly resident in London only for the 165 days of “Parliamentary business”, and was therefore not entitled to claim that she had a main home in London.
What Humphrys came close to saying was his ideal was some leisured past, when gentlemen and squirarchs drifted up to London for a few hours in the Commons each week, retired to Pall Mall clubs, while the King’s Ministers resided at their Apsley Houses and mansions.
The notion that being a minister, least of all the Home Secretary, is a part-time occupation between taking the kids to school and visits to the local WI branches, is so unreal it defies comprehension.
A Malcolm aside
A long while back, Malcolm was in Sainsbury’s in Muswell Hill. There he engaged in a conversation with an acquaintance, married to an East Anglian MP, living in North London. The acquaintance’s partner had recently been appointed to Cabinet rank in the Thatcher Government. The conversation centred on the experience of having the house wired up for security, with panic buttons and the rest, all connected to the Metropolitan Police’s emergency room. To Malcolm, climbing “the greasy pole” (originally, a Disraeli metaphor, but borrowed by Yes, Minister) became instantly less attractive.
Malcolm doubts that the circumscriptions imposed on core Cabinet members are any less these days.
Yet Humphrys seems to assume that such personages are free in their movements.
Partisan?
Despite the claims of the Tory blog-artists to the contrary, there is little objective evidence that the BBC is partial.
However, whoever is manipulating the drip-feed revelations about Parliamentary expenses undoubtedly is.
And, for understandable reasons, the well-known “faces” in Government attract more media attention than the unknowns of the Opposition.
Let’s take one example:
The Tory MP for Hertsmere is one James Clappison. It would be instructive to work down the average street to discover anyone who could recognise him, or say what post he holds. He is, in fact, and for the last two years, Shadow Minister for Work & Pensions.
Happy Clappy (left) claimed £149,498 expenses in 2007/8, making him just a bit above the mean (ahem!) for MPs. His constituency (which might be better recognised as Potters Bar) is about eighteen miles from Westminster. Even so, Clappison’s travel claims are interesting: £1,445 for car mileage (469th of all MPs); Rail £6,456 (134th); Air £284 (135th). For what it’s worth, an annual travel card from Potters Bar to all London zones costs £2,660. There are no scheduled air services between Hertsmere and Westminster.
His entry in the registry of Member’s interests indicates he has rather more than a second home (or even a third):
Land and property
Feb 11 2009
20 rented houses in Patrington and in Withernsea, North Humberside, four of which are registered in joint name with my wife.
Feb 11 2009
Farmland in Patrington, East Yorkshire, from which rental income is received.
As the Evening Standard rendered this:
A CONSERVATIVE MP has claimed nearly £100,000 of taxpayer’s money for a second home while building up a portfolio of at least 23 properties.
James Clappison, Tory MP for Hertsmere in Hertfordshire, is one of several MPs who have registered interests in a string of houses or flats. He declares 22 rented houses in Patrington, East Yorkshire, and in Withernsea, North Humberside, in the Commons Register of Members’ Interests.
Mr Clappison has claimed £97,892 over seven years in public funds to run a second home, and is likely to have a further house or flat in his constituency or London. Five of the properties are registered in joint names with his wife. He has not broken any Commons rules.
Malcolm Redfellow's Home Service 