Antony Little for Norwich South

The Conservative challenger who will take on Charles Clarke at the next election has rounded on the Norwich South MP for claiming £152,948 in Parliamentary allowances.

Antony Little, who is also a city councillor, accused Mr Clarke of being an extravagant MP and said he was outraged to learn how much money he was claiming from the taxpayer whilst the UK was deep in recession.

The figures were released today by the House of Commons and cover the 2007/08 Parliamentary session.

Cllr Little said: “Charles Clarke is the twenty first most expensive MP in the UK out of 646. At £152,948 he’s not that far from the most expensive MP, Labour’s Ann Keen who claimed £167,306. LibDem Norman Lamb claimed £155,937. By stark contrast the cheapest MP at just £40,433 was the Conservative Philip Hollobone.

“Statistics like this only fuel the perception that politicians are in it for themselves. It is time that the Parliamentary allowances system is reformed to end this outrageous use of taxpayers’ money.”

Norwich’s Conservative Parliamentary Candidates today welcomed plans outlined by the Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling MP, that will allow police to ground young people caught causing trouble in their communities. The plans are part of tough new measures to stop youths before they are dragged into the cycle of crime, announced during a keynote speech at the Local Government Association in London.Chloe Smith, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Norwich North, said:

“Everyone here in Norwich wants an end to anti-social behaviour. What we have to do is find a 21st century alternative to what would once have been a clip around the ear from the local bobby. Plenty of teenagers stray off the straight and narrow sometimes. But today there are no consequences when they do, and that has to change. All too often if you look at the case of a fifteen or sixteen year old who is starting to commit serious crimes, you find a story of years of minor misdemeanours that have all too often gone unpunished.”

Cllr Antony Little, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Norwich South, said:

“We also need to reform licensing – residents across Norwich all know of kids who can get drink at the corner shop. We need to put more police on the streets, and we need to end the ‘caution culture’ that lets youngsters get away with anti-social behaviour. The government should be on people’s side, not the side of the criminals – but Labour has failed us.”

Antony Little, Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, has commented on results from the BBC survey showing that two thirds of university vice-chancellors want to raise tuition fees to a figure between £4,000 and £20,000 per year.Mr Little, who is also Tory group leader at City Hall, said he was worried that higher tuition fees would deter thousands of students in lower income families from going to university during the recession.

Cllr Little said: “It is obvious that an increase to existing tuition fees will completely put off students from going into Higher Education. Hiking tuition fees to the astronomical level of £20,000 during this economically turbulent time will simply price out thousands of students from attending university.

“I completely understand why so many students are furious with this news. If these fees had been set when I started at UEA, I would not have been able to graduate with a degree in History because I came from a modest background. High fees are grossly unfair to students and their families with small incomes.”

Cllr Little added: “The Conservatives are calling for the government to conduct the student finance review now and to make it as comprehensive as possible.”