Dubious Claims by Tunbridge Wells Dozycrat Candidate

Tunbridge Wells Dozycrats' first election missive landed on my doormat this morning. The candidate leads off with the statement: I will not take a second home on expenses'.

The candidate notes that the Tory MP has claimed £67,000 of taxpayers money for his second home in London.

So far so good. But then we have the claim: Tunbridge Wells to central London takes less than an hour on the train, a commute that thousands make everyday.

I bet that made commuters chuckle!

I reckon it takes twenty minutes to walk from Charing Cross to the House of Commons. If you want to arrive by 8.00AM you have to catch the 6.40AM train which arrives at Charing Cross at 7.40AM - less than an hour? The 6.56AM train arrives at Charing Cross at 7.50AM so yes, just under the hour, but there is still the journey to the final destination.

The House of Commons often sits until 10.00PM so, assuming a quick getaway, catch the 10.30PM train and you arrive in Tunbridge Wells at 11.26PM.

So I reckon a commuting MP would have between 5 and 6 hours sleep each night. Do we really want our MPs to make decisions when perpetually tired? According to our Dozycrat candidate we do.

I thought it would be interesting to compare the MP for Tunbridge Wells claims with those of the Dozycrat MP for Lewes which is a fair comparison - Tunbridge Wells is 36 miles from Westminster and Lewes 44.

In 2007-8 Greg Clark - Tory: Tunbridge Wells, claimed £23,000 in total, all on mortgage interest on his flat in SW London.

In the same year Norman Baker - Liberal Dozycrat: Lewes, claimed £21, 862 which included £1,320 for food. The Commons fees office refused a claim for a PC so he could listen to music and e-mail his family and friends.

Poor stuff from the Dozycrat candidate and an insult to our intelligence.

Of course, should he win, the Dozycrat candidate may choose to remain in Sevenoaks which would make his travel arrangements a little less onerous. Has he made a commitment to live in the constituency should he be elected?