Taxi trips and business-class flights among MPs' expenses (From Southend Standard)

Taxi trips and business-class flights among Essex MPs' expenses

8:20am Friday 26th October 2012 in News

James Duddridge

TAXI trips from London to Southend and business-class flights to Austria are among the expenses claims of south Essex’s MPs.

Detailed analysis carried out by the Echo has uncovered some of the lavish claims, totalling thousands of pounds, which have been billed to the taxpayer over the last 18 months.

But our investigation has also laid bare the sharp contrasts between the county’s Tory MPs and what they choose to charge to expenses, with the gap between some of them as much as £18,000.

James Duddridge, MP for Rochford and Southend East, has claimed back £2,000 in taxi bills since March last year, for 24 trips between Westminster and his home in Fermoy Road, Thorpe Bay.

He argued the taxis were necessary because he had stayed in the capital for late-night sittings in the House of Commons, and it was cheaper to pay for a journey home than a hotel room in London.

The last c2c train service from Fenchurch Street to Shoebury leaves at 12.25am on weekdays, while the London Underground routes which serve it do not stop until well after 1am.

Mr Duddridge said: “Most days I commute into London. Since the 2010 general election, I have stayed in a hotel when I have working late and needed to be back in first thing in the morning.

“Normally on these days, I would be working beyond 10.30pm and return to work at 7.30am.

“If I do not need to be in London quite as early, I have occasionally used a cab service, which works out cheaper than a hotel.”

In April this year, Basildon and Billericay MP John Baron claimed back £607 for a business-class flight to Vienna, the Austrian capital.

Mr Baron was visting the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is based in the city, although it is not know which British airport he flew from.

Mr Baron was not available for comment.

Out of the six Conservative MPs representing south Essex, only three - Mr Duddridge, Mr Baron and David Amess, the Southend West MP - claimed substantial travel expenses.

Mr Amess has hit the headlines this week for renting out his London second home while charging taxpayers £1,570 a month to stay elsewhere in the capital.

Despite staying in hotels and now renting a flat, he claimed back £2,100 in mileage expenses for driving to and from Westminster, as well as £514 in congestion zone charges.

The remaining MPs were relatively frugal. Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) recouped £413, including a £55 taxi ride home from Westminster, while Rebecca Harris (Castle Point) claimed back £101.

Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) claimed nothing.

Comments(16)

j-w says...
8:32am Fri 26 Oct 12

Sign this everyone.

http://epetitions.di
rect.gov.uk/petition
s/40723

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j-w says...
8:34am Fri 26 Oct 12

Well done to Mark Francois, any chance you can move to Southend West?

sign the petition and share it wherever you can.

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Eric Whim says...
9:59am Fri 26 Oct 12

where do I apply to become an MP? I could do with everyone else paying for a more lavish lifestyle than I could ever afford any other way.

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ChloeSS0 says...
10:05am Fri 26 Oct 12

I have no idea why this article was written.
Expenses are available in many jobs and everyone will claim for the necessary expenses they have paid out for their work to the business. Regardless of whether people perceive the government to be something other than a business thats the way it operates.
This is a far cry from the scandals with parliament; where are the disgusting claims for satellite tv, house maintenance, holidays, ****?
I only see necessary claims here; Mr Duddridge is completely right in getting taxis back from London, it is cost effective as a hotel would cost considerably more.
If you had to spend a large proportion of your wages on travel and resources for your workplace wouldn't you expect to be able to reap some of that back?
Society has supported a government money based system which has enabled this behaviour in far more ludacris examples. I commend the writers attempt to display government corruption but there are much better ways to do this. Try unearthing real news.

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v.randy says...
10:25am Fri 26 Oct 12

Too fat to travel on a tube and certainly wouldn't fit in a budget airline seat...so give Mr Lardy Bottom a break..

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IPM says...
10:45am Fri 26 Oct 12

I understand the fact that a cab was cheaper than a hotel stay, but what hasn't been explained was the time at which he left the commons to return home and why it was necessary for him to use the cab rather than public transport, especially at a time where everyone is being told, even in private businesses, to use the cheapest method of transport for your journey, surely a return ticket by train of around £25 I believe it is from Thorpe Bay train station for a travel card, is a lot cheaper than a taxi back from London I think that the scams that was bought to light a few years ago have not really been eradicated it has just found new ways to try and hide / justify them.

