Tag Archives: anthony steen

Helen Duffett

Brian Coleman in “mad, bad and sad” expenses smokescreen

By Helen Duffett | Tue 7th July 2009 - 5:56 pm

London Assembly Member Brian Coleman is refusing to publish details of his expenses, despite the Mayor, his advisors and the other 24 members of the Assembly agreeing to do so voluntarily.

Apparently a graduate of the Anthony Steen Charm School for Politicians, Coleman has blamed bloggers for being interested in how taxpayers’ money is spent:

“I won’t do it voluntarily. It’s none of the public’s business. They have coped well without knowing this kind of detail for more than 75 years. They are not entitled to drool over our personal lives. I’m not going to help the mad, bad and the

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged , , and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

YouTube ‘cos we want to: Brown, brown and Steen

By Stephen Tall | Wed 10th June 2009 - 8:50 pm

Welcome to the latest in our occasional series of round-ups of the political videos which have caught our attention.

First up, here’s Rory Bremner’s Mika-inspired riff on Gordon Brown:

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged , and | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

YouTube ‘cos we want to: MPs’ expenses special

By Stephen Tall | Sat 23rd May 2009 - 12:05 pm

Welcome to an occasional new LDV feature, YouTube ‘cos we want to, rounding-up a couple of the most amusing/bad/interesting YouTube videos doing the rounds. This week, our focus is MPs’ expenses (what else?).

First up, let’s enjoy Tory MP Anthony “I’ve got a very very large house” Steen’s joyously apoplectic radio interview defending his claims from the taxpayer for treating 500 of his trees:

Then there’s American Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart giving his Daily Show take on MPs’ expenses – and coming up with the best one-word description yet coined, ‘Scamalot’:

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
Helen Duffett

Ordinary voters have lost touch with Conservative MPs

By Helen Duffett | Fri 22nd May 2009 - 11:15 am

Two startled Conservative MPs have been speaking out against the reporting of MPs’ expenses:

Conservative MP Anthony Steen has expressed his dismay at the public’s interest in his lavish expense claims for his country house.

The MP for Totnes in Devon has claimed £87,000 over four years for his second home. (“Some people say it looks like Balmoral,” he offered in his defence.)

On yesterday’s World at One programme on Radio Four he was indignant:

Do you know what it’s about? Jealousy. I’ve got a very very large house.

In a breathtaking display of narcissism, he kept on digging:

We have a wretched Government here which

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Peter Davies
    As usual, the article talks about a requirement for social homes and "genuinely affordable homes" but a strategy for delivering "affordable homes". We need to b...
  • Tristan Ward
    "The question on Monday evening is whether we should be as wary of it in private hands" Of course we should. We don't like anyone or anything that abuses pow...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    Gareth, thank you for this. Housing is one of the issues raised most often on the doorstep in London, and this is what Lib Dems in action looks like: Richmond, ...
  • David Moon
    We keep obsessing about the National Debt and fiscal rules, when the real weakness of the economy is our trade imbalance with the rest of the world, particularl...
  • David Raw
    @ Geoff Reid Thanks for the kind comment, Geoff. Still grateful to the village school in Birkenshaw for my early years ...... and to the great Sir Alec ...