Over the past four years Hounslow's Labour MPs, husband and wife Alan and Ann Keen, have claimed over £140k in "additional costs allowance".  They argue they can't cope with the 30 minute train ride from Brentford to Waterloo.  This has become Hounslow's local expenses scandal. Many local people now believe it is time for the Keen's to go and Cllr Andrew Dakers has argued they should reimburse local tax payers for the money they have claimed in interest payments on their flat at Waterloo.

Past coverage...

IN CONTRAST - ANDREW'S PLEDGES...

Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Cllr Andrew Dakers has pledged that if elected to represent you in the next Parliament he will:

1. Not to claim any of the £18k per annum that husband and wife Alan and Ann Keen MP are each claiming as an 'Additional Costs Allowance'.
2. Living in the constituency, just 9 miles from the city centre, he will use public transport to go to work -- like thousands of other local residents.
3. Given the current crisis in confidence he has decided to go further in clarifying the value for money he want to bring to the local community: he would not claim the London weighting allowance nor any food allowances.
4. Not employ any family members at public expense.
5. Advertise all publicly-funded jobs in the local papers. All jobs, whether in Westminster or the constituency, will be advertised in the main local Hounslow newspapers.  Anyone will be able to apply.  
6. Consider all applicants equally for any job.  People will be chosen on the the basis of merit, measured against objective job requirements, which I will publish on my website. He will not discriminate based on age, sex, marital status, disability, sexuality, race, colour, or ethnic origin.
7. Publish a list of all employees on his website.  He will also publish the salary bill.
8. Publish details of his expenses monthly on his website.
9. Not claim any expenses without a receipt.
10.  Get his accounts independently verified.
11.  Only claim where he is incurring genuine extra cost at the service of constituents.  Even if there are rules that might permit me to claim for groceries and similar items when staying away from home, he won’t.  He will only claim for costs that are both extra and unavoidable - e.g. travel to conferences/ learning visits out of London.
12.  Not accept any gifts, gratuities or entertainment from lobbyists and anyone else who might be seeking to influence his opinion.  He would still attend the parliamentary receptions that many charities hold to promote their campaigns, but these would be recorded in the public domain.
13.  Open an office in the heart of the constituency.  
14.  Hold a constituents' surgery in Brentford, Chiswick, Hounslow and Isleworth at least once a month.
15.  Send out an Annual Report, including details of his expenses, to every home in the constituency every year.
16.  If continuing to sit as a councillor he will either not claim the Councillors' Allowance or will use the allowance to employ a part-time case worker to support his grassroots work in the Brentford ward.
17.  Continue to campaign for reform of our democracy.