Press Release: 24.05.09

24th May 2009
Local Tories

Local Tories have joined the growing band of people calling for an early General Election.

Conservative Leader, David Cameron has called on the Prime Minister to call an election for this coming autumn and he has been backed up by a number of national newspapers from across the political spectrum, including The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Observer.

Local Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, Gordon Henderson, has launched a petition in Sittingbourne and Sheppey calling on Gordon Brown to restore trust in Britain’s political system by dissolving Parliament and calling a General Election so that people can pass their verdict on MPs’ behaviour at the ballot box.

Mr Henderson said:

‘Up and down the country people have been scandalised by the way in which their own MP has abused the parliamentary expenses system. MPs of all political parties have been implicated, including our own local Labour MP, Derek Wyatt.

‘I have been out and about in the constituency over the past week and I was shocked by the depth of anger when people learned that Mr Wyatt had claimed over £2800 expenses in one month, including money for having his windows cleaned, doing his cleaning and ironing and buying his food.

‘As Ann Widdecombe pointed out this weekend, claiming for two homes might be acceptable in certain circumstances, because MPs might well have to live in London and their constituency, but MPs only have one stomach and can only eat in one home, so why should the taxpayers have to pay for their food?

‘What we need is to clear out of Parliament all those MPs who have abused the system. The only way to do that is by calling a General Election. We have launched a petition locally calling on Gordon Brown to call an election as soon as possible and I would urge local people to sign up if they want to see Parliament cleaned up.’