KHOODEELAAR! TOLD Rupert Murdoch so! You must not fake any more. Quentin Davies is of course a defector, from one cabal to another, but essentially he is an ‘elected’ corrupter of society. He and others of his ilk prove that Parliament is a political ghosts house. CRASS!

Twitter, to End POVERTY

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"From Times Online

December 10, 2009

Quentin Davies' £20,000 bell tower bill

Nico Hines and Sam Coates

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(Richard Pohle/The Times)

Quentin Davies

Quentin Davies, a government defence minister, submitted expenses claims that included a £20,000 invoice for repairs to the roof and bell tower of his 18th century mansion.

Mr Davies, the MP for Grantham and Stamford who defected from the Conservative Party in 2007, included the repair bill in a bundle of receipts sent to the fees office in February.

Three months later, ten days after leaked MPs’ expenses were first published by the Daily Telegraph, he sent a follow up letter to Commons officials claiming that he had never intended to use public money to maintain the bell tower at Frampton Hall.

Mr Davis told The Times today it was "unfortunate" that a single invoice was issued for repairs to both his roof - which he regarded as a legitimate claim - and the bell tower - which he now says is not. The full amount, however, £20,700 was then entered on his claim form.

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He knew that he only had about £5,000 left in his allowance for the year 2008-09, which would cover about half the repairs to the roof and not the bell tower.

"I put in that figure because it's the only figure I had but obviously that was never going to be paid," he said.

He admitted, however, that at no point did he ask the fees office not to pay for the bell tower.

The country pile, known locally as “the Castle” dominates the village of Frampton. The main building and its adjoining chapel, believed to be worth £5 million in total, stand at the end of a secluded drive in the Lincolnshire village.

The MP has used the estate to keep livestock in the past but was convicted of cruelty to sheep in 1991, having been held legally responsible for his farm employees' failure to feed his flock.

The mansion is designated as the MP’s second home with his main residence registered as a flat in Westminster. Mr Davies submitted a £10,000 invoice for cleaning Frampton Hall’s antique windows in a previous round of Additional Cost Allowances (ACA).

Mr Davies, the minister responsible for equipment and support for the Armed Services, paid for repairs carried out to his roof and bell tower in December 2008. The bell tower was rebuilt using handmade bricks at a cost of £9,898.52. Repairs to the roof including re-slating and gutter work cost £8,982.91.

Both individual estimates and the final invoice totalling more than £20,000 once the VAT was included, was submitted to the Commons in February 2009.

Mr Davies wrote to the Commons authorities noting that the “exceptional and very high (though very essential)” repair bill would take him over the annual limit and asked the officials to calculate how much he should be repaid. He received £5,376.91 towards the building work.

In May, as the expenses scandal began to overshadow politics at Westminster, Mr Davies wrote another letter to the fees office in which he claimed “I emphatically was not seeking any reimbursement” for the bell tower repairs as opposed to the roof work carried out by the same contractor.

In a statement released by his office today, Mr Davies said: “I accepted his quotes together and he subsequently sent me a single invoice for both jobs. With hindsight, to avoid confusion, I should have asked for separate invoices."

Although he said he had not intended to use the public purse to pay for the bell tower, Mr Davies insisted that the work was essential. “The bell tower is an integral part of the roof. If it had collapsed, as it would have done if it had not been repaired, it would have smashed through the roof."

Downing Street said tonight that the Prime Minister had “full confidence” in Mr Davies. “He does have full confidence in Quentin Davies,” a spokeswoman said. She insisted it was a decision for the defence minister whether any money was repaid.

“The Prime Minister has in the past and would continue to encourage all MPs to repay any expenses which were excessive or indeed contravened the guidelines set out,” the spokeswoman added.

Mr Davies’s ACA from 2008-2009 also showed that he submitted inflated claims on two other occasions. On September 16, 2008, he received a letter from the Commons validation officer advising him that he had over-claimed for his utilities and his Council Tax. The fees office paid him £390.47 less than the submitted claim.

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Gladys Quatt wrote: ... 'the minister responsible for equipment and support for the Armed Services', who are not being adequately equipped by all accounts, is just another example why MPs should receive a specific salary plus expenses which are *directly* connected with their constituency and, if applicable, their ministerial duties. This is a claim for his second home, most of us have to settle for one home and if we don't have sufficient funds to maintain it then it remains as it is until such time that we can afford to take care of it. He's spending public money on an extravagant property and is really rubbing our nose in it. December 10, 2009 6:50 PM GMT RECOMMEND?

Martin Carter wrote: Disgraceful. Hope someone is standing against him in the general election. December 10, 2009 6:44 PM GMT RECOMMEND?

Philip Braine wrote: Please will somebody explain why I should have to contribute to the cost of repairing Mr Davies' roof. If my roof leaks I have to pay a roofer myself. I don't ask Quentin Davies for a sub. December 10, 2009 6:26 PM GMT RECOMMEND? (1)

sandra page wrote: This makes my blood boil.When is this corrupt government going to get it's priorities in order? We have stories like these and then we read about our under equipped troops in Afghanistan and to make it worse I have just heard that the government is proposing to stop the BFPO.This government is the most DISGUSTING we have ever had, roll on election day. December 10, 2009 6:12 PM GMT RECOMMEND? (3)

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