Howard Stoate claimed £5,000 for DIY materials

Howard Stoate who claimed £5,000 for DIY materials

The Labour MP for Dartford, whose taxpayer-funded flat in London is only 15 miles from his constituency home, claimed a total of £55,836 in second home allowances in four years, while having no rent or mortgage to pay.

More than £1,000 of the money was spent in B&Q, the DIY retailer, and hundreds more in other home supply stores such as Focus. Dr Stoate spent £4,520 on Everest replacement windows.

Dr Stoate, who worked as a GP before entering politics, is known in Parliament for his practical side. He is also a motoring enthusiast who built his own two-seater kit car.

Since the expenses scandal broke, Dr Stoate has pledged not to claim second home allowances in future and has returned his entire claim for the 2008-09 financial year, amounting to £11,000.

Between 2005 and 2008, Dr Stoate made claims for materials including paint, timber, pipes, shelves, sandpaper, dust sheets and cabling.

Almost all the receipts included in his expense claim are from stores near his constituency home in Dartford, Kent. One B&Q receipt, submitted in 2005, included £5.14 for MDF, £5.96 for stripwood, £24.76 for loft insulation, £8.23 for ready-made plaster, £2.78 for a hinge and £1.30 for a washer.

Two days later, at the same store, Dr Stoate bought a tin of undercoat for £4.98, Dulux gloss paint for £8.28, £4.48 wood stain, a cabinet knob for £2.98 and adhesive for £4.48. Another claim for a B&Q receipt in 2007 included £13.98 for a ball valve, 98p for assorted screws, £4.96 for two tap connectors and £15.78 for three lengths of 15mm tubing.

In December 2006, the fees office asked Dr Stoate to submit a receipt for a £124 claim for "household items", to which he replied: "These were purchased from a market stall, hence no receipts are available. The prices were far lower than shop prices, as I was trying to keep my costs as low as possible.

"You will note that I claim considerably less than the maximum, to reduce the burden on the taxpayer. I also do all of my own repairs and maintenance, for the same reason."

Dr Stoate raised the issue of "public anger" over MPs' expenses at Prime Minister's Questions after the first disclosures by The Daily Telegraph more than three weeks ago.

Dr Stoate said he had bought a one-bedroom maisonette in 2001 "in an appalling condition" and carried out extensive repairs and refurbishments himself to "bring it up to a habitable standard".

He said he needed new windows after several burglaries at neighbouring flats and that his claims had always been "modest".


SNAPSHOT

Howard Stoate

Job: backbench Labour MP for Dartford

Salary: £64,766

Total second home claims:

2004-05: £18,265

2005-06: £10,314

2006-07: £9,374

2007-08: £17,883