Bill Cash claimed £15,000 to pay his daughter rent

Bill Cash with his daughter Laetitia, who is an aspiring Tory MP. He claimed £1,200 monthly rent while living in her flat

Mr Cash designated a west London flat owned by his daughter, Laetitia, as his “second home” for parliamentary expenses during 2004 and 2005.

During the period he was renting the flat, Mr Cash owned a flat in Pimlico — a short walk from Parliament.

He said on Thursday that he was not living in the Pimlico property nor renting it out at the time. It was not clear why he did not live in this flat — although he has designated it as his second home since 2005. His main home is a country house in Shropshire.

Shortly after the MP stopped claiming money for his daughter’s flat, Miss Cash, 35, who is hoping to become a Conservative MP and is on David Cameron’s “A list” of preferred candidates, sold the property for a £48,000 profit.

She had owned the apartment for less than a year and a half, and for more than 12 months of that period her father had paid her £1,200 a month in rent from taxpayer funds.

Following the move, Mr Cash, a leading Eurosceptic who has regularly rebelled against the Conservative leadership, nominated two private members’ clubs as his “second home” for a three-month period.

His daughter is a former debutante of the year who is said to be a close friend of Jemima Khan, the heiress.

Miss Cash has served as a Tory councillor in Shropshire.

During the period her father was paying rent on her Notting Hill flat, which was a 40-minute commute from the House of Commons, she was challenging Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, in the safe Labour seat of Salford in the 2005 election.

Miss Cash, an aspiring barrister and mother of two, is currently seeking selection for a constituency in which to fight the next election.

Her father, who represents Stone in Staffordshire, said his claims were in line with the rules and were approved by the House of Commons fees office.

He added: “What is lawful is appropriate.”

Asked why he lived in clubs rather than his own flat, he said: “I just didn’t and that’s all there is to it. I was nomadic at the time. It was around the time I was moving between two places and I was moving around.”

The rules were changed in 2006 to prevent MPs renting properties from close relatives. Mr Cash’s claims are expected to be examined by the Conservative scrutiny panel.

He indicated that he would repay any money if asked to do so by the party.

On Thursday, three MPs whose expense claims had been exposed in The Daily Telegraph announced that they would be standing down at the next election.

Julie Kirkbride, the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, said she would be quitting following the disclosure that taxpayers helped fund a £50,000 extension to her second home to allow her 59-year-old brother, Ian, to live in the property.

Miss Kirkbride, whose husband Andrew MacKay has also been forced to stand down, had previously said that her brother’s living arrangements had not been a cost to the taxpayer. She did not apologise for her claims.

Margaret Moran, the Labour MP for Luton South, also announced that she would be stepping down. She had claimed £22,500 to treat dry rot at her husband’s house in Southampton.

She agreed to repay the money but did not apologise.

Christopher Fraser, the Tory who claimed more than £1,800 to mark out the boundary of his house, is to step down. He cited his wife’s ill health.

Tony McNulty, the Employment Minister, joined the list of MPs who have agreed to pay back expenses. He will repay £3,000 claimed on the house in west London where his parents lived.

Ten MPs were said to be the focus of inquiries by the Metropolitan Police, which has received dozens of complaints over MPs’ expense claims.

The identities of those being investigated were not disclosed but were expected to include Elliot Morley and David Chaytor, who claimed interest for “phantom” mortgages.

Over the past three weeks, The Daily Telegraph has disclosed the claims made by more than 400 MPs and all the main political parties were struggling to deal with the widespread public anger.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, called on MPs to delay their summer holidays until reforms were completed.

However, David Cameron repeated his demand for Gordon Brown to call an election to give voters the opportunity to pass judgment on MPs.

With European elections approaching, Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, urged voters to continue backing the mainstream political parties rather than fringe organisations such as the UK Independence Party or the BNP.

“Whichever mainstream party they [voters] are going to vote for, they should go out and vote and not allow minority parties to gain,” he said. “Obviously I want them to come out and vote Labour, but it is very important that people come out and vote for the mainstream parties.”

Today, The Daily Telegraph discloses details of further questionable claims, including:

• Rosie Winterton, the Pensions Minister, attempted to claim more than £800 to “soundproof” the bedroom of her south London home.

• Nigel Griffiths, the Labour MP, defended a £3,600 claim for a television in his second home in London by insisting that he had to listen to “Scottish radio” and watch “Scottish TV”.

• Mark Hendrick, the Labour MP who was exposed as having “estimated” his mortgage interest payments, admitted claiming for two properties, in breach of the rules. He has already repaid nearly £7,000, and promised to give back another £1,000 next week.





Bill Cash

Job: backbench Conservative MP for Stone

Salary: £64,766

Total second home claims

2004-05: £20,902

2005-06: £21,634

2006-07: £20,919

2007-08: £22,312