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J-Monroe says...
11:39am Fri 26 Oct 12

Sign the petition for a review of MPs expenses. Why should we pay their TV licenses? I accept office and staff costs, I don't accept moat clearance and Laura Ashley curtains... SIGN AND SHARE!

http://epetitions.di

rect.gov.uk/petition

s/40723”

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HadleighBoy says...
11:40am Fri 26 Oct 12

ChloeSS0 wrote:
I have no idea why this article was written. Expenses are available in many jobs and everyone will claim for the necessary expenses they have paid out for their work to the business. Regardless of whether people perceive the government to be something other than a business thats the way it operates. This is a far cry from the scandals with parliament; where are the disgusting claims for satellite tv, house maintenance, holidays, ****? I only see necessary claims here; Mr Duddridge is completely right in getting taxis back from London, it is cost effective as a hotel would cost considerably more. If you had to spend a large proportion of your wages on travel and resources for your workplace wouldn't you expect to be able to reap some of that back? Society has supported a government money based system which has enabled this behaviour in far more ludacris examples. I commend the writers attempt to display government corruption but there are much better ways to do this. Try unearthing real news.

The issue is that this is our money not a private companies and MPs have a duty to be as prudent as possible.
Mr Duddridge lives near a railway line that is one of the best in the country. Westminster is also on the Jubilee line again a good tube line. It is not difficult to travel home from Westminster up to midnight at least. And yes a taxi is cost effective compared to a hotel but not against the train especially if he buys a season ticket having to get a bit less sleep a couple fo times is no hardship please do not forget the amount of time that parliment is shut and he works in his constituency.
Having to get back up at 7:30 is not really a problem It is right that we question there behaviour to ensure that they and future mps remember who pays their expenses.

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alimac69 says...
12:11pm Fri 26 Oct 12

I work for a bank and the only business fares paid for by the bank are for those trips over 5 hours flying time i.e. the US and Asia. Inside Europe, the cheapest method of transport has to be used. This applies to everyone. If they want to travel first/business class on a short journey, they have to pick up the extra cost themselves.

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emcee says...
2:11pm Fri 26 Oct 12

I can understand Mr Duddridge's arguments, and commend him for using the cheapest methods of getting to and from his responsibilities with without compromising his work. At least he has decency to comment on his claims, which is a lot more than can be said of Amess.
Mr Amess is one of the most slimey, maniplulative and unscrupulous MPs this town has ever had the misfortune have represent it. He really must go.
As for business class flights, these are normally not really much better than economy on short haul. OK, so you may get a glass of champaign and your baggage may be one of the first to turn up on the carousel on your arrival, you can even check-in using the shorter business class queue, However, is all this really worth £600. I do not think so. The seating in the cabin is often the same on some airlines, you just get the privilege of sitting at the front. MPs should be made to use the likes of Ryan Air et al. At least then they can experience, first hand, some of the things these budget airlines are trying to get away with.

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asbo industries inc says...
2:17pm Fri 26 Oct 12

wonder why he needed to travel to the nazi republic of austria?

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Brunning999 says...
2:51pm Fri 26 Oct 12

That is yet another example do Politicians not being trustworthy of power.

Remember that at the Nov 15th Police election!

Vote for any non party selected candidate.

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ChloeSS0 says...
3:52pm Fri 26 Oct 12

HadleighBoy wrote:

ChloeSS0 wrote:
I have no idea why this article was written. Expenses are available in many jobs and everyone will claim for the necessary expenses they have paid out for their work to the business. Regardless of whether people perceive the government to be something other than a business thats the way it operates. This is a far cry from the scandals with parliament; where are the disgusting claims for satellite tv, house maintenance, holidays, ****? I only see necessary claims here; Mr Duddridge is completely right in getting taxis back from London, it is cost effective as a hotel would cost considerably more. If you had to spend a large proportion of your wages on travel and resources for your workplace wouldn't you expect to be able to reap some of that back? Society has supported a government money based system which has enabled this behaviour in far more ludacris examples. I commend the writers attempt to display government corruption but there are much better ways to do this. Try unearthing real news.
The issue is that this is our money not a private companies and MPs have a duty to be as prudent as possible.
Mr Duddridge lives near a railway line that is one of the best in the country. Westminster is also on the Jubilee line again a good tube line. It is not difficult to travel home from Westminster up to midnight at least. And yes a taxi is cost effective compared to a hotel but not against the train especially if he buys a season ticket having to get a bit less sleep a couple fo times is no hardship please do not forget the amount of time that parliment is shut and he works in his constituency.
Having to get back up at 7:30 is not really a problem It is right that we question there behaviour to ensure that they and future mps remember who pays their expenses.

