BUMBLING Lord Hanningfield has responded after becoming the first peer in history to be suspended from Parliament for not doing any work.
The 73-year-old of West Hanningfield, has also been ordered to pay back £3,300 in falsely claimed £300-a-day House of Lords attendance allowance.
The former Essex County Council has since admitted his antics were "thoughtless" but has attempted to use his ill-health and employees as justification.
In a 664-word statement released to media this week he said he would now focus on writing a book documenting his last five years.
He writes: "Since my release from prison and return to the House, I have had but one goal in mind, and that is to return to work and continue to serve the taxpayer; something I believe I have tried my very best to do since I became a Peer in 1998.
"Following my release from prison I was suffering from psychological and physical health problems, I was anxious about returning to the House following my suspension and while it was thoughtless of me to claim the full allowance on the 11 dates in question, considering I spent so little time on the parliamentary estate, I never attempted to hide any of these transgressions, simply because I was unaware that I what I was doing was wrong.
"Nevertheless, I would like to thank my fellow peers, and members of the general public for their ongoing support, during what has been the most difficult period of my life.
"I regret that my mistakes have ultimately resulted in me being suspended from the House but would like to assure the people and organisations that I was in the process of helping that I will continue with the work that I have started, outside the Lords, to ensure that our efforts will not have been wasted upon my return.
"Furthermore, I would like to extend my apologies to the work experience student who was set to join me on the parliamentary estate next month.
"Like many other Lords, I believe the allowance to be a 'de facto' salary, something which the Commissioner himself conceded in his report, is an acceptable way to view it. As I have stated many times before, I claim the allowance on 100 days during the year, which amounts to an annual salary of £30,000 and no more.
"I also consider myself to be a working peer every single day of the year and regularly conduct parliamentary work outside of the parliamentary estate, from my home in Essex.
"And so, even if I am not speaking in the house or participating in a debate or vote, I am still required to travel to the House in order to claim the allowance, just as there are many more days a year where I will work all day and not claim at all.
"The fact remains that the Daily Mirror elected to follow me and monitor my movements over the course of a month in which I was decidedly unwell, and I maintain that had they chosen to do so in any other month since, they would have gleaned an entirely different account of my activities and efforts; one which far more accurately reflects my normal routine.
"The House of Lords does not offer any form of 'sick pay' and while I realise that my efforts to return to the House proved to be counter-productive, I rely on the aforementioned allowance in order to pay the various people whom I employ.
"It appears that I am now going to be reprimanded, on a technicality, as I could not provide 'substantial' evidence of the work that must be carried out on the days in question, in order to justify the claim, even though that would appear to contradict the principal idea that the allowance may indeed be viewed as a 'de facto' salary.
"In reference to the article published by the Daily Mirror, following the denial of my appeal, I would also like to state that farming is part of my family's heritage and is something that I am very proud of.
"I was devastated to discover that a comment I made regarding having to employ someone to help me look after my chickens had been turned into a device used to mock me.
"It will be difficult to recover from this most recent setback but that has never stopped me before.
"It will at least allow me the opportunity to complete the book I have begun to write on my life and the last five years in particular." The House of Lords launched an investigation in December after the Daily Mirror filmed Hanningfield clocking into Parliament on 19 occasions in July 2013, collecting a total £5,700 in attendance allowance and claiming £470 for travel costs.
Commissioner for Standards Paul Kernaghan took issue with 11 of those 19 visits when he was there for no more than 40 minutes, with his shortest stay clocked at 21 minutes, racking up to the £3,300.
Yesterday (Monday, May 12) the punishment was announced.
His fellow peers will vote either for or against the verdict shortly after 3pm today.
