Robin Taylor seems to be labouring under the impression that I'll be sending my petition, Ann and Alan Keen, OUT! to the Brentford and Isleworth Labour Party. He says, and I quote, "If they have any sense, the Brentford & Isleworth CLP will file your petition where it belongs - in the bin." That, of course, begs the question if Robin believes in democracy, community action and listening to the voices of the (mostly disgusted) local voters who signed my petition. More to the point, why on earth should I send it to the local constituency offices, if as Robin charmingly predicts, they will bin it? No, I will be sending it to the national Labour Party, to the committee looking into complaints about individual MPs and their grubby expenses claims, with a copy to the TUC committee also debating the issue. I think Robin ought to tell us why he so staunchly defends the indefensible, i.e. two MPs who betrayed the trust of voters by acting in a morally cheesy way. I don't at all mind if Brentford and Isleworth re-elects a Labour MP, as long as he/she genuinely works in the interests of the community. As they relax in their swish West End apartment, funded by us, the taxpayers, Ann and Alan Keen should contemplate the second homes expense claims over several years filed by Diane Abbott, another London Labour MP -- nothing! Diane should be proud of herself. My favourite though is Alan Williams, Labour member for Swansea West (200 miles from Westminster), whose total second homes claims were (2004-5) £4,521, (2005-6) £6,151 (2006-7) £7,073 (2007-8) £5,221. That's what I call a public servant, a man of integrity, who tries to keep costs down. Compare those modest figures with the astronomical and greedy 'double dipping' of the Keens (almost £40,000 a year)! And the Keens live in London, not Swansea!
Stuart Parrott ● 6195d