London MPs Ditch Second Home Allowance

BethPH
By BethPH Last edited 178 months ago
London MPs Ditch Second Home Allowance

It’s a hard life for single-homed taxpaying London commuters. They get up at the crack of dawn in far-flung parts of the country, hastily down a cup of tea and hop on the train to work. They battle bravely against late trains, closed stations, overcrowding and strikes, then do it all again in the evening.

Now spare a thought for London MPs, some of whom live in inaccessible places like Brent North and Enfield, yet still require a central London pad, who are now falling over themselves to cut back on their expenses claims ahead of a potential general election in a bid to try and win back voters.

Outer London MPs taking advantage of an allowance intended for inner London MPs and claiming for second homes in the capital is just one of the many contentious issues to arise during the expenses row. Despite living a mere 45 minutes from Commons, a distance most commuters only dream of travelling, Theresa Villiers claimed for a second home in Kennington. We can’t help thinking that she must really like the Misery Line to want to live at both ends of it.

Still, in all of the amusing, absurd and downright dodgy claims, it seems some MPs are prepared to get down and feel the commuting pain.

Last Updated 27 May 2009