MP Ann Keen under fire over expenses claims (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

MP Ann Keen under fire over expenses claims

4:06pm Monday 22nd June 2009

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Health Minister Ann Keen MP has come under fire after it was revealed she claimed £232 in parliamentary expenses for treatment at a private hospital.

The former nurse charged taxpayers for two bills from the Blackheath Hospital - which boasts top-of-the-range technology, “spacious” consulting rooms and a lower risk of infection than in NHS hospitals.

The Brentford and Isleworth MP was accused of hypocrisy as censored details of her expenses were officially published for the first time last week.

Councillor Andrew Dakers, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Brentford and Isleworth, said: “For a junior health minister - and someone that has been a longstanding and vocal supporter of the NHS - to apparently be giving up on the NHS for treatment as these claims suggest, needs urgent explanation.”

Details of the two visits in August 2005, costing £150 and £82, were blacked out, along with much of the expenses documents released online.

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