Sunday Times: “Liberal Democrat Baroness Barker silent on location of home”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th October 2009 - 9:25 am

A FRONTBENCH Liberal Democrat peer is refusing to reveal the location of her main home, which she used to claim more than £70,000 in expenses from the House of Lords. Baroness Barker, 48, a spokeswoman on health, has lived in London for the past 20 years but four years ago began claiming allowances for peers living outside the capital.

While continuing to live and work in London, Barker claimed up to £19,000 a year by saying her main address was in the “southeast”. When approached by The Sunday Times, she volunteered the home was in Sussex but would not even name the nearest town nor say whether she owned the property.

This is the latest expenses incident to involve a Lib Dem peer, following allegations made against former party chief executive Lord Rennard. Stories have also been run about Lord Razzall and his partner, Baroness Bonham-Carter, and Lord Thomas of Gresford and his wife, Baroness Walmsley – though in those cases there was no suggestion that either couple had broken the rules.

Back in May, the Lib Dem Federal Executive set out how it was going to deal with the issues arising from the expenses scandal as it relates to both Houses of Parliament. There has been no update from Federal Executive on the allegations relating to House of Lords allowances.

5 Comments

daleholmes 18th Oct '09 - 10:14am

I hope Liz Barker will temporarily resign the LibDem whip whilst an investigation is carried out. If not, the whip should be removed. Nick Clegg has been criticise the other parties but action within our own party has been woeful.
Niklas Smith 18th Oct '09 - 12:44pm

Where does this sense of entitlement come from? Surely if you work in London your day employer can pay your commuting expenses, not the taxpayer?
Herbert Brown 18th Oct '09 - 2:45pm

“Where does this sense of entitlement come from? Surely if you work in London your day employer can pay your commuting expenses, not the taxpayer?”

As I understand it, this is a question of overnight subsistence claims, not commuting expenses. But I find it very difficult to see the justification for such a claim when the peer has a home in London anyway, because obviously no extra cost is incurred by staying there rather than at the peer’s residence outside London. The article says Baroness Barker jointly owns a home in Merton, and did at the time of the claims.
ColinW 18th Oct '09 - 7:43pm

WTF is she claiming for? None of our London MPs claim for second homes, unlike Tory & Labour London MPs.
Sack her.
bob holmes 25th Oct '09 - 8:29am

She worked for Help the Aged did she not. So she is simply continuing the work-on her own behalf