Tory leader David Cameron has announced he won’t be sacking Alan Duncan after his rant about the treatment of MPs since the expenses scandal.
Openly gay Tory MP Duncan has been under fire since a secretly filmed video of him - in which he said MPs were being made to ‘live on rations’ and had been ‘treated like shit’ since the expense scandal - leaked to the internet.
His comments have sparked widespread outrage and debate, but Cameron has revealed no plan to sack Duncan, a widely recognised Conservative figure and communicator; he has instead assigned the Shadow Cabinet Minister a very public dressing down.
Speaking from his constituency in Witney, Oxfordshire, Cameron revealed: “I spoke to Alan Duncan yesterday and made it clear in no uncertain terms that when it comes to the mess of expenses, the words we use, just as the actions we take, have got to demonstrate completely that we share the public's real fury at what went on in Parliament.”
As Pink Paper reported yesterday, Duncan has apologised since the humiliating footage was made public. He told the BBC this week: "The last thing people want to hear is an MP whingeing about his pay and conditions.”
Cameron was keen to emphasise Duncan’s apology: "Alan made a bad mistake and he has acknowledged that, he has apologised and withdrawn the remarks,” he pointed out.
However, the extent of Duncan’s punishment for his remarks is yet to be seen. Many are speculating that his chances of a high up role in a Conservative government are now looking bleak.