Martyn Oates @bbcmartynoates 3m3 minutes ago:
Hugo Swire: “This was an off the cuff dig to raise money for the party. It was not an attack on the Welfare State”.
Didn’t sound like that to us (on less than the salary he pays his wife (£30-35,000) who doesn’t seem to answer the phone in his office when our contacts have rung).
And the joke about expensive cars: not an attack on MPs curtailed expenses that saw him pay hundreds of pounds for an iPad cover when some of us only have that – or less – to pay for a second-hand car? Originally claimed on expenses but later repaid when the purchase hit the headlines.
And the joke about buying Greece for “another £5,000″ for a case of wine: not an attack on the price of wine, perhaps? Bet the Greeks struggling to survive laughed at that one.
Isn’t it odd that Hugo only chooses to attack the poor and defend the rich? Well, maybe not.
The biggest problem here is that we have an MP that says one thing in public and another thing when amongst his rich friends. That is the sort of error of judgment you just don’t want in your MP. Though to be fair, he rarely has time to visit us to make his gaffes.
Shall we see him at a food bank or second- hand car showroom in East Devon to show his solidarity with us – all being ” in it” together?
And what jokes does he tell about his constituency to his rich pals behind those oft-closed doors?
East Devon Watch 