Welcome to my Parliamentary website
Welcome to my website. I hope that you will find it useful and interesting. I intend to publish speeches and photos on the site as well as providing up-to-date information about what I am doing in Parliament, in the constituency and in my work as a Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons.
My constituency office is open from 10am until 5pm on weekdays.
I hold several regular Advice Surgeries throughout the constituency spread between the four Council Wards of Alwoodley, Moortown, Roundhay and Chapel Allerton. If you would like to come to one of these, please phone 237 0022 during office hours to book a 15 minute session. Once booked, we will write to you to confirm the time, place and date.Otherwise, you can contact me using the postal address, email or telephone number on the Contacts Page of this website.
I am normally at home in Leeds and in the constituency from late Thursday night until Monday lunchtime during the Parliamentary term.
Staff
Given the current controversy over MPs' staff, I would like to make it clear to all my constituents that I do not employ any family members or relatives in my Constituency or Parliamentary offices. For full details of all my staff and what they do, please go to the staff pages on this website.
Fabian with his wife, Rosy and son Lawrence meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama
in Dharmsala, India, October 2007.
Statement by Fabian on the MPs' Additional Costs Allowance
"I have always been very careful in what I have claimed from the public purse for the running of my second home in London, conscious that it is taxpayers' money."MPs who represent constituencies a long way from London necessarily have to have somewhere to live whilst they are working in Parliament, often until very late at night. Only the interest on mortgages is claimable towards the purchase costs of second homes in London and there are at present strict rules about what is claimable and what is not.
"Whilst I - like all my colleagues - was unaware of the so-called 'John Lewis' list, whenever I have claimed for any item for my second home I have always priced it as cheaply as possible using the internet. I would hope that most colleagues have done the same.
"The system of allowances has grown up piecemeal over decades and now appears opaque and out of date. It would be far better for MPs' salaries to be increased to cover the cost of running a second home in London and the tax-free £23,000 a year Additional Costs Allowance to be abolished. However, if the system remains the same, then of course I am more than happy to ensure greater transparency and more accountable spending on only necessary items"
March 16th 2008