While other politicians billed for flat screen televisions and moat clearing, Mark Francois, the shadow minister for Europe, claimed for a wide variety of on-the-go snacks through his expenses.
His claims included Mars bars, Snickers, Kit Kats, wine gums, Twiglets, Jaffa Cakes, chocolate biscuits, Pringles crisps and "bags of sweets".
The Conservative MP for Rayleigh in Essex also claimed for Häagen-Dazs ice cream, lemon sorbet, choc ices, crisps, Starburst, Bourneville dark chocolate and Trebor mints. Among his purchases were several Peperami "hot" 5 packs. The spicy pork snack is marketed with the slogan: "Peperami: It's a Bit of an Animal".
Under the second home allowance MPs were allowed to claim a food allowance of up to £400 per month without receipts. But, unlike many of his colleagues, Mr Francois was scrupulous about claiming exact amounts for his food purchases and submitting receipts for them.
A typical receipt from a trip to his local Tesco showed that he spent £7.87 on ice cream, £4.36 on bags of sweets, £3.24 on Kit Kats, £2.68 on Mars bars, £1.28 on Snickers bars, and 96p on wine gums.
On another visit he spent £5.04 on Mars bars, £3.24 on Kit Kats and £2.42 on a Pot Noodle. A separate grocery trip saw him picking up two Peperami "hot" 5 packs for £2.18 each, and spending £14.26 on biscuits, and another £3.26 on "bags of sweets".
Before entering Parliament, the MP served as an infantry officer in the Territorial Army, including with the Royal Anglian Regiment, and his hobbies include hill walking.
He claimed £1,500 per month to rent a second home in London and made very few other claims apart from food bills. The other claims did include £12.94 on toothbrushes and the purchase of three alarm clocks in the space of three years.
Mr Francois said of his claims: "Given all of the revelations over the last month I hope none of this seems particularly excessive but, like almost every other MP, I recognise that the system does need to be reformed and the quicker the better."
SNAPSHOT
Mark Francois
Job: Conservative MP for Rayleigh, shadow minister for Europe
Salary: £64,766
Total second home claims
2004-05: £19,990
2005-06: £18,509
2006-07: £20,374
2007-08: £20,689
No comments:
Post a Comment