After Keith Vaz another pro-Tamil Tiger Member of Parliament is in real political trouble in the United Kingdom.
Joan Ryan, the Labour Party Member of Parliament who recently proposed that Sri Lanka should be expelled from the Commonwealth of Nations is in hot water for claiming allowance for a second home while living very close to the parliament.
Her area newspaper The Enfield Independent said the MP’s “expenses are now under scrutiny as part of an enquiry into MPs allowances announced,” last week.
Some MP’s while not living that far away from the Westminster Parliament are accused of making undue use of a concessionary loophole given to MP’s living far away from the parliament and compelled to run houses close to it.
Enfield North MP Joan Ryan has taken an advantage of claiming £21,971 for the second home she ran the newspaper claimed. By public transport it takes just over an hour to travel to her other home the newspaper, accused. She is a close ally of the British Tamil Forum, the London based front organization of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Another, British parliamentarian Keith Vaz, the leader of the pro-LTTE British parliamentary group is also under investigation allegedly for sleazy behaviour of allegedly helping a conman and enjoying his hospitality.
The Enfield Independent said, “The Prime Minister asked the Committee on Standards in Publi2c Life yesterday to review what some have dubbed the Whitehall gravy train.
“As well as expenses, the committee will also look at second jobs and other outside interests.
“Its report could lead to an overhaul of the expenses system.
“The investigation was launched in response to the discovery that a Labour minister and Harrow MP, Tony McNulty, claimed £60,000 of taxpayers’ money over three years for his second home in Harrow, where his parents live.
“Mr McNulty was forced to admit he rarely spends time in the house, although he insisted he still used it for constituency work.
“He may now be subject to a Parliamentary investigation.
“All MPs are entitled to claim the Additional Costs Allowance, worth up to £24,000 a year for a second home.”
The property is meant to provide a place for MPs to stay when they visit Parliament, while their primary residence remains in their constituency. But controversially, while inner London MPs are not entitled to the extra cash, outer London ones are.
Joan Ryan has been continuously supporting the pro-LTTE moves in Sri Lanka and the proposal to appoint Des Browne as the special envoy of Sri Lanka. In February she said in parliament: “I…… also welcome the appointment of my right hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun( Des Browne) as special envoy to Sri Lanka, as well as the statements made in the House by members of the Government regarding ceasefire, but warm words and good intentions will not protect the civilians of the Vanni.
“My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary will be aware that, in the last 24 hours, a ceasefire offer has been made but was rejected out of hand by the Government of Sri Lanka. is grave, with 2,000 civilian deaths since January. Is not now the time for the Government to take the issue up at the highest levels—namely, at a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council or in the Security Council itself, or by seeking the suspension from the Commonwealth of the Government of Sri Lanka?”
The Enfield Independent also quoted the adjacent electorate’s Conservative Party MP who has not claimed this allowance. The newspaper said, “Enfield Southgate MP, David Burrowes, lives one hour away from Westminster and is one of several London members who forsake the allowance.
“He said he could not criticise his fellow MPs for taking the allowance but said he supported getting rid of it for those living within commutable distance.
“My view is London MPs don’t need a second home. There are times when you will be in the House all night and day but then you can always stay in a hotel for the night.”
Mr. Douglas Wickramaratne, a voter who lives in an adjacent electorate said now it is obvious who is after the gravy train. “I strongly feel’ instead of Sri Lanka being expelled from the Commonwealth, Joan Ryan should be expelled from the parliament.”
By Walter Jayawardhana