David Cameron

David Cameron: "Politicians have done things that are unethical and wrong. I don't care if they were within the rules - they were wrong"

When: May 12

David Cameron

Job: Leader of the Opposition

Salary: £141,820

Total second home claims

2004-05: £20,902

2005-06: £21,359

2006-07: £20,563

2007-08: £19,626

DAVID CAMERON

Claim: The Conservative leader claimed a total of £82,450 on his second home allowance over five years - mostly on mortgage interest payments and utility bills for his constituency home in Oxfordshire.

One exception was a £680 claim for repairs to the property, which included clearing wisteria and vines from a chimney, replacing outside lights and resealing his conservatory roof.

Response: Mr Cameron said he would return the £680 "the only maintenance bill I have claimed in eight years" - saying he had always considered whether claims were reasonable, but adding: "Looking back, maybe that's borderline so let's pay it back and be done with it". Asked to justify claiming the full allowance for his constituency home he said: "Yes, I do claim quite a lot of money for that, I have always tried to arrange my affairs so the whole family goes fro London and then down to the constituency and back again - I find that's the right way to keep my family together and yes, that does mean we have two houses of a certain size."

David Cameron

For most of the past five years, Mr Cameron has claimed only for mortgage interest and utility bills on his Oxfordshire constituency cottage. Some years, his Parliamentary expense records are only 20 pages long – compared with expense claims of more than 90 pages for some of his colleagues.

The Conservative leader’s only deviation from his straightforward claims came in November, 2006, when he billed the public finances £680 for repairs to the property.

This included clearing wisteria and vines from a chimney, replacing outside lights and resealing his conservatory’s roof. The bill was passed without query by the fees office.

William Hague, Mr Cameron’s deputy and shadow foreign secretary, also has similarly straightforward claims.

Mr Cameron announced last summer that his only current claims under the Additional Costs Allowance are for mortgage interest. He has publicly called for MPs to be barred from buying furniture and other household items using their expenses. However, senior Labour figures have criticised Mr Cameron’s stance, pointing out that he has a large six-figure mortgage and that the taxpayer is subsidising a valuable cottage for the Conservative leader.

They allege that many senior Conservatives are independently wealthy and can therefore subsidise the extra costs associated with being an MP from their own finances.

Mr Cameron claimed more than £1,700 a month in mortgage interest during two of the years covered by Parliamentary records.

In total, Mr Cameron has claimed £82,450 towards the cost of his second home over the past four years. In the 2004-05 financial year, he claimed the maximum allowance but during 2007-08, he was only the 406th highest-claiming MP.

Mr Cameron’s personal claims are likely to put him in a strong position to root out problems uncovered among other Conservative MPs.

His simple claims stand in contrast to those of Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister. Mr Brown switched the property on which he claims his allowance after becoming Prime Minister.

Last week, he repaid a £150 plumbing bill after incorrectly claiming for it twice. His brother also organised a cleaner for his London flat between 2004 and 2006.

The Conservative leader is today expected to hold one of his regular “Cameron direct” sessions where he answers questions from members of the public.

Mr Cameron will appear in Warwickshire where he is expected to face questioning over the parliamentary expenses scandal.

He has already made it clear that MPs must explain why they made claims and that he will look at any suggestions that his MPs have acted beyond the rules.


David Cameron
Job: Leader of the Opposition

Salary: £141,820

Total second home claims

2004-05: £20,902

2005-06: £21,359

2006-07: £20,563

2007-08: £19,626

MP expenses

David Cameron MP for Whitney

2007/08

Additional Costs Allowance £19,626

London Supplement £0

Incidental Expenses Provision £7,588

Staffing Allowance £103,630

Communications Allowance £2,200

Members' Travel £1,086

Members' Staff Travel £348

Members' Spouse Travel £652

Members' Family Travel £0

Centrally Purchased Stationery £2,594

Stationery: Associated Postage Costs £4,399

Centrally Provided Computer Equipment £1,294

Other Costs £5,412

Total £148,829

Assessing Cameron's Sharia speech

Mr Cameron said expanding Sharia could create 'legal apartheid'

So why now? It has been a few weeks since the Archbishop of Canterbury's remarks on Sharia horrified many members of the public and parts of the press.

