Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Harry Cohen, Labour MP has no shame but plenty of our money!


Dear All

Another day and another Labour MP is jumping ship, this time it’s Harry Cohen; he is being investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for claiming over £100,000 in allowances for his second home.

In true Labour arrogance on his way out the door, ‘our’ Harry has said he is the most professional MP his constituents have ever had, including Winston Churchill.

Doesn’t say much Churchill was rat!

This leaves a scramble for his Leyton and Wanstead constituency in East London at the General Election.

His reason for going is another old classic of ‘wanting to spend more time with his wife who is in poor health’.

Cohen has pocketed more for his second home than any other MP in outer London - £104,000 over six years - despite his constituency only half-an-hour by Tube to Westminster.

Half-an-hour, just enough time to read the paper and wake up in the morning!

He received the Additional Cost Allowance of £104, 701 between 2002 and 2007 for his constituency home in Wanstead were he permanently lives.

Cohen’s expenses have been under scrutiny since MP claims were first made public in 2004 and he just kept going like a Torjan hoovering up expenses after expenses.

Cohen claimed £123,718 in allowances for the year 2003-2004 on top of his salary of £57,485, way to go Harry. In two short years, once he had got the hang of it Cohen was one of London’s most expensive MPs.

And only half-an-hour away from his work!

In true hear no evil see no evil and do no evil Cohen came up with a novel excuse, here it is;

Mr Cohen has said he cleared his arrangements with the House of Commons authorities.

Didn’t those with phoney mortgages do that as well?

His defence is another piece of theatre, blame the Tory, he made me do it!

Cohen said following the wonderful advice of ‘claim everything’ he had taken full advantage of the arrangement ever since.

Harry Cohen, Champagne Socialist Hero and Labour MP is stepping down, just as well he would have got slotted by the voters.

I wonder if he will set up courses on how to rob banks?

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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