Richard Younger-Ross
Encyclopedia
Richard Alan Younger-Ross (born Richard Alan Ross, January 29, 1953, Surrey
) is a politician in England
. He was the Liberal Democrat
Member of Parliament
for Teignbridge
from 2001 to 2010, having contested the seat in 1992
and 1997
, finally winning in the 2001 election
. He was defeated in the redefined Newton Abbot
constituency in 2010 election.
, which became Ambleside Junior School, then Walton Oak primary school) on Ambleside Avenue in Walton on Thames, Brooklands Technical College
on Heath Road in Weybridge
, then Ewell Technical College (now called North East Surrey College Of Technology
- NESCOT) in Ewell
. He studied at Oxford Polytechnic, now Oxford Brookes University
. Before becoming a politician, he was an architectural consultant.
He was a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee between 2005-2008.
In 2005 he proposed amendments to the Water Bill to create a water charge equalisation scheme to reduce the very high costs of water in the South West. This proposal is being considered by the Government following the Walker Report.
In 2006, Younger-Ross proposed a Ten Minute Rule Bill restricting Sunday trading hours in the UK for shops, arguing that without such legislation the British people would lose "rhythm of life" (House of Commons Debate, 24 May 2006). He is a member of the Beveridge Group
.
In 2008 he proposed that Park Home Site owners should be "fit and proper people", a proposal currently being consulted on by the Government.
, Devon
in 1989, with his wife, Susan Younger, whom he married in 1982 in Oxford. He is a Roman Catholic, attending a church in Teignmouth.
released details of several of Younger-Ross's parliamentary expense claims. The disclosures were part of the newspaper's wider disclosure of expenses of British Members of Parliament.
Younger-Ross was reported to have claimed more than £1200 for 5 mirrors to furnish his London
flat, on which the rent was £1566 per month. A further £1475 was claimed for a single chest of drawers
. These claims were submitted and approved by the Fees Office despite the fact that it was in excess of the so-called 'John Lewis List
' which was not issued to MPs to guide them in their expense claims. It states that MPs should not spend more than £500 on chests of drawers or more than £300 on a mirror.
The Telegraph interpreted the claims as excessive, stating that they were "in clear breach of guidelines that state members must not use public funds" for “antigue or luxury” goods. When questioned on Sky TV he apologised saying that perceptions of what was luxury depended on your background and income, "clearly we have got it wrong".
On the 21st of March 2010 Mr Younger-Ross was forced to apologise and pay £4,000 to Parliament after breaching commons rules over a payment he accepted relating to his second home. Mr Younger-Ross had accepted £8,000 windfall money from the new landlord of his second home in Dolphin Square, London. In a letter to Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of the Standards and Privileges Committee, Mr Younger-Ross said: "I wholly accept the report and its conclusions and unreservedly apologise." MPs had been told they could accept this payment by the fees office. Many MPs profited from using the allowance to assist them buying a home, the House of Commons considered this to be acceptable although they may profit by tens of thousands of pounds on the sale of the propety.
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
) is a politician in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was the Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Teignbridge
Teignbridge (UK Parliament constituency)
Teignbridge was, from 1983 until 2010, a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
from 2001 to 2010, having contested the seat in 1992
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
and 1997
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, finally winning in the 2001 election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
. He was defeated in the redefined Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot (UK Parliament constituency)
Newton Abbot is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
constituency in 2010 election.
Early life
Richard Younger-Ross was born in Surrey in 1953. He attended Walton County Secondary School for Boys (a secondary modernSecondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
, which became Ambleside Junior School, then Walton Oak primary school) on Ambleside Avenue in Walton on Thames, Brooklands Technical College
Brooklands College
Brooklands College is a further education college in Weybridge and Ashford. In August 2007, Brooklands merged with Spelthorne College in Ashford. The Weybridge campus is set in the grounds of Hugh F. Lock-King's historic mansion at Brooklands. The Ashford campus is located on Ashford's high...
on Heath Road in Weybridge
Weybridge
Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
, then Ewell Technical College (now called North East Surrey College Of Technology
North East Surrey College Of Technology
The North East Surrey College Of Technology is a large further education and higher education college in Epsom and Ewell, Surrey, England that began as Ewell Technical College in the 1950s.-Facilities:...