And very quickly, the three main parties lined up to object too. Their assessments of remarks by Rowan Williams ranged from "unhelpful", to being likely to lead to "social chaos".

But interestingly, the Conservatives' views were represented then not by the leader of the party, but by Baroness Warsi, their shadow communities minister.

Perhaps the party felt it was easier, less inflammatory for the female Muslim peer to get involved.

'Dangerous and illiberal'

Or maybe Team Cameron wanted to wait and see how the story shook down before he weighed in, or perhaps there was just a diary clash that prevented him talking about it.

But on Tuesday David Cameron made his foray in to the debate, quite deliberately and determinedly.

And his comments were trenchant too. Saying the archbishop's ideas could create "legal apartheid", and that they were "dangerous and illiberal".

It was a wide-ranging speech clearly designed in particular to put Mr Cameron's views about Sharia law on the record and to shove the debate back into the public's conscious.

Yet so far there doesn't seem to be much appetite to do so in Westminster. The other two main parties have stayed silent on the matter today.

Blogger silence

Perhaps because their view of Dr Williams's remarks is not that different to Mr Cameron's. Much of his speech in fact, which discussed the need to strengthen British identity, sounded enormously similar to some of Gordon Brown's previous statements.

And unusually, the Conservative bloggers have not bitten at this story so far. It is rare for them not to dissect a major speech from the party's leader, but this time perhaps they feel it has all been said.

Dr Williams found himself at the centre of a huge row

Even though Lambeth Palace is just across the river, Mr Cameron's message does not seem to have crossed the Thames yet.

The archbishop's team has not commented on the Conservative leader's stance. They may well choose not to, loathe to reignite the row.

So why the silence, given the deafening responses to every twist and turn of the Sharia law debate a couple of weeks ago?

Well it is perhaps an example of the reality that much of the time for something to be news it has to be new.

Mr Cameron's remarks, while strong, echo, rather than contradict comments made by other politicians, and extensively covered just a couple of weeks ago.

And while the Conservatives say they will soon outline policies to improve relations between different communities, there were no clues of any new firm plans today which might have sparked a debate.

So for now, the political row over Sharia law stays muted. But given the sensitivities that surround it, there is no guarantee it will not flare up again.

Cameron's a right plonker

TORY leader David Cameron was accused of a blunder yesterday after comparing the PM to telly’s Del Boy Trotter.

Mr Cameron said Gordon Brown had acted like the Only Fools And Horses wideboy in a Commons bust-up over the cost of saving Northern Rock.

He said: “It’s like a used car salesman who won’t tell you the price, won’t tell you the mileage, won’t give you a warranty. You’ve gone from prudence to Del Boy.”

But Labour MPs pointed out that Del did not flog used cars.

Cameron: I'm sick of shirkers

DAVID Cameron yesterday vowed to force scroungers off sickness benefit and on to the DOLE to end Britain’s “something for nothing” welfare system.


The Tory leader said he was not afraid to see unemployment figures RISE as part of his crackdown on shirkers.


He said he wants a system where those who can work do work. People would no longer be able to sit at home and refuse a job, he promised.


Mr Cameron spelt out his vision as he unveiled the Tories’ green paper on welfare reform.


But he immediately came under fire from Labour, who claimed there was a £3billion black hole in his plans.



Mr Cameron claimed ministers had been afraid to force people off sickness handouts in case it triggered a rise in the number of jobless.


But he said: “It’s plain wrong to be deterred from necessary reform because the headline unemployment figure may go up.” The jobless would have to join tough back-to-work schemes run by private firms and charities. But Mr Cameron said the organisations would only be paid if they found claimants long-term jobs.


People who refused three job offers would lose their benefits for three years. Claimants who spent more than two years on Jobseekers’ Allowance would have to pick up litter and tackle graffiti. If they refused, they should be stripped of their benefits.


Mr Cameron added: “Having a job and working is good for you. Not just because you can pay the bills and put food on the table, but it is a way to get on and make something of your life. You can’t sit at home and say, ‘I’m not going to work’.”


But the plans were slammed last night by Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain, who claimed they left a £3billion hole in Conservative spending plans.


He also rubbished the proposal to force the long-term jobless to carry out community work.


Mr Hain said: “International experience shows that full-time activity distracts claimants from jobseeking and delays a return to paid work.”