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North Yorkshire MP John Greenway 'claimed expenses for flowers' (From York Press)
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North Yorkshire MP John Greenway 'claimed expenses for flowers'
9:22am Wednesday 27th May 2009
RYEDALE MP John Greenway is reported to have spent hundreds of pounds of public money on plants for his former London home.
The Conservative has become the latest MP to be caught up in the expenses scandal at Westminster, following revelations in today's Daily Telegraph.
The newspaper reports that Mr Greenway spent £500 on petunias, geraniums, fuchsia and lobelia plants, a rose and a lavender bush for his second home, in south London.
He also reportedly spent more than £3,500 on household goods and furnishings, a £399 flat-screen television and crockery.
The Telegraph also reports that Mr Greenway claimed for a 59p box of matches; two 99p boxes of firelighters; eight mulled wine sachets; four bags of compost; a trellis; plant food; cups and saucers worth £44; a £24 lavatory brush; and a £30 casserole dish.
He is also reported to have claimed £1,900 to redecorate the hall, kitchen, bathroom and stairs of his home, in 2004/5 and 2005/6.
We have tried to contact Mr Greenway today on his mobile phone and office, but so far have not been able to.
He told the Telegraph: "All the claims which I have made over my 22 years in Parliament have been made in good faith and were approved by the fees office without query.
"The pattern of expenditure on my London home over a number of years has reflected precisely the expenditure and living costs that I pay for myself at my main home in North Yorkshire.
"The repairs and redecoration which I claimed for 2004 and 2005 were the first I claimed since buying the house and represent normal wear and tear on the property."
James Alexander, who will stand for Labour in York Outer at the next general election, said: "I meet people in York Outer losing their jobs, really struggling, and their Conservative MP is spending our money furnishing his London flat with flowers."
Mr Greenway announced last year that he was to stand down from Parliament at the next election.
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Your Say YourPress
NoNewsIsGoodNews, York says...
10:41am Wed 27 May 09
Jassy, York says...
10:59am Wed 27 May 09
do these people have any idea of how sick the public are of hearing this quote? Do they think we are so stupid that we haven't noticed that they make their own rules and then police them.
Guy Fawkes, York says...
11:14am Wed 27 May 09
Say it flowers...buy David Cameron a triffid!
Sounds like he just bought himself a venus fly trap.
enuff, york says...
11:29am Wed 27 May 09
Hel n Highwater, says...
12:33pm Wed 27 May 09
NoNewsIsGoodNews wrote:LOL you had me there - had to check it wasn't him on youtube!!
I saw him last night on Britain's got Talent aranging the flowers that he had bought on expenses while some lady was singing Rule Britania, it didn't go down well with Simon Cowell and it won't go down well with the great British tax payer.
dj4, Fulford says...
12:51pm Wed 27 May 09
Henry Swanson, York says...
1:01pm Wed 27 May 09
PS. Flowers have long been used on music companys expense sheets as a cover for something altogether less flowery... though to be fair it is derived from a plant commonly found in Columbia I believe
Dick Turpin, Malton says...
1:05pm Wed 27 May 09
Kim Morris's Nephew, Heartbeat country says...
1:06pm Wed 27 May 09
NoNewsIsGoodNews wrote:Ha ha love this,
I saw him last night on Britain's got Talent aranging the flowers that he had bought on expenses while some lady was singing Rule Britania, it didn't go down well with Simon Cowell and it won't go down well with the great British tax payer.
MP's eh who is going to believe a word they say from now on? not that anyone did before.
What is a £24 lavatory brush made from? gold leaf?
Irate from Strensall, Strensall says...
1:09pm Wed 27 May 09
tonezzzznoddedoff, york says...
1:31pm Wed 27 May 09
dj4 wrote:I like drinking beer but I wouldn't expect joe public to buy it for me.
I suggest Greenway deploy the Elton John defence i.e. when asked a few years ago in court how he (Elton) had come to spend £300,000 on flowers in a year, he replied "I like flowers". There's no real answer to that response!
LittleTed, Toy Town says...
