"The Cabinet Minister who sent Britain's Armed Forces into the Iraq war claimed expenses on his constituency house and rented out his London home - while living throughout the conflict in a palatial grace-and-favour apartment in Whitehall.
Former Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, now Transport Secretary in Gordon Brown's Government, lived rent-free for three-and-a-half years in Admiralty House, London, once occupied by Winston Churchill.
He used the opportunity to earn money from the London house he had declared to the Commons authorities as his 'main home' by renting it to a private tenant via a commercial lettings agency.
At the same time he claimed more than £70,000 in a 'second-home allowance' on his home in Derby, close to his constituency of Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.
In effect, it meant that during the war, and for three years afterwards, Mr Hoon had one home absolutely free, a second one covered by Commons expenses, and a third one which had initially been funded by expenses, paid for by rent.
And when he gave up his grace-and-favour apartment, he bought a new £635,000 London home and changed his 'main home' declaration which meant he could use his second-home allowance to help pay for it - and provide a home for his adult son."
The Hoon of course has an excuse:
"Mr Hoon insists he has done absolutely nothing wrong and maintains everything was approved by the Commons authorities."
But if he cannot see that what he has done is wrong then he is even more amoral than others in this most vile government. The "Tory sleaze" of the 1990s was individual and often over-played by a Labour leaning media (lead of course by the BBC), this Labour sleaze is worse, far worse and of course played down by that same media cabal.
No comments:
Post a Comment