One saved the nation. The other saves his receipts.

[Albus]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/27/diary-hugh-muir

So the weekend beckons, and we should spare a thought for those MPs who will incur the usual costs and spend time in their second homes but will never quite relax for fear that someone may be watching them.

Some - like the soon to be investigated employment minister, Tony McNulty - have opted for contrition, the better to ride out the storm.

But there is another way, an approach exemplified by Leyton and Wanstead MP Harry Cohen. He claims more afor his second home than any other MP in London.

"I use it as it reflects my professionalism as a member of parliament," he tells the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian (no relation). "I am almost certainly the most professional MP Leyton and Wanstead has ever had, and that includes Winston Churchill."

For sure, Winston was never at his best in constituency surgeries, while Harry (pictured) excels; but even he must concede that Churchill's extraordinary talents came to the fore when Britain needed them. One saved the nation. The other saves his receipts.

[legin]

1. If this is the guy I think it is

he is a good egg.

I saw him once on the Parliment channel, he is as anti-Iraq war as it gets.

[Albus]

2. Well he might be a good egg on Iraq but

it seems that his snout is deeper in the trough than most (and that's saying something)

HARRY Cohen claims more expenses for his second home than any other MP in outer London.

The Leyton MP received an Additional Cost Allowance (ACA) of £104, 701 between 2002 and 2007 for his constituency home in Wanstead.

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/4230394.LEYTON__Cohen_tops_expenses_claim_list/