Poole’s MP Robert Syms has taken full advantage of the new expenses rules that have forbidden MP’s claiming mortgage interest for second homes in London since 2010 according to expenses posted online at www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk
From his first election in 1997 until 2010 Mr Syms claims over £20,000 each and every year on mortgage interest, council tax, utilities and insuring relating to his second home in London. This scheme enabled a number of MP’s to make enormous personal capital gains from a rising London property market completely financed by public money.
Following the 2009 expenses scandal new rules were introduced to stop this happening in future. Mr Syms recognised that he couldn’t rent out his previously tax payer funded dwelling (some MP’s have rented their property to other MP’s) and gain himself a private income whilst renting a different property in central London (some MP’s are renting from another MP) and thereby having the taxpayer funding it.
It is possible that Mr Syms has a legitimate reason for moving from his own home (where he lives with his wife and two children), although it is difficult to comprehend a reason other than to play the system for all he can claim from it. This now enables him to rent a London property for £1,750 per month at tax payers’ expense. It is not unreasonable to assume that he could well be receiving a similar monthly sum for renting out his previous residence.
Unbelievably this isn’t even the full extent of Mr Syms’ claims. He also gets to claim an extra £4,850 per annum because he has two “dependants” living in his London property, his “second” home.
Mr Syms has been quite clear in the past – he “lives” in Poole and indeed claims weekly mileage (at over £95 per week) to reside here EVERY weekend (without fail, even including Parliamentary recess, conference, Christmas, Easter and New Year) – incredibly Mr Syms has not, according to his expenses on public record, spent a weekend anywhere other than Poole in two and a half years!!
How can it be that the taxpayer funds Mr Syms’ children to live in London while at the same time paying Mr Syms nearly £5,000 per annum to drive from London to Poole every Friday and drive back to London every Monday?
To compound this situation Mr Syms has to provide not a shred of evidence that he ever makes this journey at all. Many residents will be used to the concept of claiming expenses from employers in providing fuel receipts to back up mileage claims – MP’s unbelievably are trusted not to abuse this scheme and do not have to provide receipts!!
Mr Syms refuses to correspond with me on the issue of his Parliamentary expenses – I would urge residents of Poole who have concerns over the facts above to contact Mr Syms directly on [email protected] (where you will probably be responded to by his ex-wife secretary who receives over £30,000 of tax payers money every year despite living in Weston-Super-Mare, nowhere near either Poole or Westminster) or through his Poole Office on 01202 739922 and to take the issue up with IPSA, the new expenses body of Parliament – [email protected]
I am happy to correspond with any local resident on this or any other issue.
Councillor Philip Eades, Branksome West Ward
North Road, Poole BH14 0LY
mob 07977 117272 phone 01202 770851
