47. E-mail to the Commissioner from
Ms Nadine Dorries MP, 25 May 2010
Thank you for your last two letters.
In response to your question regarding neighbours
in proximity to the Stratford-upon-Avon properties; because I
only expected to be in each property for a short period of time,
I didn't particularly get to know the neighbours and besides,
most of our family infrastructure remained in [first Gloucestershire
village]. However, when in Westminster, I did use the services
of a neighbour who I got to know through church to help transport
the girls backwards and forwards to [first Gloucestershire village]
if they were stuck when I was away.
His name was [...].
I haven't seen him for some time; however, as a matter
of courtesy I will drop him a line today and let him know I have
passed on his details...
With regard to the other points raised in your letter
of 19th May, the same answer applies to 1,2,3 and 4.
When I left my marital home I did believe it would
be a very temporary arrangement. It was understood that my ex-husband
would leave the home and that the girls and I would move back
in. This did not happen. I had a conversation with [name of official]
in the Fees Office who I explained this too. Each week we though
we would be moving back to our own home. When it became apparent
that this was not going to happen, we planned to move into [second
Gloucestershire address]. Unfortunately, the legal and financial
settlement was ... stalled and our situation in rented homes lasted
much, much, longer than we had anticipated.
At the time I was dealing with the effect of stress
upon us all ... brought about by the ... massive upheaval to our
lives.
This included organising the girls, their transport
and trying in extremely difficult circumstances to keep everything
as steady as possible. I was also having to cope with the demands
of becoming a new MP and working 90 hrs per week in Westminster
and Bedfordshire whilst my children had been up-rooted from their
home in [first village in Gloucestershire] and were in temporary
accommodation in Stratford. In addition to this I had to cope
with the demands and needs of 80,000 constituents—700 local
party members—54 local councillors and local party executive
and officers who all wanted time with their new MP.
I launched a two and a half year campaign to lower
the upper limit at which abortion takes place which took over
almost every single day of my life. I was one of the four MPs
mentioned in the No 10 Smeargate e-mails. As the most junior,
I was the only one who could defend the other three (David Cameron,
George Osborne and an un-named) which resulted in an extraordinary
amount of invasive media attention, adding more stress to what
was already a very tense and difficult situation. [Material redacted
to protect the privacy of third parties.]
I am afraid that the administrative requirement of
providing the right details on the right day pre expenses fiasco
may have become a bit lost in all of this and in terms of priorities,
was very definitely not on the top of the list. This is hardly
surprising and I am afraid that the only thing which is surprising
is that I remained sane and managed to hold onto my job at all.
The fact remains however, that although I may have
provided anticipatory answers given with the knowledge of what
I thought/hoped was about to happen at the time, I did maintain
a main home for my daughters at the addresses given until the
point whereby my marital financial situation and settlement allowed
us to move to a permanent address in [second Gloucestershire village].
4a) I did not think it was "acceptable"
to rent a constituency house for two months and not use it. I
also did not think it was acceptable to sleep on the floor.
The constituency house was completely unfurnished
and without carpets or curtains. It had no cooker or fire.
I am afraid that with less than £300 disposable
income per month, finding the money to provide a bed, curtains,
bedding, kettle, cooker etc took some time. I arranged for some
things to arrive from home, chest of drawers, desk, dishes etc
but that took organising and time. I was working flat out. Unlike
most MPs, I do not have a wife to organise things for me, I have
to do it myself. I had also paid for the deposit on the house
with my own money which had left my financial situation very strained.
I did not furnish the house from the "John
Lewis list" for the same reason I
did not buy a house using the ACA. The same principle applied.
How could I give a bed back to the taxpayer?
Once I had a bed, desk, curtains etc I was able to
sleep over. Given all that was happening at the time, I think
I did amazingly well to have got it organised in the time I did.
I think two months is a reasonable amount of time, given my workload
and financial circumstances to have furnished a house to a standard
comfortable enough to sleep in.
The travel arrangements from home to constituency
and Westminster provided me with a problem. I was presented with
a difficult tax bill which I could not pay as a result of having
claimed travel from home to the constituency. However, I was advised
that once I rented a house in the constituency, as opposed to
Westminster, that I was no longer entitled to claim for travel
from my main home.[233]
This suited me at the time because I did not want
political opponents to be able to use my travel pattern against
me. Establishing a house in the constituency and regularising
my travel from Mid Beds to London seemed an acceptable measure
to put in place.
You informed me that you were going to write to [neighbour
1] to enquire as to the exact nature of their relationship with
the Daily Telegraph.
May I ask if this has happened?
If you require any further information please do
not hesitate to contact me.
25 May 2010
233 In fact, as the Director of Strategic Projects
said in his letter of 11 May, Ms Dorries was entitled to claim
for journeys between Westminster and her constituency, between
Westminster and her main home, and between her main home and her
constituency. Back
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