WANSTEAD: Tory candidate accused of hypocrisy (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WANSTEAD: Tory candidate accused of hypocrisy

10:34am Monday 1st March 2010 in Redbridge News By Sam Adams

THE TORY candidate for Wanstead has been accused of hypocrisy after wading into the expenses scandal.

Edwin Northover said current MP Harry Cohen had "got off lightly" after he was told to forfeit his £65,000 resettlement fee by Parliament's standards watchdog for wrongly registering a house in Woodcote Road as his second home despite spending most of his time there.

Mr Northover said: "As I previously said Harry Cohen got off lightly with the expenses.

"By standing down, although he has had to forfeit his £65k resettlement grant he now stands to make a substantial profit from the sale of this taxpayer-funded house."

But the Conservative candidate has been told he is in no position to comment on the issue by his Green Party rival for the seat, Ashley Gunstock - who pointed to the number of Tory MPs who also broke the rules.

In a letter to the Guardian, Mr Gunstock said: "He is in no position to comment on Harry Cohen's outrageous expense claims.

"In view of his own party’s involvement in the sordid affair, what with Tory MPs appalling misuse of tax-payers' money, for the building of duck houses and the cleaning of moats and the like, I find Mr Northover’s pious stance extremely hypocritical."

Mr Cohen has apologised to Parliament and his constituents for breaking the rules, and will step down at the next election.