You have to get up pretty early to answer the mob...

Let's be honest, the thought that someone should fly back from New York, first class no less, to vote in support of slashing tax credits for the poorest working households is pretty reprehensible. And so, unsurprisingly, Andrew Lloyd Webber has taken more than a little flak.

Dear @OfficialALW (Lloyd-Webber), did you really just charge the UK tax payer to fly you back from New York just to vote against #taxcredits

— Samuel Rushworth (@SamJRushworth) October 26, 2015

Now, young Sam isn't just any random voice on the internet, he was the Labour candidate for Blackpool North earlier this year. You'd think that he'd be a little more cautious. But no. He posted that at 10.31 p.m. and it appeared in my timeline because a Liberal Democrat PPC retweeted it.

Being a helpful soul, and still being awake, I pointed out that the House of Lords system for claiming travel expenses wouldn't allow Lord Lloyd-Webber to claim for anything more than the cost of travelling from Heathrow to Westminster.

The response was to demand where he pays tax. Being ever patient, I noted that, since the passing of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 provides that members of the House of Commons (MPs) and House of Lords (Peers) are deemed resident, ordinarily resident and domiciled in the UK for the purposes of income tax, inheritance tax and capital gains tax.

This didn't apparently stop those members of the mob watching, which shouldn't come as much as a surprise, I guess. But I did point out to young Sam that demanding a reply in the middle of the night was hardly reasonable. And, to give him credit, he did get it.

@honladymark @BelindaBG @OfficialALW Take your point

— Samuel Rushworth (@SamJRushworth) October 27, 2015

So, why was I bothering? Well, one day, Sam might be a member of Parliament himself, and the target of an angry internet mob. And, if that day comes, he might understand why I made the point I did.

You see, taking up your internet flaming torch and pitchfork is dead easy. And sometimes, you prove your stupidity by making some innocent person's life a misery. And, whilst Andrew Lloyd Webber may be callous beyond my understanding, he isn't that stupid...