Letter - East Kent Gazette

Dear Madam

I would like to respond to the letter from Derek Wyatt in this week’s Gazette.

In an obvious attempt to justify claiming over £20,000 every year in second home allowance for his London flat, despite no longer living in his Sittingbourne & Sheppey constituency, Mr Wyatt warns me that I should prepare for long days if I am elected.

Let me assure Mr Wyatt that I go into the next General Election with my eyes very much wide open, as did he in 1997 when he chose to stand for Parliament. It was his choice to accept the salary and terms and conditions offered at that time. Nobody forced him to become an MP so he should not whinge about it now.

It is true that I have promised not to claim for a second home allowance and I will stick by my word. Mr Wyatt infers that I will not get home until 1 am every day, but the House of Commons only sits until 10 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays. The latest it sits on other days is 7 pm. I think I can cope with those hours!

However, if I find that parliamentary business does require me to stay overnight in London a couple of nights a week, then I will stay in a hotel like any other worker forced to stay away from home because of business. Why should the tax payers of Sittingbourne & Sheppey be expected to buy a second home for me?

Finally, Mr Wyatt quite rightly points out that I live in Halfway, on the Isle of Sheppey. Perhaps he would like to tell us where HE lives, or does the right to privacy only apply to MPs?

Yours sincerely

Gordon Henderson

Added 13.05.09