BRACKNELL'S MP KEEPS THE DAY JOB! (Bracknell Liberal Democrats)

Bracknell Liberal Democrats <info@bracknelllibdems.org.uk>

BRACKNELL'S MP KEEPS THE DAY JOB!

July 5, 2011 4:39 PM

Dr Phillip Lee remains a locum GP in Maidenhead and Slough

Despite claims during his 2010 election campaign that he would 'need to roll up [his] sleeves and really serve the people of Bracknell, Crowthorne, Finchampstead and Wokingham Without', it would seem that Bracknell's MP, Dr Phillip Lee, is spending more time outside his constituency than in it!

According to a recent article in 'Private Eye' (Edition No.1291), Dr Lee has made 113 separate payment claims totalling £40,000 since he won his seat last year, acting as a freelance GP in Maidenhead and Slough. Most of these claims covered periods when the House of Commons was sitting

Dr Lee has spoken in only eleven debates in the past year and did not even participate in the highly-charged debate on NHS reform on 14 June, as might have been expected. After the discredited departure of his Conservative predecessor, Andrew MacKay, constituents could be forgiven for assuming that his successor would have been much more conscious of the need to justify their time and use of public money.

Commenting on Dr Lee's performance so far, former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Bracknell, Ray Earwicker, said ' it seemed Dr Lee was more interested in supplementing his Parliamentary income rather than fully representing the interests of his constituents. Surgeries were obviously only for patients, not constituents!

Many voters had hoped to elect somebody who would live within the constituency and only represent their interests. Dr Lee, as a member of Mr Cameron's A-team, clearly had other ideas and it was more important than ever therefore that constituents should be able to monitor his performance. The Press, as well as the main opposition parties, had a major part to play in making sure this happened.'