- NESCOT) in Ewell
Ewell
Ewell is a village in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, close to the southern boundary of Greater London. It is located 14 miles south-south-west of Charing Cross and forms part of the suburbia that surrounds Greater London. Despite its growing population it is still referred to as a...
. He studied at Oxford Polytechnic, now Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...
. Before becoming a politician, he was an architectural consultant.
Parliamentary career
He was a member of the Defence Select Committee and was the Lib Dem Spokesperson for Heritage.He was a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee between 2005-2008.
In 2005 he proposed amendments to the Water Bill to create a water charge equalisation scheme to reduce the very high costs of water in the South West. This proposal is being considered by the Government following the Walker Report.
In 2006, Younger-Ross proposed a Ten Minute Rule Bill restricting Sunday trading hours in the UK for shops, arguing that without such legislation the British people would lose "rhythm of life" (House of Commons Debate, 24 May 2006). He is a member of the Beveridge Group
Beveridge Group
The Beveridge Group is a centre-left group within the Liberal Democrat party in the UK. It was set up in 2001 by MPs Alistair Carmichael, Paul Holmes, John Barrett and John Pugh to promote debate within the party regarding public service provision....
.
In 2008 he proposed that Park Home Site owners should be "fit and proper people", a proposal currently being consulted on by the Government.
Personal life
Younger-Ross moved to TeignmouthTeignmouth
Teignmouth is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon, situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign about 14 miles south of Exeter. It has a population of 14,413. In 1690, it was the last place in England to be invaded by a foreign power...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
in 1989, with his wife, Susan Younger, whom he married in 1982 in Oxford. He is a Roman Catholic, attending a church in Teignmouth.
Expenses controversy
On 16 May 2009, The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
released details of several of Younger-Ross's parliamentary expense claims. The disclosures were part of the newspaper's wider disclosure of expenses of British Members of Parliament.
Younger-Ross was reported to have claimed more than £1200 for 5 mirrors to furnish his London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
flat, on which the rent was £1566 per month. A further £1475 was claimed for a single chest of drawers
Chest of drawers
A chest of drawers, also called a dresser or a bureau, is a piece of furniture that has multiple parallel, horizontal drawers stacked one above another...
. These claims were submitted and approved by the Fees Office despite the fact that it was in excess of the so-called 'John Lewis List
John Lewis List
The John Lewis List is the name given to the list of expenses that Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom can claim. The name of the list is so called because it is based on the prices of items from the John Lewis store — because it was highly rated by Which? magazine.The John Lewis list is...
' which was not issued to MPs to guide them in their expense claims. It states that MPs should not spend more than £500 on chests of drawers or more than £300 on a mirror.
The Telegraph interpreted the claims as excessive, stating that they were "in clear breach of guidelines that state members must not use public funds" for “antigue or luxury” goods. When questioned on Sky TV he apologised saying that perceptions of what was luxury depended on your background and income, "clearly we have got it wrong".
On the 21st of March 2010 Mr Younger-Ross was forced to apologise and pay £4,000 to Parliament after breaching commons rules over a payment he accepted relating to his second home. Mr Younger-Ross had accepted £8,000 windfall money from the new landlord of his second home in Dolphin Square, London. In a letter to Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of the Standards and Privileges Committee, Mr Younger-Ross said: "I wholly accept the report and its conclusions and unreservedly apologise." MPs had been told they could accept this payment by the fees office. Many MPs profited from using the allowance to assist them buying a home, the House of Commons considered this to be acceptable although they may profit by tens of thousands of pounds on the sale of the propety.
Hunting
Younger-Ross has a controversially mixed voting record on Hunting, rebelling against his party whips and voting against the ban during the amendment stage of the bill and earlier abstaining on the key vote.He argued that although he disliked hunting he would not vote for a ban which did not compensate those who had legitimately made a living from it. Two wrongs do not make a right he said.External links
- Richard Younger-Ross MP profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Richard Younger-Ross MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Richard Younger-Ross MP
- The Public Whip - Richard Younger-Ross MP voting record
- BBC News - Richard Younger-Ross profile 30 March 2006