Saturday 17 April 2010

Hywel Francis rides the "Gravy Train " and would have claimed more if he had been able. A reminder and update.


ABERAVON MP Hywel Francis clocked up a food bill of more than £5,000 over two years and was also quoted as saying that ” he would have claimed more if he had been able.”
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Over the same period, from 2006 to 2008, Dr Francis also billed taxpayers more than £1,500 for work on his website.
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He also claimed £2,000 in one year for cleaning at his second home in London – though this fell to £200 in 2007 and 2008, the latest period for which documents are available.
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On three occasions during that time, he submitted claims of £400 for food – the maximum amount MPs could claim at the time without producing a receipt.
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He also claimed more than £3,000 in ground rent and service charges for his second home, as well as monthly mortgage interest payments of between £1,111 and £1,262 – and £85 for repairs to curtain rails.
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In 2006, he claimed £270 for a vacuum cleaner and digital TV box, £560 on a washer-dryer, a bureau and table and chair sets for his kitchen and dining rooms.
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He also claimed £348 for a chair, kitchen blind, TV and DVD stand and £272 for repairs to his central heating system.
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From 2004 to 2005, he claimed £3,000 as a contribution towards legal fees and stamp duty when he moved home.
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He also claimed £150 for two side tables, £225 for a coffee table and £325 for an undisclosed “mystery” item, which is blacked out on the public documents.
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In 2007, he claimed £1,250 against his office costs allowance for creating a new website and paid £200 to Cilfrew company Wired Up Wales for updating the site with surgery dates and press releases.
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In 2006, he paid £60 for website updates as well as £90 in hosting fees and registration costs.
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He also billed taxpayers for his membership of Bevan Foundation and then paid them £2,500 for research on regeneration of the Afan Valley.
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Dr Francis was chairing the Welsh Affairs Select Committee when the Guardian contacted him for comment.
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His agent, John Slater, said of the website claims: “To compile the website required a person with certain experience.
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“No one in this office has the experience to set it up from scratch and that’s one of the reasons this was done."
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“I know Hywel was concerned that some MPs had websites that didn’t look very good. He wanted to be certain he couldn’t be charged with having a website that didn’t look the part.”
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He said the website was a vital tool for keeping constituents informed and stressed that the company charged with creating and updating it had no link to Dr Francis.
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( Please note that my little site costs nothing to run and can be set up and is easily updated within 5 minutes. I have no previous IT, Web development experience. Kevin)
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As a result of the Legg enquiry Hywel Francis was forced to pay back £618.05 for overclaiming on food from 2004-2005.
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He also had the nerve to claim £9 recently on expenses for Dry Cleaning.
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Below are a list of his expenses since 2001.
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2008/09 £161,464
2007/08 £156,279
2006/07 £144,597
2005/06 £130,790
2004/05 £124,527
2003/04 £121,617
2002/03 £116,830
2001/02 £101,385
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Nicely creeping up every year !
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Hywel Francis also employs his wife Mair as a parliamentary assistant at a salary that is not in the "Public Domain."
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("I am sure it is not minimum wage like many of the jobs that his constituents are struggling to live on." Kevin)
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Labour and it's MP's record over the expenses scandal, coupled with their failure to assist workers and their families who are losing their jobs and homes, whilst bailing out banks and bankers who have lost this country Billions of pounds through their own personal greed and recklessness will never be forgiven and will never be forgotten.
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Get back at them. Vote BNP !
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Kevin
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good piece about the man...it say's it all really.

Anonymous said...

A fantastic salary for being incompetent and corrupt.

A useless MP self serving,deceitfull and fraudulent.

Kick Him Out.

Justice for Linda Lewis

Anonymous said...

He does nothing, He says nothing but claims lots.

An embarrassment to politics.

I will be voting BNP and so will my family and friends.

Good Luck Kevin

Anonymous said...

The greedy git.
look at the smug face on him, It would turn milk sour