He has clearly explained that on the occasions he would use a taxi is when he would be working too late to use the train. From the way the article is written it seems that he would normally use the train and probably owns a season ticket but when needs must use a taxi, rather than a hotel; thus being prudent.
You say that the issue is its our money but do you work out the budget or have any control over the way it is spent? No. We pay our taxes, licenses, fines, whatever else is inflicted upon us and we don't like any of it but we still do it. This expense system is a drop in the ocean of corruption that we don't like but what are you doing about the real problems? Ensuring MP's claim as little expenses as possible is laughable when the monetary system is based upon private companies profiteering anyway.
My comment was relating to the pointlessness of the article and commercial journalism; portraying some politicians as greedy when the real news gets buried.

[quote][p][bold]HadleighBoy[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]ChloeSS0[/bold] wrote: I have no idea why this article was written. Expenses are available in many jobs and everyone will claim for the necessary expenses they have paid out for their work to the business. Regardless of whether people perceive the government to be something other than a business thats the way it operates. This is a far cry from the scandals with parliament; where are the disgusting claims for satellite tv, house maintenance, holidays, ****? I only see necessary claims here; Mr Duddridge is completely right in getting taxis back from London, it is cost effective as a hotel would cost considerably more. If you had to spend a large proportion of your wages on travel and resources for your workplace wouldn't you expect to be able to reap some of that back? Society has supported a government money based system which has enabled this behaviour in far more ludacris examples. I commend the writers attempt to display government corruption but there are much better ways to do this. Try unearthing real news.[/p][/quote]The issue is that this is our money not a private companies and MPs have a duty to be as prudent as possible. Mr Duddridge lives near a railway line that is one of the best in the country. Westminster is also on the Jubilee line again a good tube line. It is not difficult to travel home from Westminster up to midnight at least. And yes a taxi is cost effective compared to a hotel but not against the train especially if he buys a season ticket having to get a bit less sleep a couple fo times is no hardship please do not forget the amount of time that parliment is shut and he works in his constituency. Having to get back up at 7:30 is not really a problem It is right that we question there behaviour to ensure that they and future mps remember who pays their expenses.[/p][/quote]He has clearly explained that on the occasions he would use a taxi is when he would be working too late to use the train. From the way the article is written it seems that he would normally use the train and probably owns a season ticket but when needs must use a taxi, rather than a hotel; thus being prudent. You say that the issue is its our money but do you work out the budget or have any control over the way it is spent? No. We pay our taxes, licenses, fines, whatever else is inflicted upon us and we don't like any of it but we still do it. This expense system is a drop in the ocean of corruption that we don't like but what are you doing about the real problems? Ensuring MP's claim as little expenses as possible is laughable when the monetary system is based upon private companies profiteering anyway. My comment was relating to the pointlessness of the article and commercial journalism; portraying some politicians as greedy when the real news gets buried. ChloeSS0

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Nebs says...
9:26am Sat 27 Oct 12

Eric Whim wrote:
where do I apply to become an MP? I could do with everyone else paying for a more lavish lifestyle than I could ever afford any other way.

http://www.mirror.co
.uk/news/uk-news/how
-to-become-an-mp-ten
-steps-395216

Personally I don't see the problem with MP's getting a taxi home after a late night sitting, and would expect them to travel business class rather than economy.

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Thames Gateway says...
6:45pm Sat 27 Oct 12

isn't it illegal to publish the address of an MP as 'The Echo' have here??

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Horton says...
12:13am Sun 28 Oct 12

Oh no...Oh please.. Oh help... I have just had the misfortune of returning home and tapping into the Echo late at night and clicking on a dull story without realising that I was going to be faced with a 'photo of the unfeasibly chubby Invisible MP (I forget his name) with his drippy face, thinning hair, scarily small hand (is that natural?) and staged copy of the Echo in the background. Aaaaaaghhhh. Is Halloween here already?! How on earth am I supposed to sleep now? I feel nightmares coming on... Thank God I have an extra hour in bed to get over it. Yuck!

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Taxi trips and business-class flights among MPs' expenses (From Southend Standard)

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