Watchdog With No Teeth
A House of Commons committee has ordered Labour MPs Alan and Ann Keen to repay £1,500 in expenses claimed from their second home allowance.
The committee (comprised of other MPs) said the couple claimed money for a second home to which they were not entitled - because their main home was empty and uninhabitable.
Incredibly the committee concluded that not all the money should be repaid because the Commons authorities told them twice that their arrangements were acceptable.
But the truth is that the Commons authorities approved lots of claims that were patently ridiculous - and that should have been as obvious to MPs then - as it is now to the general public.
Alan Keen, MP for Feltham and Heston, and his wife Ann, a health minister and MP for Brentford and Isleworth, own a house in Brentford - which is less than 10 miles from the House of Commons.
In 2002 they bought a flat near parliament - which they funded using the second home allowance - quite why this was necessary is not explained anywhere.
In May 2008 the Keens began to renovate their Brentford home and began to spend most of their time living in their central London flat.
In December 2008 they had their Brentford home boarded up and did not stay there overnight again until October 2009.
John Lyon, parliament's commissioner for standards, launched an inquiry into a complaint that they continued to claim the second home allowance - when their central London property had to all intents and purposes become their main home.
Lyon said that, even though the Commons authorities approved the claims - the Keens were ultimately responsible for what they did - and that they had committed "a serious misjudgment".
The fact that these two MPs could have travelled in and out of Westminster by public transport - thus saving the need for any 'second homes' expenses - seems to have escaped the committee's attention.
The committee (comprised of other MPs) said the couple claimed money for a second home to which they were not entitled - because their main home was empty and uninhabitable.
Incredibly the committee concluded that not all the money should be repaid because the Commons authorities told them twice that their arrangements were acceptable.
But the truth is that the Commons authorities approved lots of claims that were patently ridiculous - and that should have been as obvious to MPs then - as it is now to the general public.
Alan Keen, MP for Feltham and Heston, and his wife Ann, a health minister and MP for Brentford and Isleworth, own a house in Brentford - which is less than 10 miles from the House of Commons.
In 2002 they bought a flat near parliament - which they funded using the second home allowance - quite why this was necessary is not explained anywhere.
In May 2008 the Keens began to renovate their Brentford home and began to spend most of their time living in their central London flat.
In December 2008 they had their Brentford home boarded up and did not stay there overnight again until October 2009.
John Lyon, parliament's commissioner for standards, launched an inquiry into a complaint that they continued to claim the second home allowance - when their central London property had to all intents and purposes become their main home.
Lyon said that, even though the Commons authorities approved the claims - the Keens were ultimately responsible for what they did - and that they had committed "a serious misjudgment".
Quite right too!
But the committee (made up of MPs) which considered Lyon's report, said that it was taking "a more lenient view" and that the Keens should only have to repay £1,500 - instead of the full £5,678 they had claimed.The fact that these two MPs could have travelled in and out of Westminster by public transport - thus saving the need for any 'second homes' expenses - seems to have escaped the committee's attention.
