Two further updates from the Telegraph, both amusing rather than alarming.
This headline is just beyond parody. I kid you not: Steve Webb sold one flat and bought another, claiming £8,400 stamp duty
What?? He SOLD a flat, what, and then BOUGHT another? Treachery! Infamy! Off with his head!
Of course, he could have rented and saved us the £8,500. And under Clegg’s original set of proposals for expense reform, rejected by Cameron and Brown, that would be exactly what would have happened. As it is, we’ll have to make do with the no doubt vast profit he will hand back to the taxpayer when he sells the flat. 0/5
No word yet on the mystery twelfth Lib Dem (is it Lord Rennard?) unless the current state of the Telegraph’s “Liberal Democrats” page carries two relevations in one:
Has anybody told Nick Clegg? And is it possible to send a defector back?
If you’re wondering what happened to the £2.50 eyeliner, by the way, I am privily told that the MP in question has got in touch with the Telegraph. They appear to be no longer carrying that story. Hey, couldn’t be that they’d got their facts wrong or something like that, could it?
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The Telegraph has removed Alan Duncan from the Lib Dem page with alacrity. Without him the page looks a bit petty. Nick Harvey’s headline is especially strange: “Nick Harvey gets £30 a month to watch TV sports on TV”.
Shock, horror! Someone watches TV sport on TV! I would never have believed it! Surely he should be watching Sky Sport in the pub? [Sarcasm warning.] (Though I think he should pay the money back – Sky Sports is not necessary for his parliamentary duties.)
Is Alan Duncan the twelfth cylon?
Why should the taxpayer pick up his bill for stamp duty?
Alix,the 12th man might be MICHAEL BROWN,do you illiberals remember him,have the lib dems paid the 2.4 million back yet ?.(just a reminder)
@BH, because he’s only paying stamp duty as part of a purchase which is necessary for him to fulfil his duties as an MP. The stamp duty payment is part of the investment the taxpayer makes which will be returned, multiplied, when he sells.
However, I can’t help feeling it would be simpler to move to a system where MPs can only rent at public expense. Don’t see why they shouldn’t rent in London, same as everybody else.
I’m missing something here. He gets to keep the gain on sale, doesn’t he?
No – Steve Webb is on record as saying he will pass any capital gain on property paid for from the allowance back.
He’s committed to give it back – see his blog. Don’t know when that first happened but I’m pretty sure Clegg committed to give his back a month ago. It’s just about the only thing they did get right when it became obvious expenses were about to come out – should have just published the lot *grumble grumble*.
If I understand correctly, the party has given a commitment that all Lib Dem front benchers will return any capital gains on their second homes.
Looks like that’s it for the Lib Dems -the Telegraph now says it’s moving on to most serious abuses and “The disclosures cover nine MPs, Labour and Conservative”
Oh, you nearly had me there. Of all the Tories in Parliament, Duncan’s close to top of those that are definitely in the wrong party.
Even if he has been a prat on claiming stupid things in his allowances.
Now, if this is over with, can we get back to politics?
“Is Alan Duncan the 12th Lib Dem?”
No, it’s just that the Telegraph can’t count anyway.