OnTheWight last week published the dossier supporting a complaint against Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Andrew Turner, presented on behalf of three Isle of Wight Conservatives to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards (PCS).
Andrew Turner initially gave a fairly brief response to the complaint which was covered through OnTheWight, but following calls by the Isle of Wight Conservative Association (IWCA) for him to accept interview requests, Mr Turner went on to provide a fuller response later in the week (reproduced below).
Leaked email from IWCA
Following the complaint dossier being made public, Alan Wells, the current chairman of the Isle of Wight Conservative Association, wrote to Mr Turner, urging him to accept requests for interviews by the media.
A copy of that email has been leaked to OnTheWight, along with a letter from the three Island Conservatives who made the complaint to the PCS (see embedded letter below).
Wells: “These issues will fester and weaken your credibility”
Mr Wells told the MP,
“The risk of continuing to refuse to be interviewed is that these issues will fester and weaken your credibility as the sitting Conservative MP and adopted candidate ahead of next year’s General Election.”
He went on to say,
“We must put this issue to bed without further delay, so that we can re-focus on the important campaign ahead.”
Who is writing the responses?
Later in the email, Mr Wells points out that “some association members have expressed concern at what appears to be the lack of direct comment from you in person”.
He goes on to say,
“In particular, whilst Carole [Dennett] will have issued statements in your name, some doubt has been expressed as to whether such wording is entirely reflective of just your view – or of hers as well.
“I recognise that Carole has an interest in the issue of your parliamentary expenses, but you must not allow any perception to develop of her unduly influencing your response on these matters.
Misuse of the standards system?
A couple of days later, Andrew Turner’s office released a more detailed statement to the press surrounding his expense claims from 2004 until the new system was put in place in 2010.
He said,
“The allegations made are not about the legality of my claims. Kathryn Hudson (the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner), did not believe the complaint merited reopening the files or launching an investigation.
“She went even further and gave her view that the complainants were potentially misusing her office and the standards system to solve local party difficulties. She did investigate complaints made against some other MPs. Unlike the complainants, she is independent and familiar with the rules and complexities of the old expenses system.
Interview would be “difficult to deal with and unfair”
In response to a request from the County Press for an interview, Mr Turner went on to say,
“At all times I tried to follow the rules and where there was doubt, sought guidance from the Fees Office. This was done a number of times, including after my stroke in December 2006, when they helped to submit a claim on my behalf. The Fees Office was made fully aware of all my personal circumstances whenever they were asked for advice.
“Interviewing me about issues from so many years ago, some of which happened whilst I was suffering, and then recovering, from a stroke would be very difficult to deal with and unfair. At this distance in time, neither I nor the complainants can produce evidence to dismiss – or support – their allegations.”
Turner: “Embarrassed and uncomfortable with the situation”
He went on to say,
“The rules were complex, unclear and when they became public in 2009 widely condemned. I said then that I had been embarrassed and uncomfortable with the situation and apologised to my constituents. As it has been the subject of a claim for parliamentary expenses when I sell my home in Newport I will be liable to pay Capital Gains Tax on it.
“I submitted receipts for all expenditure (not required under the rules) and gave any Islander (and the local media) the opportunity to view my complete and un-redacted expense records. From the new Parliament in 2010 the system has changed and expenses for all MPs are published on-line every two months.”
‘Moral nature’ of complaint
Mr Turner went on to say,
“Judgements of a moral nature need to be carefully considered. The complainants have chosen very belatedly to raise this issue only after a failed attempt to prevent my re-adoption as the Conservative candidate, as reported in your paper and elsewhere earlier this year.
“When these issues were raised once again I sought advice on how to handle them from Central Office; they agreed it was best dealt with by a written response, and saw the draft before it was released.
“The expenses scandal of 2009 had a lasting impact on the reputation of MPs and Parliament itself. Against this difficult background, I fought the 2010 general election and was duly elected with a majority of over 10,500. I always try to represent the best interests of the Island and Islanders and trust that my record will speak for itself at the General Election in May next year.”
Support from Conservative councillors
Members of the Isle of Wight Conservative group of councillors expressed their disappointment at the media coverage given to the MP’s expenses claims.
Conservative Group leader Dave Stewart said,
“On behalf of the group I know we are all frustrated with the national position which was exposed regarding MP’s expenses affecting a number of political parties and the flawed system which enabled various abuses to take place. However at a local level we believe our focus as local councillors should be upon local matters such as the forthcoming budget which will affect all our Island residents.
“We have been working well with our MP to date on a number of local issues of concern and will continue to do so as we head towards the general election in May 2015. It is a matter for Andrew Turner as to how he responds to these recent disclosures in whatever way he sees fit and he continues to receive our support as our Island MP as we work together to improve life for all our Island residents.”
The embedded letter below was sent to the IWCA Association Alan Wells by David Pugh, Alan Stovell and Gary Taylor. It responds to an email from Mr Wells to the three Conservatives and sets out the detail of their complaint.
Image: pagedooley under CC BY 2.0
