Best Excuse's!

Phil Woolas, Immigration Minister, who claimed for supermarket bills which included nappies and women’s clothes:

"What I have done is put receipts through from Tesco or wherever, but then claimed on the expenses form for the food and not for the other stuff. It is untrue that I claimed these things. It misunderstands the system. The receipts are there, but I never asked for or got money for these items. To suggest otherwise is disgusting."

A day later, on being shown his claim which showed he had claimed for the full receipt:

"I take your point and I understand the extrapolation.' I am being hung out to dry for being honest. The key points to remember is that I don't need to submit receipts to back the claims and I could have actually claimed £400 for the food."

Immigration Minister claimed for women's clothing and panty liners

Tracey and Phil Woolas

Phil Woolas also claimed for a £3.49 bottle of red wine from Tesco in breach of the rules and even put through a receipt that suggests he received a 10 per cent staff discount at the supermarket.

One bill, for £110.20 spent in the Horsham branch of Tesco, shows he spent £1.48 on panty liners, £1.19 on tampons, £2.99 on nappies and £15 on a lady's blouse.

He was reimbursed for the claims, even though the rules for MPs state that personal items such as toiletries are not allowed, nor are items bought for anyone else, including family members. The receipt also shows that whoever paid the bill received a 10 per cent staff discount.

The gaffe-prone minister also claimed the maximum £400 a month for food on his second home expenses in most years.

In 2004-5, Mr Woolas, the MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, submitted a series of till receipts when claiming Additional Costs Allowance, even though MPs are able to get £400 a month for food without providing any proof that they bought it.

On one receipt he deleted claims for hair dye and baby wipes but did not remove £5.51 spent on Huggies nappies, and £3.49 and £3.99 on bottles of red wine even though alcohol is not allowed under the rules.

Another shopping trip, claimed for in full, included claims for £5.96 on disposable bibs, £23 on women's shoes, a £1.99 child's comic, £1.60 and £1.55 comics, £2.88 on baby wipes and a £5 ladies' jumper.

He then stopped submitting receipts for groceries but instead claimed the maximum available allowance, £4,800, on food from 2005 to 2008.

Mr Woolas said last night: "Receipts for food were not and are not required. However, as a matter of transparency I have always submitted receipts even when not required.

"There are family items for which I did not claim. The amount of expenses claimed and received was less than the receipt submitted."

Mr Woolas says he put in grocery receipts totalling more than the amount he claimed for in food and so it cannot be proven that he was reimbursed for the family items.

However, in May 2004, for example, he submitted £238.30 of Tesco receipts but claimed £332.48 for food on his expenses. In August that year, he submitted £210.31 in supermarket receipts, including the women's shoes and bibs, and put in a food claim for exactly the same amount, which was reimbursed in full.


Profile: Phil Woolas

Job: Immigration Minister

Salary: £105,412

Total second home claims

2004-05: £19,301

2005-06: £20,766

2006-07: £22,110

2007-08: £23,083