There’s something Galsworthian about Danny Alexander, the man of property. A downy
press secretary for the Cairngorm National Park bought a south London hovel in 1999, re-designated it his second home in 2005 when he became an MP, and the Bright Young Thing then sold it in 2007
for £300,000. The dashing Cabinet Minister’s recent mortgage claims of £1,100 per month suggest an existence amid more salubrious environs – Volvos, delicatessens and Oxfam.
Alexander didn’t cheat his way to Cheam, or wherever he lives. ‘There is no suggestion that Mr Alexander has broken any tax laws,’ opine the authors of this morning’s expenses expose. Alexander was liable for capital Gains Tax courtesy of the 3-year final relief loophole, since closed. Hazel Blears profited in the same manner. Both were within their rights but, as public money was used to make improvements to those private residences, their morality is suspect.
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