Judge me now, Natascha Engel tells her constituents

Natascha Engel says she knew people would find her expenses claims unacceptable

Miss Engel called the meetings even though The Daily Telegraph had not yet to reveal her expenses, saying that she was aware that she had made claims on the second home allowance that many would find unacceptable.

Today it can be revealed that the MP for North East Derbyshire went on a shopping spree within months of being elected, spending thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ cash.

Among her purchases were an £1,800 television, £2,900 sofa and £1,950 bed, as well as hundreds of pounds’ worth of expensive kitchenware, including 12 wine glasses and six champagne flutes at a cost of £30 each.

Miss Engel’s claims peaked in the first six months of 2006, when she bought the television, sofa and bed. On each occasion, she contacted the fees office, saying that she was aware her claims were over the maximum permissible.

Her allowance was docked accordingly, and she received £750 each for the television and bed and £2,000 for the sofa. She also bought a dishwasher, fridge freezer, washing machine, microwave and kettle, at a total cost of £1,666, which was paid in full.

Her purchases stretch the Green Book rules on second home allowances to the limit. It says: “You should avoid purchases which could be seen as extravagant or luxurious.”

In the same six months, Miss Engel spent £13.90 on a Nigella Lawson kitchen herb chopper, £182 on crockery from The Pier, and £79.99 on a “mobile cool box” which she used to drive her groceries from London to Derbyshire.

In an article for Telegraph.co.uk, Miss Engel explained why she wanted her constituents to rule on whether she should remain as an MP.

She said: “The exposure of the allowances system has angered people beyond anything I have ever seen.

“When I was in the constituency last weekend, many people didn’t mention it, but you could see they were thinking it. Those who did mention it couldn’t have been more direct.

“But as a result of the exposure, I have put my expenses with some explanatory notes on my website. I would not have done this before July had it not been for the fact that I knew The Telegraph had a copy of all our receipts.

“Now that every detail is on my website, I feel an enormous sense of relief. I can now talk to people about what it is I do without them wondering about the claims I’ve made.”