'Come and check my expenses' (From Bournemouth Echo)

'Come and check my expenses'

7:00pm Friday 14th March 2008 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

BOOK an appointment at his surgery and a Bournemouth MP will explain his allowances face to face.

Following newspaper revelations about the "John Lewis list" - an itemised price list used by finance officials as a guideline when deciding to accept or reject MPs' expense claims - Tobias Ellwood invited his constituents to discuss his claims.

MPs can claim up to £23,000 a year towards the costs of running a second home.

Conservative Mr Ellwood said: "I was not aware of the list. It is a most bizarre and ridiculous system.

"It is confusing and can be abused which brings a bad name on everyone."

Conservative Sir John Butterfill MP for Bournemouth West also denied knowledge of the list.

He said: "I have a home in London. I have just renovated the kitchen and the cost was about £5,000, which is about half of what you can spend.

"If you look at my claims for the allowance I think last year it was £17,000 from a permitted allowance of £23,000."

Poole Conservative MP Robert Syms said: "We all claim for our second homes, as frankly they are expensive to run. But the first we knew of this John Lewis list was two weeks ago.

"There is an issue around expenses and I think the rules need to be tightened, but the reason MPs have second homes in London is because Parliament sits in London. If Parliament sat in Poole, I wouldn't be making any claim."

Schools minister and South Dorset Labour MP Jim Knight said: "I certainly haven't used the fund for a fitted kitchen or a widescreen TV.

"When I first became an MP I equipped my London home with a small TV and a Freeview box.

"Most MPs use it to pay the mortgage on their London accommodation.

"Many of your readers may struggle to believe this, but the majority of MPs operate well within the rules. I agree the whole system of expenses needs to be better regulated."

Mid Dorset and North Poole MP, Liberal Democrat Annette Brooke, who pays £1,200 a month for her London flat, said: "I have a minute flat. I don't even have room for a cooker in my kitchen.

"I think the whole expenses issue is a bit of a nightmare and is putting politicians in a bad light.

"It should be incumbent on any MP to think of value for money, and value for the taxpayer."

New Forest MP Desmond Swayne said his expenses last year were fourth from bottom in the league table of 640 MPs.

He admits to having bought a kitchen for his London flat for £6,000 but did not claim separately for a fridge and cooker.

He could have forked out up to £1,000 for a bed but his was "about £200 from Beds R Us".

The flat's TV was second hand from a shop in New Milton.

He has "always been mindful of the fact that the figures were likely to be published, and the total was always going to be published".