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Whining Tory Alan Duncan's £1m Gulf War oil 'rations' and glittering gifts from Sultan of Oman. By. Tom Rawstorne for The Mail on Sunday. Updated. 1. 1: 2. GMT, 1. 2 September 2. With the first hints of autumn in the air, the sound of weary gardeners breathing a sigh of relief echoes across Britain. But for MP Alan Duncan an aching back and calloused hands are unlikely to be high on his list of immediate problems. For while his four- bedroom constituency home is surrounded by an acre of beautifully- tended gardens, their appearance isn't entirely down to his hard graft.

Until recently Alan Duncan pulled in an extra £9. MP 'I spend a fortune on my garden in Rutland,' he boasted last year, explaining that it is a place 'where you will never see a weed'. What British taxpayers now know is that the pristine flower- beds and carefully kept lawns owe almost as much to them as to the 5. Tory high- flyer. Earlier this year, leaked expenses revealed that Mr Duncan had claimed in excess of £4,0. This sum included the costs of a £6- an- hour gardener who, at times, was pocketing more than £3.

With the first hints of autumn in the air, the sound of weary gardeners breathing a sigh of relief echoes across Britain. But for MP Alan Duncan an aching back and. Lost tomb of 'Suleiman the Magnificent', one of the greatest rulers of the Ottoman Empire, unearthed in southern Hungary - although it only contains his ORGANS. Our services have been closed. Thank you for your understanding!

Then there were the running costs of Mr Duncan's ride- on lawn- mower - a £5. Alan Duncan (left) proposed to his partner James Dunseath (right) on Valentine's Day while in Oman Mr Duncan tried to put through even more, a bill of £3,1. July 2. 00. 6 and March 2. House of Commons fees office. It declined to pay, pointing out that the sum in question 'may not be necessarily an appropriate use of public funds'.

In all, Mr Duncan claimed £1. While agreeing to pay back some £5,0.

This is not guilt. This is a voluntary act.'. Amid the ensuing furore over moats and duck islands and 'flipped' second homes, as far as Mr Duncan was concerned that might just about have been that. Until, that is, the multi- millionaire former oil- trader single- handedly reignited the public's ire by bemoaning the lot of a modern day MP.

Covertly recorded on camera, the Shadow Leader of the House was heard to complain that MPs were being treated like 's***' and forced to live on 'rations' in the wake of the expenses scandal. Gifts from the Sultan of Oman. Again the silver- tongued, bouffanthaired MP apologized.

And again he sloped away hoping it would all blow over. But, on Monday, David Cameron finally acted against Mr Duncan, moving him from the Shadow Cabinet to become justice spokesman with responsibility for prisons.

Critics complain that this demotion is little more than a slap on the wrist and that Mr Duncan may yet return to frontline politics as a Government minister. Watch Milf Dailymotion more. He is a very experienced politician who still has a lot to give and hopes that he will get another chance to prove this in the future,' a close friend told me. If he does, then it would do well to remember just how that 'experience' was gained. His views on money owe much to the fact that by the age of 3. As for his £6. 5,0. MP, that was also clearly insufficient - until recently Mr Duncan pulled in an extra £9.

His expertise is in trading oil, a line of work that has seen him linked to a number of characters mired in financial scandals. Then there are his property interests. Watch The Flirting Club Download. These include his £1 million- plus London home, his beautifully appointed constituency home and a third property that he rents out next to his own. He bought it for £1.

It is now worth at least five times that sum. And let's not forget Mr Duncan's love of foreign travel. In the past decade he has spent a staggering 9. Oman - the tab picked up by the Sultan's government. Gifts from the same source include five watches, three sets of cufflinks, and a 'traditional Omani coffee pot and incense burner'. He even had his appendix removed for free while on holiday there.

No chance then, at least, of the 'rations' causing any problems as they work their way through Mr Duncan's system. Enlarge He has spent a staggering 9.

Oman, above, and the tab was picked up by the Sultan's government. David Cameron demoted Alan Duncan from the Shadow Cabinet after he complained that MPs were being treated like 's***' and forced to live on 'rations' When news of Mr Duncan's ill- timed comments emerged, Peter Mandelson couldn't resist a dig - his words delivered with the same sense of satisfaction that an assassin might derive from sliding a stiletto knife between a rival's ribs. Alan Duncan is very fond of speaking a good game publicly but in private talking and acting quite differently,' the Labour minister observed, 'so I am not surprised he has been found out.'.

Coming from someone who has himself been 'found out' on more than one occasion, many will see Mandelson's condemnation as rich in the extreme. But the truth of the matter is that while they may be poles apart politically, this odd couple have plenty in common.

Their personal lives aside (both men are openly gay), their love of the political limelight is coupled with an unquenchable taste for the high- life. More pertinent still, however, is an inherent belief that each is as indestructible as the other. Indeed, the fact that epitaphs are being drawn up this week to mark the end of Mr Duncan's political career will no doubt tickle the multi- millionaire Tory. Watch Heavy Petting Online Metacritic.

After all, it is not the first time he has been in trouble with the Tory hierarchy. Fifteen years ago Mr Duncan was caught up in a storm over the purchase of a council house at a knock- down rate. It was located in Gayfere Street in central London and was next to his own terraced house, which he purchased for £2.

Alan Duncan had his appendix removed for free while on holiday in Oman. The property in question was rented from the council by Mr Duncan's 7. Mr Duncan loaned the pensioner £1.

Westminster City Council, thereby taking advantage of a £5. The deal was done on the understanding that the property would automatically revert to Mr Duncan after three years. The money was loaned in 1.

Mr Duncan had been elected to Parliament in 1. Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Health Minister, Brian Mawhinney. John Major was in power and his party in the midst of the Back To Basics backlash that saw minister after minister compromised by their private lives. As soon as news of the deal broke, Mr Duncan quit his job as PPS. But when reporters tracked him down to the luxury hotel in which he was staying in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, he was anything but repentant. All I did was sign a property deal with my neighbour,' he said.

It's all a load of b*******.'. He added: 'I don't give a damn.

I'm still young enough to start again on the ladder to the top. This way I hope I'll be remembered as the man who acted with honour.'. That the diminutive Mr Duncan (he stands just 5ft 6in in his socks) displayed such confidence in his own worth stems from the successes he had enjoyed as a young man.

The son of an RAF officer and teacher, he grew up in Hertfordshire and became interested in politics at the age of just 1. Having been head boy at Merchant Taylors' School, he attended St John's College, Oxford, where he coxed the college first eight. While there he befriended the late Benazir Bhutto and became president of the Oxford Union in 1. But putting his political ambitions temporarily on hold, he decided to seek a fortune before entering Parliament.

Turning down jobs with Ford and Leyland ('I thought they would only pay pennies') he joined Shell. The work bored him so he landed a job with Marc Rich, a highly controversial American commodity trader. Mr Rich was indicted on charges of illegal trading with Iran and tax evasion, forcing the American to live in Switzerland because it had no extradition treaty with the U.

S. Alan Duncan boasted that he'd made £1 million during the Gulf War by selling oil to Pakistan. Having made a small fortune, he turned his attention back to politics Although he would eventually be pardoned during Bill Clinton's last week in office, Mr Duncan's association with him has been the source of no little controversy.