Councilbust

  Peter Welch, the Liberal Democrat prospective Parliamentary candidate for Southend West, has issued a public cry for incumbent Tory MP David Amess to resign.

 Mr Amess has faced harsh criticism for refusing to comment on his expenses, and for his claims of £400.00 per month for food during the past four years.

 Mr Welch has issued a statement predicting a collapse of the government and emphasizing the needs of Southend constituents for new leadership. He said:

 “We are in a time of unprecedented crisis.

 “The Labour government is falling apart in office and the Conservative Party seems to be about to fall apart in opposition.

 “At a time like this, the people of Southend West need an MP who is open and transparent, and who speaks up for reform.

 “But David Amess is refusing to explain his expenses claims; he is running away to hide in hairdressers rather than talk to the press.  He voted against reform of the system of expenses last year.

 “Enough is enough. If he can’t  explain his claims, if he has had the chance to reform the system and voted to keep the old cosy system and the “John Lewis list” then he should step down and let the residents of Southend West choose someone else to represent them in Parliament.”

 Mr Welch also wrote a letter to Mr Amess, asking him to resign. The letter referred to constituents struggling to make ends meet:

 “At times like this residents of Southend West need to know that their representative in Parliament is contributing to the solution of the problem,” Mr Welch wrote.

 “A nurse I spoke to the other evening earns less that £10 000 per annum. She was receiving tax credit. But one of the frequent mistakes with this hideously complicated system meant that she was overpaid, and now has to pay the money back.

 “This lady has to provide all her papers to the State. She is not allowed to hide behind protestations of privacy. She has to pay back the amount involved, and pay interest on it. And she also pays the taxes that go towards funding your allowances.

 This lady – and thousands of other constituents – reads in the local paper that you voted to prevent reform of the system of MPs allowances. She reads that you have run away from the press. And she reads that the details of the claims you have made are still a secret.

 “Southend West needs an MP who is committed to reform and who is open and transparent. If you cannot fulfil this role, I urge you to stand down from Parliament now.”

 Councillor Graham Longley, the Liberal Democrat prospective Parliamentary candidate for Rochford and Southend East, has published an open letter to the incumbent MP James Duddridge.

 Mr Duddridge, who has received some criticism for using MP expenses for mortgage payments and refurbishments on both his homes, has been largely backed by his constituents over the MP expenses row.

 Mr Longley, however, has doubts about Mr Duddridge’s commitment to paying back any money his constituents feel was spent unwisely, and has called on his rival to pay back £7,000 worth of claims.

 He writes on the Southend Liberal Democrat’s website:

 “Dear James,

 “The last few weeks must have been fairly difficult to cope with especially over the matter of parliamentary expenses.

 “As your opponent for the next General Election it would have been very easy to make capital out of your situation but in fact I have not needed to do so – the press have stirred the water enough without my help and the local residents are clearly not happy.

 “Your Evening Echo feature on Friday went a long way to explaining your position especially as a new Member of Parliament still learning the ‘ropes’ and you were clear in your statement that you would be prepared to ‘pay back’ the money you spent on the first flat which I believe you openly told me you are renting out.

 “Your words quoted in the Echo were ‘I would consider repaying it. Certainly if the scrutiny panel said I should and if the independent review body said it was wrong.’

 “The implication of course in that sentence is that you might not pay it back!

 “It would be my belief, from the people I have spoken to in the constituency that the electors would consider that, unacceptable especially as you are, one assumes receiving rental income.

 “In order to avoid further confrontation might I suggest that you do away with the uncertainty and pay back immediately, like other members caught in the same trap, the £7,000 referred to.

 “As I said earlier James, I have stayed out of the argument but your uncertainty leads me to make this one entry into the discussion and to formally ask you to repay the sum referred to with a view to clearing away this lingering problem which if you wait for the scrutiny panels and independent review body will only fester further.”

 Conservative MP for Southend West David Amess has challenged the House of Commons Commission over its members’ allowances during the 1980s.

 Allowances, like MP expenses, were to cover the costs incurred by members of the Commission whilst carrying out their duties.

 Mr Amess wrote to Liberal Democrat Nick Devon of the House of Commons Commission to ask about the nature of these allowances.

