A resident of this constituency has written to the press and to the other candidates about Jeremy Wright's expenses whilst an MP. The story was reported by the Birmingham Post on Friday at http://www.birminghampost.net/dailybulletin/news2/2010/04/29/tory-candidate-jeremy-wright-under-pressure-to-repay-expenses-after-breaking-rules-65233-26346079/
Nigel Rock said "As far as I can see there are some key questions here. Firstly, a minor correction to the story - I have not raised this issue with Mr Wright. An elector corresponded with me on this matter some months ago, but I suggested he alert the press himself. I did not want to be directly involved, but now that the press have published the matter it is now up to Jeremy Wright and his team to respond."
It seems that the resident (not Nigel Rock) had been in communication with the House of Commons authorities for some months. Nigel takes the view that if this alleged breach of the rules were explained by an error or oversight, it is something that should be accepted and would be quickly resolved by repayment of any monies not properly claimed, and an apology.
Nigel Rock commented generally on the expenses issue "If Conservative & Labour MPs in the last parliament had not continued to block Lib Dem attempts to open up better scrutiny of MPs' expenses, the whole expenses affair and any poor practice would have been revealed earlier and reputational aspects would have been less damaging."
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