Taxi trips and business-class flights among Essex MPs' expenses

Taxi trips and business-class flights among Essex MPs' expenses

26th October 2012

James Duddridge

TAXI trips from London to Southend and business-class flights to Austria are among the expenses claims of south Essex’s MPs.
Detailed analysis carried out by the Echo has uncovered some of the lavish claims, totalling thousands of pounds, which have been billed to the taxpayer over the last 18 months.
But our investigation has also laid bare the sharp contrasts between the county’s Tory MPs and what they choose to charge to expenses, with the gap between some of them as much as £18,000.
James Duddridge, MP for Rochford and Southend East, has claimed back £2,000 in taxi bills since March last year, for 24 trips between Westminster and his home in Fermoy Road, Thorpe Bay.
He argued the taxis were necessary because he had stayed in the capital for late-night sittings in the House of Commons, and it was cheaper to pay for a journey home than a hotel room in London.
The last c2c train service from Fenchurch Street to Shoebury leaves at 12.25am on weekdays, while the London Underground routes which serve it do not stop until well after 1am.

Mr Duddridge said: “Most days I commute into London. Since the 2010 general election, I have stayed in a hotel when I have working late and needed to be back in first thing in the morning.
“Normally on these days, I would be working beyond 10.30pm and return to work at 7.30am.
“If I do not need to be in London quite as early, I have occasionally used a cab service, which works out cheaper than a hotel.”
In April this year, Basildon and Billericay MP John Baron claimed back £607 for a business-class flight to Vienna, the Austrian capital.
Mr Baron was visting the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is based in the city, although it is not know which British airport he flew from.

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/10007291.Taxi_trips_and_business_class_flights_among_MPs__expenses/