It's only three weeks old, yet already scandal is hitting the new coalition government. MP, financial whiz and treasury secretary David Laws has resigned after The Daily Telegraph fleeced the state out of £40,000 in bogus expense claims.
The 44 year old has claimed up to £950 a month for not one, not two, not even three, but eight years, to rent rooms, off his lover and partner! It's been against the commons rules to rent property from a partner, spouse, or lover that you live with since 2000, yet Laws disregarded the rules and paid 'rent' to his younger boyfriend.
The Story was broken by The Daily Telegraph, a serious news paper and the MP said on Friday that he would repay the £40,000 immediately. Which begs the question, if he's got forty odd thousand just laying about in his bank account, then why the hell did he feel the need to claim for rented accommodation in the first place. He moved in with James Lundie, a political lobbyist, in 1999, and claims their relationship started in 2001.
“I’ve been involved in a relationship with James Lundie since around 2001 — about two years after first moving in with him. Our relationship has been unknown to both family and friends throughout that time,” read a statement from Laws. “James and I are intensely private people. We made the decision to keep our relationship private and believed that was our right. Clearly that cannot now remain the case. My motivation throughout has not been to maximise profit but to simply protect our privacy and my wish not to reveal my sexuality.”
He's resigned his post from the government and referred himself to the parliament watchdog. He claims he wasn't doing anything wrong, that they couldn't be classed as a 'couple' as they have not had a civil partnership and they socialize apart!
I know there will be people out there that have sympathy for the man, that fear, shame and perhaps even self loathing prevented the man from being open about his sexuality in public, but, simply, he's done wrong, he's broken the rules and really does have to pay the heavy price. There are many openly gay MP's these days, you can also have a civil partnership ceremony in the Houses of Parliament in London, so there is no real need to shy away and hide ones sexuality in the closet.
It's a shame, he seemed quite good at the job and was well liked by his fellow MP's and Lib Dems, yet if only he'd acted with the integrity others claim he has, then he wouldn't be in the mess he is now and out of his top treasury job!
Jason Shaw
© 2010 Copyright Jason Shaw
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