Oh dear. It would appear that Omar‘s boss has been ticked off again.
Last autumn, Emily Thornberry sent out what emerges came to 10,400 unsolicited letters to constituents using Commons stationary. Following a flurry of complaints, the Parliamentary Standards Officer Sir Philip Mawer has written to confirm that the cost of this stationary will now have to be paid back:
“It is clear to me that Ms Thornberry should not have used pre-paid envelopes at all for this exercise (since her letter was unsolicited) but should have covered the cost of the stationery and envelopes and the postage required directly, either from her Communications Allowance or out of her own pocket.â€
…
“She has indicated that she will reimburse the cost of the pre-paid envelopes she used and I have asked her to do this.â€
This whole adventure is estimated to have cost her around £4,250.
Of course, the “unwise” Ms Thornberry has form. Still, could be worse. At least she didn’t back Peter Hain in the deputy leadership contest!
UPDATE: Following my latest Swinsongate story, Young Labour have airbrushed their news story out of existence. This is at least better than retrospectively turning it into a different story entirely.
I think it’s stationery she’s abusing. The Commons is pretty stationary at the best of times.
Is it only the envelopes and the postage she will have to pay for.
What about the letterheaded paper and assuming they were printed in parliament, the toner and the staff time – if they were “stuffed” by her staff that the staff time would not exactly be a small sum.
Richard – well spotted, smart arse! 🙂
Ste – she certainly had to pay for the paper, which is part of the £4,250. As for the other potential costs, I have no idea if these have been discussed with her.