A Government whip spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money renovating a house less than 15 miles from her main home.
Dawn Butler claimed for a Jacuzzi-style bath to be fitted in her north London second home while claiming her main home was in east London.
She was found to have claimed £2,600 too much in rent, but staff in the fees office allowed her to “dig out” other receipts to cover the over-claim.
Miss Butler’s expenses are among a number of questionable claims by whips uncovered by The Telegraph, which has now disclosed the expenses of 160 MPs. Now the following claims are revealed:
Nick Brown, the Chief Whip, claimed £18,800 over four years in unreceipted expenses for food consumed at his designated second home in Newcastle.
Patrick McLoughlin, the Conservative chief whip in charge of auditing Tory expenses, claimed £3,000 to have new windows fitted at his second home.
Steve McCabe, a Labour whip, over-claimed on his mortgage by £4,059.
Diana Johnson, Labour assistant whip, spent £1,000 of taxpayers’ money to hire an architect for a decorating project at her second home.
Helen Goodman, assistant government whip, claimed for a week’s stay in a holiday cottage in her constituency.
