'Keens should sell up and commute', says Lib Dem candidate (From Hounslow And Brentford Times)

'Keens should sell up and commute', says Lib Dem candidate

8:20am Thursday 28th May 2009

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A thrifty councillor who uses his fold-up bike to travel to his day job in the city today said MPs Ann and Alan Keen should sell their £500,000 Thames flat and commute to work.

Councillor Andrew Dakers, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Brentford and Isleworth, said the couple should use the money to repay the taxpayer for almost £140,000 expenses they claimed on their “second home” over the last four years.

“I manage to get an awful lot done like many other residents do on the train, I work on a laptop and can connect to the internet without any problem. The expenses they are accumulating to avoid that train journey are extraordinary and unjustifiable.”

Andrew Dakers

Mr Keen, MP for Feltham and Heston, said he and his wife, MP for Brentford and Isleworth, would not be able to do their jobs without the flat, which is less than 10 miles from their main home in Brentford.

But Coun Dakers accused Mr Keen of “whinging,” saying commuters living in the town made the journey every day.

He said: “I have commuted for a long time myself into central London for work. I think we have a fairly good service now operating on South West Trains from Brentford to Waterloo.

“I manage to get an awful lot done like many other residents do on the train, I work on a laptop and can connect to the internet without any problem. The expenses they are accumulating to avoid that train journey are extraordinary and unjustifiable.”

The leader of the Liberal Democrat group, who juggles local politics with his professional career, said he found it “baffling” that the Keens claimed they needed a second home in central London because they work long hours.

He added: “I take my bike with me on the train, I unfold it at Waterloo and cycle for 20 minutes through the capital to my office. I work seven days a week, usually I suppose getting up at 7am and often working until 1.30am dealing with case work and emails and everything else.

“I’ve no sympathy I’m afraid for Alan Keen’s whinging.

“At the moment I think most people want them to sell up and give the profit from their property back to the public purse, to the Treasury, and start using the train. They should get an Oyster card.”

MPs voted last week to scrap the option for a second home allowance for the 49 MPs whose constituencies are in outer London.

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