Much to be Modest About
I watched most of the yesterday's TV coverage from Westminster - where a House of Commons Committee questioned a variety of police officers over the phone hacking scandal.
Inquisitor-in-chief was the committee chairmperson - Keith Vaz - a former Labour minister and long-serving MP for Leicester East.
Now it seemed to me that Mr Vaz took great pleasure in being rude to some of the witnesses - even if one one of them (Andy Hayman) was his own worst enemy.
In any event, I was struck by the arrogance of the Leicester MP - a man who has much to be modest about, as they say.
So I looked up what the Telegraph had to say about his record on MPs' expenses - and here's the newspaper's report from 9 May 2009.
"Keith Vaz: £75,000 for a flat 12 miles from home"
"Keith Vaz, the senior Labour backbencher, claimed more than £75,500 in expenses for a flat in Westminster despite his family home being a £1.15 million house just 12 miles from parliament.
Mr Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, also switched his designated second home from the £545,000 flat to a house in his Leicester East constituency and back again in the space of a year
Keith Vaz Mr Vaz's main home is a house in Stanmore, north-west London, that he bought with his wife Maria for £1.15 million in November 2005. They live there with their two children.
The house is less than a mile from Stanmore underground station, which takes passengers directly to Westminster on the Jubilee Line. According to Transport for London, the 14-stop journey should take about 37 minutes.
His living arrangements will leave him open to the same questions asked of Tony McNulty, the employment minister, who claimed for a house about the same distance away lived in by his parents.
Documents filed with Commons officials showed that between 2004 and April 2007, Mr Vaz claimed more than £69,000 for expenses at the flat in Westminster, which he bought in 2003. He moved in shortly after selling another for £312,000.
His claims included monthly mortgage interest payments of between £1,500 and £1,750, £200 in monthly grocery bills and £50 per month for a cleaner.
On May 1, 2007, shortly after claiming for the flat's £2,073 service charge and £1,022 council tax bill, he began renting it out and designated the Leicester property as his second home. He had no mortgage on it and so used his allowances to fit it with furniture.
In all, Mr Vaz made claims of about £16,000 relating to the house, including more than £480 on 22 cushions, most of them silk, from John Lewis.
He claimed £2,614 for a pair of John Lewis leather armchairs and an accompanying foot stool; £1,000 on a dining table and leather chairs; £750 on carpets; and £150 on a lamp and lampshade.
Commons guidelines said MPs should "avoid purchases which could be seen as extravagant or luxurious".
Throughout the year, Mr Vaz also regularly made monthly claims of exactly £200 for repairs, £200 for service or maintenance and £200 per month for a cleaner. At the time, MPs did not need to submit receipts for claims totalling less than £250.
Mr Vaz also claimed twice for his food, utilities and cleaning bills in June 2007. He later repaid the money after the fees office pointed out his error.
In May 2008, Mr Vaz ceased renting out the London flat, reverted to designating it as his second home and resumed claiming the interest on its mortgage. In the first two months of the last financial year, he claimed a further £6,567 on the flat.
Mr Vaz's claims highlighted the ability of MPs to switch the property they designated as their second home for expenses purposes whenever they liked, simply by notifying the Commons fees office.
A spokesman for Mr Vaz said: "Stanmore is not central London. Like many MPs, he has a flat in central London that is close to the House of Commons."
She added that Mr Vaz had changed the designation of his second home "for personal reasons", and that his London flat "was not available for his use between May 2007 and May 2008". "Mr Vaz's claims have always been in accordance with the spirit and rules of the Green Book," she said. "If they were not within the rules the claims would not have been paid."
Job: chairman, Home Affairs Select Committee
Salary: £78,805
Total second home claims
2004-05: £20,795
2005-06: £21,271
2006-07: £22,110
2007-08: £20,787"
Inquisitor-in-chief was the committee chairmperson - Keith Vaz - a former Labour minister and long-serving MP for Leicester East.
Now it seemed to me that Mr Vaz took great pleasure in being rude to some of the witnesses - even if one one of them (Andy Hayman) was his own worst enemy.
In any event, I was struck by the arrogance of the Leicester MP - a man who has much to be modest about, as they say.
So I looked up what the Telegraph had to say about his record on MPs' expenses - and here's the newspaper's report from 9 May 2009.
"Keith Vaz: £75,000 for a flat 12 miles from home"
"Keith Vaz, the senior Labour backbencher, claimed more than £75,500 in expenses for a flat in Westminster despite his family home being a £1.15 million house just 12 miles from parliament.
Mr Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, also switched his designated second home from the £545,000 flat to a house in his Leicester East constituency and back again in the space of a year
Keith Vaz Mr Vaz's main home is a house in Stanmore, north-west London, that he bought with his wife Maria for £1.15 million in November 2005. They live there with their two children.
The house is less than a mile from Stanmore underground station, which takes passengers directly to Westminster on the Jubilee Line. According to Transport for London, the 14-stop journey should take about 37 minutes.
His living arrangements will leave him open to the same questions asked of Tony McNulty, the employment minister, who claimed for a house about the same distance away lived in by his parents.
Documents filed with Commons officials showed that between 2004 and April 2007, Mr Vaz claimed more than £69,000 for expenses at the flat in Westminster, which he bought in 2003. He moved in shortly after selling another for £312,000.
His claims included monthly mortgage interest payments of between £1,500 and £1,750, £200 in monthly grocery bills and £50 per month for a cleaner.
On May 1, 2007, shortly after claiming for the flat's £2,073 service charge and £1,022 council tax bill, he began renting it out and designated the Leicester property as his second home. He had no mortgage on it and so used his allowances to fit it with furniture.
In all, Mr Vaz made claims of about £16,000 relating to the house, including more than £480 on 22 cushions, most of them silk, from John Lewis.
He claimed £2,614 for a pair of John Lewis leather armchairs and an accompanying foot stool; £1,000 on a dining table and leather chairs; £750 on carpets; and £150 on a lamp and lampshade.
Commons guidelines said MPs should "avoid purchases which could be seen as extravagant or luxurious".
Throughout the year, Mr Vaz also regularly made monthly claims of exactly £200 for repairs, £200 for service or maintenance and £200 per month for a cleaner. At the time, MPs did not need to submit receipts for claims totalling less than £250.
Mr Vaz also claimed twice for his food, utilities and cleaning bills in June 2007. He later repaid the money after the fees office pointed out his error.
In May 2008, Mr Vaz ceased renting out the London flat, reverted to designating it as his second home and resumed claiming the interest on its mortgage. In the first two months of the last financial year, he claimed a further £6,567 on the flat.
Mr Vaz's claims highlighted the ability of MPs to switch the property they designated as their second home for expenses purposes whenever they liked, simply by notifying the Commons fees office.
A spokesman for Mr Vaz said: "Stanmore is not central London. Like many MPs, he has a flat in central London that is close to the House of Commons."
She added that Mr Vaz had changed the designation of his second home "for personal reasons", and that his London flat "was not available for his use between May 2007 and May 2008". "Mr Vaz's claims have always been in accordance with the spirit and rules of the Green Book," she said. "If they were not within the rules the claims would not have been paid."
Job: chairman, Home Affairs Select Committee
Salary: £78,805
Total second home claims
2004-05: £20,795
2005-06: £21,271
2006-07: £22,110
2007-08: £20,787"