 He asked: “What allowances were available to honourable Members in each Session since 1983-84; what conditions were imposed on payments made under each such allowance in each Session; and what the maximum amount claimable by an honourable Member under each such allowance was in each Session.”

 Mr Harvey declined to give a detailed reply to all of the question, and instead wrote to Mr Amess to direct him to some of the information:

 “A number of allowances have been available to Members since 1983-84. Information about these allowances, including the levels Members could claim, is published in regular House of Commons Library Research papers.

 “These are available in the Library.

 “Allowances have included the additional costs allowance (now personal additional accommodation expenditure), office costs allowance (renamed the incidental expenses provision and then administrative and office expenditure), travel allowances and the communications allowance (now communications expenditure).

 “Each allowance has been put in place to assist Members in carrying out their parliamentary duties and was approved by Resolution of the House.

 “The conditions relating to each of the allowances have been published in the Green Book, the first edition of which was published in 1987.

 “These are available in the Library. Prior to 1987, Members were able to ask for advice from the then Fees Office.

 “No records exist of the conditions imposed at this time.”

 Mr Amess himself has come under fire in the past few weeks over his own expenses.

 He claimed the maximum £400.00 per month for food for four years, but has refused to comment specifically on this matter.

 The prospective UKIP Parliamentary candidate for Rochford and Southend East, James Moyies, has spoken to CouncilBust.com about his views on the European Parliament elections.

 Of his own party’s success in winning two seats in the Eastern Region, Mr Moyies said: “The Eastern Region are delighted that we came second nationally and in the region.

 “We also maintained the United Kingdom Independence Party’s representation from the East within the European Union. 

 “David Campbell-Bannerman the Deputy Leader of the party is joined by Stuart Agnew (a Suffolk Farmer) as new members of Parliament.”

 Mr Moyies, however, said that a number of technicalities prevented UKIP from gaining more votes:

 “We are disappointed at the lost votes up north due to steam folded ballot papers and to the misleading use of the name UK First party by the one man and his dog chap in our region. 

 “This deception took many votes away in Rochford and Southend and up to 38,185 in the Eastern region.”

 This, Mr Moyies believes, allowed the BNP to gain its first ever two seats in any parliament, in the North West and Yorkshire and Humber. Despite claims from various sources that there is a link between the BNP and UKIP, Mr Moyies expressed dismay at the BNP’s sudden propulsion into elected seats:

 “Nationally our biggest disappointment was not getting the few extra votes in the North West that would have kept Nick Griffin of the BNP out of the Parliament.

 “People laughed at the folded paper complaint but who would be laughing if it was such a mistake that gave BNP a seat in Europe.”

 This aside, Mr Moyies gave an optimistic view of UKIP’s role in representing the UK to Europe, saying:

 “In the years ahead our MEPs will provide information on the activities of the European Union and inform us when law that affects our country is being implemented.

 “They will fight to ensure Britain’s interests are not ignored and will keep a close financial watch on the EU’s activities.

 “[UKIP MEPs] have pledged to be visible within the region and connect with the electorate as much as geography allows.

 “UKIP want to have a referendum on the European Union and we would campaign to leave the institution returning all government power to the UK.”

 Further, Mr Moyies believes that UKIP’s successes in the EU elections will put the party in a better position for the upcoming General Election.

 “This great result allows us to build for the General election and communicate our domestic policies to the electorate,” he explained.

 “In Rochford and Southend UKIP got more votes than Labour and Lib Dems combined.”

 Labour scored 5,420 votes in the area, whilst the Liberal Democrats scored 7,158; UKIP took 14,033, a sizeable victory over the two left parties, but the Conservatives secured almost double that again with 20,021.

 “This puts us in the position of being the only challenger to the sitting Conservative members,” Mr Moyies went on.

 “We expect Labour voters to turn to us and will be aiming to persuade BNP voters that they have made an error of judgement and should vote for a non racist party.

 “My platform will be: ‘read our common sense policies and if you agree with them; vote for UKIP. If not, find a party that better fits your beliefs.’ 

 “There will be no pandering or confusion to try to keep everyone happy and con people into voting for me.

 “It’s time for new Politics. It’s time for a clean start.”