2:17pm Wed 27 May 09
Okay, that may be a little harsh.
Sack him. Then BURN HIM!!a
Ebygumcanyourbellytouchyourbum, Poppleton Road says...
3:31pm Wed 27 May 09
Hurricane #1, Acomb says...
3:37pm Wed 27 May 09
Free speech, South-west quadrant says...
4:00pm Wed 27 May 09
"The pattern of expenditure on my London home over a number of years has reflected preceisely the expenditure and living costs that I pay for myself at my main home in North Yorkshire.
Precisely the expenditure and living costs that I (sic.) pay for myself in my main home in North Yorkshire!
Get real man! I totally agree with Hurricane~1 that this M.P. is a scumbag. Since we have paid for this man's follies, perhaps we should call round and see if our money was well spent.
As they say, this man, Greenway, stands clogging he is such a hard-faced individual!
The Hornet, Haxby says...
4:27pm Wed 27 May 09
root-two, York says...
4:43pm Wed 27 May 09
It doesn't necessarily make them right, though, you parasitic Tory currant.
General election. Now.
sun seeker's, acomb york says...
4:54pm Wed 27 May 09
Im not talking about thousands of pounds, it's £158.22(which I will be paying tomorrow) and yet they allow "muppets" like this away with day light robbery!
One rule for one, another rule MP's.
topumpire1, york says...
5:06pm Wed 27 May 09
New rules are needed BEFORE a new government step in, whether that is labour or Tory - not after, the tories will just white wash it & carry on regardless as is their wont, should they get a mandate to "Run" the country BADLY!!!
pickle, York says...
5:36pm Wed 27 May 09
root-two wrote:Even if we have an election now how do we know who to trust? All MPs from all parties are bleeding taxpayers dry with their expenses. I really don't know who would get my vote at the moment, if any of them come to my door I'll be slamming it in their faces!
"All the claims which I have made over my 22 years in Parliament have been made in good faith and were approved by the fees office without query." It doesn't necessarily make them right, though, you parasitic Tory currant. General election. Now.
the butler, cowichan Bay says...
5:51pm Wed 27 May 09
root-two, York says...
6:18pm Wed 27 May 09
pickle wrote:A very valid point. I feel the same way and, frighteningly enough, the Tories are currently seeming like the best of a very bad lot.
root-two wrote:Even if we have an election now how do we know who to trust? All MPs from all parties are bleeding taxpayers dry with their expenses. I really don't know who would get my vote at the moment, if any of them come to my door I'll be slamming it in their faces!
"All the claims which I have made over my 22 years in Parliament have been made in good faith and were approved by the fees office without query." It doesn't necessarily make them right, though, you parasitic Tory currant. General election. Now.
I'd like to think that there'd be an increase in the number of independent candidates (of varying degrees of credibility, no doubt) as well as the smaller parties (again, of varying degrees of credibility) putting up candidates in seats where they would not normally do so. It might just focus the minds of those with their snouts in the trough.
I'd like to see a hung parliament, followed by the adoption of proportional representation - it's possibly the only way that some semblance of sanity and trust can be reintroduced.
Grumpy Old Feller, York says...
7:20pm Wed 27 May 09
topumpire1 wrote:Why not claim "expenses" from them for answering the door?
The Torygraph thought that it could bring down the government by publishing the expenses of labour MPs but THEN had to publish those of the tories (& LibDems) which appear FAR FAR worse!!! MR Brown may not be popular but, what had he gone at the first push? we would have been in a far worse state if cameron had got elected. Let Mr B get on with getting us out of this recession (no good change for changes sake!) and reform the MPs expenses rules, as we once said at my workplace, expenses forms poorly designed, lots of space for travel & accomadation, but small space for sundaries or "P*** up on the company".
New rules are needed BEFORE a new government step in, whether that is labour or Tory - not after, the tories will just white wash it & carry on regardless as is their wont, should they get a mandate to "Run" the country BADLY!!!
Got to be worth a try.
Guy Fawkes, York says...
