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Dominic Grieve reveals all on second home
DOMINIC Grieve, MP for Beaconsfield, is considering giving up his second home which he rents in Marlow and for which he claimed nearly £19,000 in 2007-8.
In an interview with the Advertiser, Mr Grieve, whose main home is a family house in West Kensington, said he has started to feel that he should move to a flat, and that he discussed this with his barrister wife Caroline some time ago.
Mr Grieve has neither been outed by the Daily Telegraph as a Demon nor lauded by it as an Angel in its recent series of exposes on Mps expenses.
Mr Grieve claimed a total of £128,343 in expenses in 2007-8, of which £18,668 were for the cottage which he rents a stone's throw fom the Thames for just over £1,500 per month. He will have to subsidise the rent by over £300 per month under new rules on expenses announced on Tuesday. He also claimed £1616.44 for council tax and £141 for gardening. He claimed nothing for furniture or bills.
Mr Grieve stays in the cottage most Thursday and Friday evenings to attend to constituency duties, and more often in September.
He said: "If I have an engagement which ends at 11.40pm I can be there in five minutes, and then there's frequently another at 9.30am the next day. If I travelled back to London it would be much more difficult, plus I need somewhere to keep clothes and all the apparatus for living.
"Whether I stay there on a Saturday depends on family arrangements. I can have everybody in the house (his sons are 13 and 15) if I have to be there for constituency reasons because there are things we do collectively as a family. But my boys are getting older now and they are becoming more independent. The cottage has been useful to me, but I've always kept in mind is this justified... and I have given thought as to whether I should make new arrangements."
Since becoming shadow home secretary and now shadow justice minister he is "herding around the country a bit more" and spending less time in the cottage, he said.
Mr Grieve's expenses were discussed, at his own request, by the constituency Conservatives at a meeting on Monday.
For a picture of Mr Grieve's second home see today's Advertiser.
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Marlow is not within his constituency. From Beaconsfield:
Distance to West Kensington 23 miles / 42 mins.
Distance to Marlow 12 miles / 21 mins.
So the taxpayers have paid £18K per year to save Mr Grieve a few extra minutes in his car.
How many years has he claimed these expenses? He has been the MP for Beaconsfield for over 10 years. That sums to a lot of money.
In my opinion the taxpayer has been paying over many years for a holiday home so that Mr Grieve can indulge his interest of 'boating on The Thames'.
I think he should pay it all back. Shadow Justice minister indeed!
I am disappointed to see that Dominic has chosen to take advantage of a system which is fundamentally floored. If large numbers of his constituents can make the daily commute between Beaconsfied and central London, why can't he?
He has breached the trust and confidence we should have in our MP. I hope he either resigns or someone like Martin Bell can be found to stand against him in the forthcoming general election!
FAO SJP
The term is "flawed" not "floored" - that is used to usually describe knocking someone out!
I disagree that he has breached any tryst at all - he has been honest and open from the outset; something no one from the Lib-Dems or Lie-bour have been at all!
Martin Bell?? Are you serious??! Remember his campaign to become "Mayor of London"?? You have got to be joking! Why not invite Trevor Phillips, the very idea of it is as hare-brained as yours!!!
Dominic Grieve is a very good Minister. He has been open and honest - and should not resign.
CMJ, make sure that you don't have a beam in your own eye before removing the mote from others' eyes. It's 'trust' - 'tryst' is a lovers' meeting.
Well spotted motco, unfortunately the infernal spell-checker corrected it a bit too quickly before it was submitted....
Back on topic, do YOU think Grieve should resign, despite his frank and honest open book policy? Or are you one of the 'Independent's' who think that Martin Bell is the new Messiah??
CMJ, no I do not think he should resign. I am not a huge fan of his - his stand on the threatened incinerators is wishy-washy to say the least, but as far as I can see he has not behaved in an improper way and he is an intelligent and well educated man. It worries me that green and inexperienced 'new' MPs will flood Parliament and the collective intelligence will drop as a result. In the longer term, though, I would like MPs to be from their constituencies, or at least connected rather than parachuted in to secure a seat.
Granted....however, cast your mind back to the early 90's and it could have been a whole lot worse....although I hear that "Bliar" and his esteemed Wife have recently bought into Denham.... As for incinerators, didn't a certain red-headed associate of yours recently disgrace himself at a BTC Meeting by using foul and abusive language??
The alleged offender is not associate of mine! He could be right about the waste strategy, though. As for the latter-day PM, didn't he buy a nice little place in Brill recently. Downwind of the Calvert incinerator if it's built - how appropriate.
To all the DG defenders,are you serious? £128 grand in 'expenses', that is one heck of a lot.
'He said: "If I have an engagement which ends at 11.40pm I can be there (Marlow) in five minutes, and then there's frequently another at 9.30am the next day.'
Good heavens when is this guy going to get into the real world. I frequently had to stay late for work purposes in London, and be back at work the next day for 8:30. Yes it can be tough, but that is called working for a living.
And his performance on any questions was very poor. I have no confidence in him at all. He certainly isn't worth the money.
I must say I agree with Mike on this issue. For a start, Marlow is not within his constituency and in my view he does not require a second home atall. There are many regular, direct trains to Marylebone throughout the day and I think considering his income as an MP (and various other side lines) he can afford to make other travel arrangements should the trains not be running.
I know many students living in this area who commute daily to the Capital for a full day of lectures, and they are undoubtedly living on a much more modest budget than Mr Grieve.
The Labour MP Hilary Benn, who claims next to nothing for his small flat in Leeds sets a good, moral example to people like Dominic Grieve who feel they can justify renting a riverside cottage in an affluent town at the taxpayers expense. Although I am fully aware of the fact that the cost of living here is considerably more than that of Leeds.
I do not believe that this problem is the result of a flawed system, MPs such as Hilary Benn and Alan Johnson prove this with their modest expenses claims. However, Dominic Grieve decided that instead of making use of local hotels, or renting a small flat in a cheaper town, he would treat himself to his Marlow Cottage, which does not help him do his job as our local MP.
As a final point, I think it's important to remember that all MPs are employed by their constituents to represent them, and make themselves constantly available. If any of the posters on here supporting Grieve had actually mentioned anything positive that he has done for the area over the past 10+ years, then perhaps one could begin to understand his need for a cottage in Marlow. Even in the Beaconsfield area there are people who are suffering from the effects of the economic downturn, who have lost their jobs and had their homes re-possessed, whilst Grieve is safe with his two homes and parliamentary seat in a Tory stronghold.
Doesnt Beaconsfield have a direct line to London,why is this bloke renting a house in Marlow.
I wasnt going to vote but if this bloke stands i will be voting against him,and i will be looking at the other candidate very closely to see which ones are local!!
Also the last thing we want is a Shadow/Home Secretary,surely its better to have a hard working honest MP.
Mr Colin Forbes