A POLITICAL row has broken out over expenses claimed for advertisements by MP Paul Rowen.
Rochdale’s Labour parliamentary candidate, Simon Danczuk, is calling on Mr Rowen to repay the £700 he spent advertising his MP surgeries in the local Lib Dem party leaflet, saying he is using taxpayers’ money to fund ‘political propaganda’.
He has also criticised the MP for spending £1,000 on an advertising hoardiing at Spotland stadium.
But Mr Rowen has hit back, saying the deal is good value for money.
Mr Danczuk said: "Paul Rowen is effectively using taxpayers’ money to pay for the print and design costs of producing party political propaganda.
"This is not on.
"He is not ‘putting Rochdale first’ as the sign above his door suggests, he is putting the Liberal Democrats first.
"Taxpayers should not be footing the bill for Liberal Democrat leaflets.
"To charge £700 for adverts for his MP’s surgeries, which I don’t think he should be claiming for anyway, is not good value for money when he could have got this advert cheaper in a local newspaper.
"He is overcharging to subsidise Liberal Democrat leaflets and this is wrong.
"I hope he follows the example set by other Lib Dem MPs like Chris Huhne and pays back the money he should not have claimed."
The claim came to light when Mr Rowen revealed his expenses to journalists.
He says the ads are an effective way of letting constituents know how they can contact him.
He added: "I place adverts in a number of newspapers, journals and magazines and I always try to obtain the best value for money.
"Advertising my weekly surgeries is an essential way of letting my constituents know when they can come and speak to me face to face about any issues or concerns they may have.
"The advert that was taken out for £700 represents good value for money.
"Our tabloid gets delivered for free by volunteers to around 42,000 households across Rochdale and I am in no way subsidising the Liberal Democrats.
"I know that a similar sized advert in one of the local papers would cost almost as much but would only have around a third of the circulation."
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simon woodend (06/06/2009 at 14:34)
If he wants to promote himself then he should pay for this, not expect the taxpayer to.
As for his "value for money" claim, well it says it all! All MPs seem to think that they are value for money! They are NOT!
Paul Leake (07/06/2009 at 16:51)
Paul-Rowen-held-accountable (07/06/2009 at 21:07)
There is no argument that he is giving good value for money either. If he'd put the advert in a newspaper he might have a point. But in a Lib Dem leaflet? Come on. How many people read these things? Most of them go straight in the bin.
This is just another way of squeezing the tax payer and he should pay it back.