7:43am Thu 28 May 09
The Torygraph thought that it could bring down the government by publishing the expenses of labour MPs but THEN had to publish those of the tories (& LibDems) which appear FAR FAR worse!!!
I suspect that the Torygraph knew full well that it would be unleashing a plague on all three houses. However, if anything the Tories are poised to come out of this in better shape than the other two, because Cameron is shown that he's willing to guillotine the serious offenders in his own party, and in a way that shows that he is listening to 'ordinary' votes. Ergo, Mr. Duck House and Sir Moat Dredger are out on their ears, Kirkbride is hanging on by her fingernails and Cameron has sent a very clear message to constituency Tory parties that they have the green light to deselect any trough guzzlers of Greenway's ilk with impunity.
Labour, on the other hand, appears to be trying to restrict the victim count to one or two ritual sacrifices, with the result that I suspect that a lot more Labour bad apples will still be standing at the next general election than Tory ones.
Nevertheless, in the short term, the winners in all this will be the Apathy Party and the lunatic fringes, principally in the form of UKIP and the independents taking votes from the Tories, the Greens taking votes from Labour and the Lib Dems and the BNP taking votes from both Tory and Labour. Hopefully this will be restricted to the Euro and council elections, because having morons like Nick Griffin or Caroline Lucas anywhere near any real power would be bad news to say the least.
bravo the brave, york says...
9:38am Thu 28 May 09
Hurricane #1, Acomb says...
11:06am Thu 28 May 09
topumpire1, york says...
11:37am Thu 28 May 09
I agree with other people, the MPs should have hotel rooms on standby for staying either in London or their constituencies (most MP do not live in their constituancy - why make them! they only need to be in it for elections/ meetings with constituants/ the local party ONCE in a blue moon!!) suggest they MOVE to London area to commute liek the millions of others on the daily rat run on the trains into the capitol - the millions who cannot claim their train fares!! My father worked from hertford in the city of London for 35 years & had to fund his daily commute out of his wages, if he didn't like it he got another job locally!
topumpire1, york says...
11:53am Thu 28 May 09
MPS expect to have home near London, paid for by us, AND a home in their constituancy, paid for by us AND be paid to travel between the two and to/from, work!!!
Bumptrucker, YC 3 says...
12:43pm Thu 28 May 09
Hopefully, MP's would think twice about claiming for ludicrous items like firelighters at 99p.
I would be well up for doing this! They could organise it either like jury duty or by volunteers. All expenses paid, of course ; )
mystic_genius, Acomb says...
1:00pm Thu 28 May 09
pickle wrote:
root-two wrote: "All the claims which I have made over my 22 years in Parliament have been made in good faith and were approved by the fees office without query." It doesn't necessarily make them right, though, you parasitic Tory currant. General election. Now.Even if we have an election now how do we know who to trust? All MPs from all parties are bleeding taxpayers dry with their expenses. I really don't know who would get my vote at the moment, if any of them come to my door I'll be slamming it in their faces!
There are a number of parties to choose from. The Greens, the English Liberals (NOT Lib Dems), the BNP, UKIP, there are more.
NONE of these are caught in the expenses scandal, in spite of all of them having MPs who can claim ridiculous amounts.
people from these parties are not in it for the money as the major players have been shown to be, they are in it as they strongly believe that they can make this country a better place (each in their own way).
We may not agree with the radical thoughts of some of these groups on the surface, but dig deeper, and I have realised that they talk a lot of sense. The Green party, for example, will be getting my vote in the Euro's and almost certainly in the nationals.
There are other options out there than the three major players - it is not a case of picking the best of a bad bunch, pick the one who most strongly aligns to your own values.
After all, last time round, most people wanted Labour, so they wanted this mess!! They (myself included) voted Labour as they are better than Lib Dems and Conservatorys :-).
But they are not the best. I'm voting with my feet and leaving the major players, and for real change, I would suggest others do likewise.
(and no, I'm not an MP for the smaller ones)
jimmyfivebellies, kms says...
12:15am Tue 2 Jun 09
North Yorks MP 'claimed for flowers'
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pedalling paul , York says...
10:33am Wed 27 May 09