David Alan Keen (25 November 1937 – 10 November 2011)
was a British
Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party.
Candidat ...
politician who served as
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for
Feltham and Heston from
1992 until his death in 2011.
Early life
Although born in London, Alan Keen was brought up in the
Grangetown and
Redcar area in the present day
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
of
Redcar and Cleveland
Redcar and Cleveland is a borough with unitary authority status in North Yorkshire, England. Its main settlements are Redcar, South Bank, Eston, Brotton, Guisborough, the Greater Eston part of Middlesbrough, Loftus, Saltburn and Skelton. Th ...
in the north-east of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. He went to the
Sir William Turner's Grammar School in Redcar. He joined the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in 1960 and after nearly three years of service, in 1963, he started his career with the Fire Protection Industry where he remained until his election to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
.
He also worked as a tactical scout for
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...
for eighteen years.
Parliamentary career
He served as a member of
Hounslow Borough Council
Hounslow London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Hounslow in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London.
History
There have previously been a numbe ...
from 1986 to 1990 and was elected to Parliament at the
1992 general election when he unseated the sitting
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
MP
Patrick Ground. In Parliament he served on both the
Education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
(1995–1996) and the
Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, formerly the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, is one of the select committees of the British House of Commons, established in 1997. It oversees the operations of the Department for ...
s (1997–1999 and from 2001).
Policies
Heathrow Airport expansion
On 28 January 2009, Keen voted against a motion in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
calling on the government to review a decision to add a
third runway to Heathrow Airport. Keen had claimed to be opposed to expansion at
Heathrow
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
for many years;
stating in his consultation publication on the issue he is "opposed to an additional runway" and although he was in favour of expansion up to the present boundaries "there has to be a limit" and he believed "that limit has been reached". However at a
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
debate in January 2009, Keen voted in favour of the third runway.
Conservative Councillor Barbara Reid of
Hounslow Council
Hounslow London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Hounslow in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London.
History
There have previously been a number ...
, said the Keens were "completely ignoring their constituents and letting them down.", noting that "90 per cent of people in every survey we have done do not support the third runway".
Further controversy arose when Keen suggested the third runway would "hardly affect my constituents at all".
Expenses
Together with his MP wife
Ann Keen
Ann Lloyd Keen (''née'' Fox; born 26 November 1948) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Isleworth from 1997, until she was defeated by Conservative candidate Mary Macleod in 2010. ...
, the couple used their combined second homes allowances to buy an apartment in an up-market development at
Waterloo on the South Bank of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
, claiming £175,000 over five years. The Waterloo apartment is nine miles from their constituency home in
Brentford, a 30-minute drive from
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
. MPs who reside near the Keens in Brentford, such as
Home Office Minister
Phil Woolas
Philip James Woolas (born 11 December 1959) is a British environmental consultant, political lobbyist and former television producer and politician who served as Minister of State for Borders and Immigration from 2008 to 2010. A member of the ...
who lives in the next street, are able to commute from there to Westminster.
[Politicians living near Keens don't claim for second home , News](_blank)
The couple claimed for both the interest payments on the Waterloo flat and the cost of re-mortgaging their Brentford home. The Fees Office agreed with the couple's argument that this was claimable because it was used to raise equity for the flat. The mortgage also included the cost of "compulsory" life insurance attached to the mortgages, a practice which is now banned. In total the Keens have claimed almost £1.7 million in expenses over seven years.
In 2009, their Brentford home was occupied by
squatters
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
after it was unoccupied for 9–12 months following a dispute with a building firm undertaking renovation work.
The squatters' declared aim was to turn the house into a centre for war refugees, in response to Mrs Keen's support for the British
invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
.
In defending their part in the expenses scandal the Keen's stated "we have advocated, strongly supported, and voted for the introduction of
Freedom of Information legislation
Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatisfa ...
. We are pleased that the point has been reached when full details of MPs' expenses are being published on a regular basis for everyone to see". However, in November 2009, arsonists repeatedly attacked an office block containing Mrs Keen's constituency offices in reaction to the revelations over their expense claims. Keen voted against the reform of MP's expenses in 2008.
A formal investigation into the Keens' expenses by the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons. The work of the officer is overseen by the Commons Select Committee on Standards.
The current commissioner is Kathryn Stone.
Duties
The commissioner i ...
ruled in March that the Keens had breached the expenses rules and that he regarded the breach of the rules as "serious", and involving "significant public funds". He suggested that the Keens should pay back four months worth of their claims - some £5,678. However, The
Commons Standards and Privileges Committee of MPs disagreed with his findings and reduced the repayment to £1,500.
Personal life
Keen's wife
Ann Keen
Ann Lloyd Keen (''née'' Fox; born 26 November 1948) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Isleworth from 1997, until she was defeated by Conservative candidate Mary Macleod in 2010. ...
, whom he married in 1980, joined him in the Commons at the
1997 general election when she was elected for the neighbouring seat of
Brentford and Isleworth. Ann held the seat until she was defeated in the
2010 general election. His sister-in-law,
Sylvia Heal was an MP from 1997 to 2010 and
Deputy Speakers of the House of Commons before retiring at the 2010 election. He and his wife lived in his wife's former constituency at
Brentford. In February 2010 Keen was played by
Tim Pigott-Smith
Timothy Peter Pigott-Smith, (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series '' The Jewel in the Crown'', for which he wo ...
in the television film ''
On Expenses''.
Keen employed son David for at least 8 years as his constituency manager and senior caseworker. He also had a further son and a daughter from a previous marriage.
He died in
Lambeth, London, on 10 November 2011 from cancer, aged 73.
References
External links
Alan Keen MP''official constituency site''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keen, Alan
1937 births
2011 deaths
People from Lewisham
People from Redcar
Councillors in the London Borough of Hounslow
Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff
British Army soldiers
Deaths from cancer
People educated at Sir William Turner's Grammar School, Redcar