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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Not above the law: : the FT interviews David Laws
June 20, 2011 5:22 PM
• [Jun 17] George Parker* writes: FINDING David Laws is difficult. Deep in the Somerset countryside, where nature is starting to reclaim the tarmac, dark lanes head down through the encroaching hedgerows and eventually lead to a thatched cottage in a clearing. And there, in this rural bower, is Laws: in polished shoes, pressed white shirt, immaculate tie. It is not exactly the gulag, but it is here that Laws is spending his period of internal exile . .
Laws has apologised to the Commons for his expenses claims, but his defence rests on the fact he could have made more from the taxpayer had he designated his Somerset cottage as his "second home" - a move that might have caused people to pry into his private life at his real main residence in London - and that he had not been motivated by personal gain. The parliamentary watchdog said he had "very great sympathy" with Laws but that he had made the wrong choice when trying to resolve the conflict between his "private interest in secrecy and the public interest in being open and honest in relation to expenses claims". .
Reflecting on a remarkable year he says he feels a burden has finally been lifted. Whatever his political travails, he says he can now at least go out with James Lundie and meet his partner's family. "If we go out for a drink or to a restaurant I don't have to worry about who might be sitting at the next table."
He pauses for a moment. "Absurd as it seems, that was how I kind of lived my life for a long period of time." It may seem absurd now, but that obsessive quest for privacy and secrecy almost cost the political career of one of Britain's most promising politicians. "It's frustrating," Laws says. "But I've only myself to blame."
* political editor of the Financial Times
• Not above the law: the FT interviews David Laws Regn. reqd.
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