Bercow’s £172 car for journey shorter than a 10-minute walk
Speaker criticised for setting bad example after spending thousands on chauffeur-driven rides
JOHN BERCOW has been publicly admonished by George Osborne’s deputy for racking up a £172 bill for a chauffeur-driven car to a conference just 0.7 miles from Parliament.
Greg Hands, chief secretary to the Treasury, said that the Commons Speaker should be “setting a much better example when it comes to spending public money”.
Mr Bercow was accused of “obscene waste” and “appalling judgment” after making the claim for the short journey from the House of Commons to a conference in nearby Carlton House Terrace in April 2013.
The venue is so close that it is quicker to walk than drive. The journey by taxi cost The Daily Tel
egraph £10 yesterday and took four minutes longer than the eight-minute walk. Among other expensive journeys was a one-way drive from King’s Cross station to Speaker’s House after a day trip to Leeds in July 2013, which cost £168. Mr Bercow also spent £367 taking a car to Luton to deliver a speech on how MPs were restoring their reputation after the expenses scandal.
His car to Baroness Thatcher’s funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral, 1.8 miles from the Commons, cost £158.
Andy Silvester, campaign director at TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This is an obscene waste of money and shows appalling judgment from whoever made the arrangements. “Hugely expensive chauffeur-driven travel and costly meals abroad don’t look good when this Speaker was elected specifically to improve the reputation of Parliament in light of the expenses scandal. It is impossible to comprehend how some of these bills have spiralled to such a degree and questions must be asked.”
Fresh details of Mr Bercow’s travel costs from the past three years were disclosed following a Freedom of Information request. Mr Bercow used an official car to travel to Canterbury to see Archbishop Justin Welby enthroned in 2013, at a cost of £524. Getting to a charity dinner at the Dorchester hotel, 1.5 miles from Parliament, cost the taxpayer £144 in the same year.
Mr Bercow is not believed to require an official car for security reasons.
In May 2013 there was a £367 bill for the Speaker to be driven to the University of Bedfordshire, where he gave a lecture on reforming Parliament to ensure it was a “credible institution”. He kept a chauffeur-driven car waiting while he attended a memorial service for former minister Malcolm Wicks in Croydon, south London, in October 2012, costing £289 for five hours.
The Speaker had a Foreign Office car pick him up at Manchester Piccadilly station after attending the funeral of the Labour MP Paul Goggins in January last year. It ferried Mr Bercow and a staff member around “as directed” at a cost of £298. The following day, it took Mr Bercow and two staff members to the service in Salford, waited and dropped them back to Manchester Piccadilly at a further cost of £276.
In total, the Speaker and his staff ran up expenses of nearly £1,300 attending the service. A spokesman for the Speaker said: “The Speaker is always mindful of costs, and travels standard class in the UK and when away from home, stays in hotels that offer value for money. In some instances a car service is required to facilitate timing requirements.”