Questions our MP must answer...

South Holland and Deepings MP John Hayes claimed more than twice as much as any other MP for mobile phone charges in the first four months of the new Parliament, according to the Daily Telegraph

The Telegraph which blew the lid on the scandal of Parliamentary expenses by exposing abuse by MPs,reports : "John Hayes spent £1,556 on mobile phone bills, twice the next-highest amount."

The period covered expense claims by MP from May 7 to August 31.

Almost £100 a week on phone bills sounds like a staggering amount, even for an MP.

But when the money is claimed from the public purse by a member of a Coalition Conservative-LibDem Govermment that keeps telling us 'we're all in this together'...surely those who are paying the bill are entitled to ask questions.

For there appears to be more than a whiff of hypocrisy in an MP spending more in a single day on phone bills than most of us spend in a month:

At the same time, Mr Hayes' Government is TREBLING tuition fees to make Uni students pay up to £9,000 a year, SLASHING funds for local policing by a staggering 20 per cent (despite Mr Hayes personally campaigining for more money for policing in Lincolnshire and getting re-elected on a promise of 'more police on our streets...').

Then there's the eye-watering 28 per cent CUTS to local councils here in Lincolnshire - on top of SCRAPPING the world renowned school sports partnership hailed by teachers here in south Lincs and across the country as achieving fantastic results.

Could this be the same Mr Hayes who launched a shameful personal attack on me a couple of years over 'expenses'.

In a desperate attempt to stop me being elected to South Kesteven District Council, Mr Hayes personally deliver disgraceful leaflets down my street the day before polling.

The wholly misleading leaflets suggested that as county councillor for DSJ, I had claimed a staggering amount in expenses.

As Mr Hayes well knows, unlike most county councillors - and unlike him - I never claimed a penny over eight years despite regularly driving the 90-mile round trip backwards and forwards to the council's offices in Lincoln.

I was entitled to thousands of pounds over the years. In fact, the public record shows I never claimed a single penny.

And by the way, in my seven or so years as a member of Lincolnshire Police Authority, I never claimed either for travel expenses, or the £20 an hour on offer that others claimed for doing the job.

Not looking for plaudits, but under false personal attack, it's important to me that the truth is known.

Sadly, the truth didn't stop Mr Hayes delivering his eve-of-election leaflets smearing my personal character.

If I was rich, I could have sought legal remedy in the courts. To be frank, I would have accepted a simple apology.

It never came - despite Mr Hayes claiming in his leaflets at this year's General Election: 'I'll never attack my local political opponents personally...'

Not sure what he would call his unjustified personal attacks on me over 'expenses'. I'm fairly certain that a court of law would call it an personal attack on my character made without justification.

In any case, it is surely reasonable to ask Mr Hayes why he now thinks it is right that taxpayers have paid his rather large phone bill.

Some might even say his bill is 'staggering'.

Footnote:
Of course, there may be a simple explanation and I'm sure that in the interests of transparency and accountability, Mr Hayes will now wish publish the offending phone bills.

Watch this space...

Police numbers to be cut in Lincs

Police numbers in Lincolnshire are likely to be cut as a result of the draconian ConDem Coalition austerity package.

So what does Tory MP John Hayes for South Holland and the Deepings have to say about that, I wonder.

I distinctly recall him promising MORE police not less in his general election leaflets which dropped on my mat only a few months ago.

Mr Hayes and his gang can't say they didn't know there was a big deficit - after all they campaigned on that very issue to get elected.

And after the election, official figures showed that the deficit was not as big as forecast before the election.

So will Mr Hayes be campaigning against the austerity package which is resulting in his election promises being broken within months...?

Let's hear it Mr Hayes!

Jobless should seek joy in flower arranging says our MP...!

I missed this gem from the Daily Mail last month, as it was published on the first day of my holiday...but I hope you agree it is worthy of a wider audience...

An MP suggests that those thrown onto the dole should seek joy in er, flower arranging!

Not just any MP, but John Hayes, who, as well as being Conservative MP for my patch -is also now a Minister for Education in the ConDem Government.

John seems to have largely got away with what some might consider an insulting gaffe from a Minister whose Government is presiding over damaging cuts likely to throw hundreds of thousands on the dole.

One can only imagine the furore if a Labour Minister ever made such comments!

Public support for wind power is blow for Tory protest...

More than three in four people favour wind turbines - even if they are near their own homes, according to a survey published in this week's Lincolnshire Free Press.

The survey seems to show that Conservative local councils who turn down planning applications for windfarms on principle are out of touch with local opinion.

Personally, I always suspected that the Conservative Party's objections to wind turbines - as voiced by John Hayes, our right-wing MP for South Holland and Deepings - were hot air...

Our MP claims for overnights at the Carlton Club...

John Hayes, MP for the Deepings, claimed for overnight stays at the Carlton Club from the public purse,
according to the Daily Telegraph.

But he says the Telegraph has it wrong, not him. And he promises to publish all his expense claims in full in next week's Lincolnshire Free Press

No bills for moat-cleaning, duck-islands or phantom mortgages as claimed by some of his parliamentary colleagues, but there may be at least a few eyebrows raised in Moulton Chapel that the public has been picking up his tab for his stays at the Carlton Club!

Award for our MP...

Congratulations to MP John Hayes who has been named Parliamentary Disability Charity Champion for his work to support brain-injured people and their carers.

John, MP for South Holland and The Deepings, was presented with the Disability Champion Award by Esther Rantzen at a ceremony at the Epolitix Charity Awards.

He suffered a serious head injury himself when he was in his early 20s and made an excellent recovery. Now, as an MP, he holds regular fund-raising events including an annual parliamentary cricket match, to help raise the profile of the Headway charity.