Best Excuse's!

Douglas Hogg on why he was repaying the cost of maintaining his moat when he had insisted he had never claimed it in the first place:

"I recognise that the clearing of the moat was not positively excluded from the claim."

Best Excuese's!

Anthony Steen on spending tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on his million-pound country home.

"I've done nothing criminal, that's the most awful thing, and do you know what it's about? Jealousy. I've got a very, very large house. Some people say it looks like Balmoral. It's a merchant's house of the 19th century. It's not particularly attractive, it just does me nicely"

The MP, who will stand down at the next election, later apologised "unreservedly" for the comments

Only silk cushion covers will do for Tory MP Mark Hoban

Mark Hoban was reimbursed for the purchases he made between 2005 and 2007 for his flat in London, which he had allocated as his second property.

The red silk cushion covers came from Heal's, while the bathroom accessories were part of a £358 bill from John Lewis. The MP for Fareham also submitted receipts for an £18 bath mat, £18 for a lavatory brush and £240 for eight cushions.

Mr Hoban, who was named shadow financial secretary to the Treasury in 2005, went on to claim £294 for a coffee table and a lamp table and £749 for an LCD television.

The politician describes himself as a "dab hand in the kitchen" and in March 2007 he bought two Sabatier knives as part of an £81.99 claim.

Last night, Mr Hoban, whose first house is near Fareham and who lives with his wife Fiona, said: "At the time I made these claims I believed that they were reasonable and within the spirit of the rules.

"My claim forms have been submitted to the Conservatives' Scrutiny Panel and I will accept any guidance they give."

Mr Hoban was asked to unveil his expenses last month by his local newspaper, but he said he would wait until the figures were made public by the House of Commons later this year.


SNAPSHOT

Mark Hoban

Job: backbench Conservative MP for Fareham

Salary: £64,766

Total second home claims

2004-05: £20,049

2005-06: £21,545

2006-07: £19,788

2007-08: £21,280

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

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.”