Why is Helen Whately happy to be on Question Time but cagey if the questions are about her expenses?
Helen Whately: voters in her Faversham constituency are disgusted that she is claiming more in rent expenses than most of them earn, despite being extremely rich. And she’s not even a very good government minister…
Tory MP Helen Whately was a panellist on the BBC’s Question Time yesterday (Thursday, May 11) – to the surprise of Faversham constituents who can’t get her to answer questions about her enormous Parliamentary expenses bill.
The Minister for Social Care earns £113,612 a year, is married to a director and founder of an energy company (think about the amounts they’re raking in) and they have recently bought a £1.35 million farmhouse in a village on Faversham’s outskirts.
But she claims £3,250 per month rent expenses, presumably for a property in London. That adds up to £39,000 a year.
Shockingly, this is perfectly permittable by Parliamentary rules. In fact, as a mother-of-three, she could claim up to £39,315, so she is just within the rules.
But it doesn’t look good for an individual who has a large amount of personal wealth to be taking, from the public purse, more money than most of us can dream of earning – because of Tory wage suppression.
Whately won’t answer questions about it, and this has triggered a predictable – and entirely justifiable – response from her constituents:
A Kent MP has been accused of ‘outrageous contempt’ for constituents after refusing to answer questions about her £3,250-a-month rent expenses.
It seems Whately did not stop to consider, when making her expenses claim, that voters might not be impressed if an MP of large personal wealth then claims even more, from them – after making them struggle to make ends meet.
I don’t think Helen Whately will be in Parliament after the next election – do you? I think voters will tell her to go and fend for herself.
Source: Faversham MP Helen Whately refuses to answer questions over rent expenses
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Why isn’t there a cap on the expences that these crooked and corrupt MPs can claim….They are continually robbing us tax payers blind! They are continually taking the piss out of us!