Thursday 18 June 2009

Redact this

Well looking through my own MP's expenses (Chris Bryant, Rhondda) I've been met by a sea of black. Though some of what is there is puzzling me. Why is he claiming food allowance in the first place? And why is it often at the £400 limit? Mr Bryant is openly gay so it is not as if he's got a large family to feed. I don't know about you but I've never managed to eat £400 a month. In fact in a house with 5 people eating there regularly I doubt we get through that much in Casa de Bob. Also, as a government minister (was formerly Harriet Harman's 2nd in command, now at the foreign office.) I assume that he spends most of his time in London, making his second home in the rhondda. House prices in the Rhondda are amongst the lowest in the country and as stated previously, being openly gay and having no large family he needs to house how on earth can he justify his mortgage payments. Using a mortgage calculator, I estimated that over a fifteen year period with interest at a generous 7% that would lead to a mortgage of near 140,000. In the Rhondda, that is near palatial. Why does he need such a large property for what is his justification? Why are we paying for a Virgin Media subscription? He says he only 'flipped' properties when he found he was now spending more time in one place than previously. Why was the amount paid to him for his october 07 claim redacted. That included a large maintenance claim. Was it not kosher? I'm sure you can all have a field day with your own MP.

1 comment:

  1. He's such a nice boy, I had assumed Bryant would have been sitting pretty, so to speak. Seems he is - for all the wrong reasons. Bit busy today, but I will look up mine and my family's various MPs when I get the chance. Nick Ainger is probably a dyed in the wool Labour trougher. My folks' MP in Llanelli, Nia Griffith, is another of the 2005 intake (and one of Harman's petal posse). I fully expect her to be another Kitty Ussher. Public school and Oxford, school teacher, daughter of Welsh academics - Carmarthenshire royalty, then. (I know the type!)

    Have a better one, UB.

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