Another leaflet from Martin Land

A new leaflet from Martin Land landed on my doormat. (Copy here). With the economic situation there is little to promise. Much to criticise about Labour and the Conservatives. The problem I have is Martin Land doesn't like the Conservatives and he needs Conservative supporters to win. This makes him damaged goods.

There are some pledges Martin Land has made about expenses. Martin has pledged to:

I will publish my full tax return every year detailing ALL income, including (though I have none!) any income from outside directorships, partnerships, etc.

I will publish each and every week on my website FULL details of any and all expenses claimed.

I will not have a second home but will commute to London along with thousands of local residents but not in 1st Class!

I will publish an audited annual list of all and any shares or assets that I own and their present value.

All these pledges sound good. These are just "pledges". If Martin was to guarantee that if he didn't carry out what he has pledged he would resign would have more force.

Lets look at individual pledges.

The first, publishing his tax return is good propaganda but has little value. Outside Directorships have to be declared anyway so no real change there.

In his 2nd pledge Martin says he is going to publish every claim every week. This is a bit onerous and there is no real reason for publishing every week. What Martin should pledge is he will answer questions on his expenses from the electors.

For this 3rd pledge Martin says he will not have a second home. This is very stupid because if he became MP he may have to work late. Depending on his workload he could have to book into hotels. The cost of this could be higher than renting a flat! Not going First Class is good. But that is happening anyway. I feel Martin should have made the pledge that he would have his primary home in the constituency.

The 4th pledge is again a nice piece of propaganda. But that is all.

The pledges I feel Martin should have made are the following:

I will have my primary home in St Neots.
I will publish and be held accountable for all expenses.
I will publish all office costs and employee names and salaries.
I will publish all financial/non-financial relationships between myself and the Liberal Democrats.
If I break any of these pledges I will resign immediately!


Martin is a politician. He is a Liberal Democrat politician. He needs to be watched. One of the first announcements was the appointment of Julia Hayward as his Agent. When it comes to reading the small print on SVDK's recent leaflet I find Martin Land is his Agent.