As I write this the Chief Treasury Secretary David Laws has just apologised for claiming more than £40,000 in MPs’ expenses to rent rooms in homes owned by his partner. He has said he will immediately pay back the money. It would seem, according to the BBC news website Mr Laws had claimed for the rooms even though you are not allowed to rent from a partner, apparently he said had been trying to keep his relationship with his male partner ‘private’.
This will be the first crisis to hit the collation and will I fear have many people throwing their hands up in the air saying ‘see I told you all politicians are l the same’. But what strikes me is the story behind this is one of someone who clearly wanted to keep his relationship quiet from even his family and friends and kept up this pretence by claiming for the rooms.
Of course, he shouldn’t have done that and may ultimately pay the price with the loss of his job for hiding his relationship in this way. But I have to say in this situation I have some sympathy for his predicament.
During the campaign I came across a man who asked me a number of political questions when I canvassed him. Then after a fairly long discussion I said goodbye and trotted off to find the rest of my campaign team. As I got to the bottom of his drive he called me back. “Just wanted to know,” he said in hushed tones, “what your views on gays are.” It would seem that he had never told anyone about his true feelings and even though he lived alone, and in his 70s he remained frightened to say anything. He told me he had never had been in a relationship, never told his family or work colleagues and has only ever told a handful of people in his life.
His story and that of Mr Laws echoes that of a number of people I have known through my life hiding their sexuality afraid of what people may say.
I hope today we are more tolerant, the sadness in these people’s lives shouldn’t be repeated in today’s society. I can’t imagine not being able to bore everyone (and I do) about how much I love my wife. Yet you can still see people reel when they hear about same sex relationships.
Is Mr Laws wrong to claim, yes he was, but aren’t we just as guilty of not making it ok for him to feel comfortable about his relationship? Life is never simple and we shouldn’t be surprised when MPs turn out to be human too.
Come and enjoy Devon – book a hotel and get away!
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