End £24,000 'second homes allowance' for all London's MPs, says local LibDem candidate (Westminster and City of London Liberal Democrats)

Westminster and City of London Liberal Democrats <info@westminsterlibdems.org.uk>

End £24,000 'second homes allowance' for all London's MPs, says local LibDem candidate

March 24, 2009 5:55 PM

London MPs don't need a 'second home allowance'. LibDems like Mark Blackburn want it abolished.

Westminster North LibDem parliamentary candidate Mark Blackburn has called on the £24,000 'second homes allowance' to be scrapped for all London's MPs.

The allowance, available to 49 of London's 74 Members of Parliament, is to enable them to have a central London base near the House of Commons. Neither of Westminster's MPs is eligible.

With Parliament now sitting more 'family-friendly' hours and business in the Commons rarely running late into the evening, it is easily possible for all London MPs to get to and from their constituencies using public transport.

In the last five years for which figures are available, a total of £1,740,850 has been claimed by London MPs. Not a single penny of that however went into the pockets of the seven eligible Liberal Democrat MPs. They do not claim it.

Labour MPs on the other hand claimed £1,168,865, whilst taxpayers put £467,334 into the hands of Conservative MPs. One of the two independent MPs in London, former Tory MP Derek Conway, claimed £104,651.

Four Labour and two Conservative MPs claimed over £100,000 each over the five-year period.

Commenting, local LibDem parliamentary candidate Mark Blackburn said, "London's Liberal Democrat MPs can be proud of the fact that none of them has claimed this allowance - not one penny of it. This contrasts sharply with the record of many of their Labour and Conservative colleagues in Parliament. If they had all followed the LibDem lead then over £1.7m of taxpayers' money would have been saved.

"The credit crunch and the recession are hitting government finances very hard. All these billions that are being spent and which are being thrown at the banks will have to be repaid. To help achieve that we need to look for ways in which we can spend less public money. MP's allowances strike me as a perfect target. London MPs have absolutely no need whatsoever for a second home. This allowance must be scrapped now."