Alan Duncan’s “sense of humor” puts his future in doubt

Alan Duncan, the Conservative frontbencher, has been accused of hypocrisy after he was secretly filmed complaining about MPs’ reduced standard of living, following the expenses scandal, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Tory leader David Cameron is said to have taken “dim view” of Mr. Duncan’s protest that MPs were being forced to live on “rations” and had been treated like “s---”.

Mr. Duncan’s future as shadow leader of the House of Commons is now in the balance, after some senior Tories privately expressed the hope that he would be sacked.

They said that David Cameron’s firm stance on the expenses scandal risks being undermined after Mr. Duncan’s outburst, the Times Online reports.

Many conservative colleagues spitted blood over Mr. Duncan’s thoughtless indiscretions. One said Mr. Duncan was “skating on thin ice”. Others have said his long-term prospects are now under scrutiny, because of Mr. Cameron’s hard-line attitude towards colleagues stepping out of line.

Mr. Cameron and William Hague, Shadow foreign secretary, in charge of the leader’s absence, were reported to be angry and embarrassed by the affair.

Philip Webster, the Times Online political editor, writes that the remarks were recorded by Heydon Prowse, a video journalist and magazine editor. He used a button-hole camera during a visit to the House of Commons.

On the video, Mr. Duncan said: “No one who has done anything in the outside world, or is capable of doing such a thing, will ever come into this place (the House of Commons) ever again, the way we are going. Basically, it’s being nationalised. You have to live on rations and are treated like s---.

“I spend my money on my garden and claim a tiny fraction on what is proper. And I could claim the whole ------- lot, but I don’t,” according to the Daily Telegraph.

Interestingly, Mr. Duncan defended his remarks by suggesting that he had been joking. “The last thing people want to hear is an MP whinging about his pay and conditions,” he said. “It is a huge honour to be an MP and my remarks, although meant in jest, were completely uncalled for. I apologise for them unreservedly.”

Mr. Prowse said in the Metro: “What we captured was the general prevailing attitude that he didn’t take the whole expenses scandal particularly seriously. It was all a bit of a joke.”

Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, said: “Alan Duncan is very fond of speaking a good game publicly, but in private talking and acting differently. So I’m not surprised he has been found out.”

When Mr. Duncan was recorded he was not in the vision, but his voice can be clearly heard, and the film was posted on the Don’t Panic website at the end of the last month.