Millionaire MP's expenses claim

One of Britain's wealthiest MPs is claiming money from the taxpayer to pay for running a second home in London.

Labour MP Barbara Follett, 61, married to best-selling novelist Ken and worth at least £15million, is receiving a Commons allowance for a flat in the heart of Soho.

The allowance, intended to help out-of-town MPs, can be worth up to £20,000 a year. The couple's main home, worth £2million, is in Hertfordshire, only 30 miles from Parliament.

The allowance can be spent on groceries, furniture and household bills. It can also be used to pay rent or mortgage interest.

Seven other MPs with constituencies within commuting distance of London also admitted they were claiming the allowance when asked by the Evening Standard. The survey comes before the publication tomorrow of an official register of MPs' expenses.

For the first time, the public will see the total paid to each MP. Many have purchased second homes in London, with taxpayers footing the mortgage interest bill.

A senior backbencher said: "Huge killings have been made in the property market. It's not right."