Keith Vaz

"Mr Vaz reportedly claimed £75,000 for a Westminster flat although his family's home is 12 miles away in Stanmore.

He said that he had acted within the rules. He added that his designated home was in his Leicester constituency, the Westminster flat was his second home, and he made no claims for the home in Stanmore where his family lives. "

That passage is from The BBC and I think it is worth reading again. What Keith Vaz is saying, via the BBC, is that his family live in Stanmore a mere 12 miles and an easy commute from Westminster whilst he claims a second home allowance for a flat in Westminster, meanwhile his main home is in his Leicestershire constituency.

A couple of points; If we accept that Keith Vaz could not commute from Leicestershire to Westminster every day (and people do commute such distances) in the real world then why does he need two London abodes. Plenty of people commute into central London from further out than Stanmore so why does Keith Vaz need a flat in Westminster?


For more on Keith Vaz's claims see here; silk cushions!


The whole subject of MP's multiple properties is one that really annoys me as often it seems just a way of benefiting from capital appreciation and it is this subject that I will return to soon.