Saturday 16 May 2009

Flipping Hazel Blears

Hazel Blears, The Communities Secretary - On Yer Bike Love


18 months ago I wrote to Hazel Blears, The Commumities Secretary to complain about the Deposit Protection Service which her Government department licenses. She never did reply.

I had taken a short term let while working away from home. The landlord failed to lodge my deposit with an intermediary as the law requires. When a dispute arose I asked for my deposit back. The landlord refused and when I threatened the Small Claims Court the Deposit Protection Service retrospectively accepted my deposit from the landlord - even though they shouldn't have.

I wrote to Hazel Blears in her role as the Communities Secretay to ask whether the new system was really protecting tenants as it had been deisgned to do. She never did write back. I lost my £500 deposit.

This week I learned from The Daily Telegraph that Hazel Blears was probably too pre-occupied with her own property portfolio. She has been busy enriching herself at the expense of UK taxpayers. It turns out Hazel 'flipped' her second home not once but twice, claiming her moving costs, and her mortgage interest expenses while pocketing a £45,000 profit on the property purchases taxpayers helped fund.

Now Hazel Blears has decided to pay back the Capital Gains tax which would have been due 'if any had been due'. MPs don't pay capital gains tax on their second homes which taxpayers help pay for, but they are allowed to keep the profit when they come to sell.

Hazel Blears greed looks set to cost her her place in the Cabinet next month when the PM reshuffles his team. I hope her own voters decide her duplicity should also cost her seat in Parliament next time they have the opportunity to vote.

Thanks for nothing Hazel. Voters have a long memory.

1 comment:

Jerry Foulkes said...

Last month, Hazel Blears decided not to wait for the Prime Minister to sack her and resigned her Cabinet post.

She continues as an MP until her Constituents cast their votes at the next General Election.

The Norwich North Labour MP Ian Gibson was told by the Party that he could not stand at the next General Election as a Labour candidate. He claimed expenses for a second home and then sold it to his daughter for a knock down price. He decided to resign immediately, rather than wait until the election, prompting a by-election. This week Labour lost the seat to the Conservatives. The Labour vote in Norwich North reversed by 26%.