MP attacked over expenses

A Government minister is benefiting from Commons rules by buying a second home with help from taxpayers. Labour MP Barry Gardiner is taking advantage of a housing allowance for out-of-town MPs even though his seat is in London.

He claims the money despite the journey from Brent North to Westminster taking only half an hour on the Jubilee line. Ironically, Mr Gardiner's main home, a detached cottage, is not in his constituency but 20 miles further north in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire.

Details of his finances emerged as Commons officials issued the first register of MPs' expenses, detailing how much each claims.

Ahead of its publication, seven MPs in London and the Home Counties - including Mr Gardiner, a junior Northern Ireland minister - admitted to the Evening Standard that taxpayers pay the mortgage interest on their second homes.

They will be able to cash in on rising property prices by selling the homes and keeping the profit when they retire or lose their seats.

Evening Standard revealed yesterday how Labour MP Barbara Follett, married to novelist Ken Follett and worth at least ?15million, claims money to run a Soho flat despite her main residence being a ?2 million Hertfordshire home.

Mr Gardiner, 47, a married father of four, has broken no rules and chose to talk publicly about his expenses claims. He said: "I use the amounts that are specified for the purposes to which they are specified. I am transparent in these matters and I always have been."

However, in the neighbouring seat of Brent East, Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather refuses on principle to claim the allowance. She said: "I don't feel it's justifiable as I live just half an hour away on the Jubilee line."

Anger was growing today over the scale of MPs' expenses.

Former sleazebusting MP Martin Bell called the expenses regime "lax" and urged a ban on MPs cashing in on rising house prices. Public-sector unions complained that MPs were helping themselves-to two homes while many people struggled to afford one.

Andy Gilchrist, leader of the Fire Brigades Union, said: "If public-sector workers asked for half of this they would be told they were greedy."

And commuters said that if they could put up with trains or traffic, so could MPs. Genna Newell, 21, from Biggleswade, said: "I find it ridiculous that MPs receive this allowance when they can easily commute into London."

Senior figures at Westminster fear a public backlash once the scale of the expenses claims is revealed today. But few are willing to speak out for fear of being ostracised by colleagues.

ONE critic in Parliament said he knew of a colleague who planned to retire at the coming election, sell her London home and retire to France on the proceeds. A Conservative MP for a Home Counties seat, who did not want to be named, said: "I rent a property in London, so I am not caught by this making-money-out-ofthe-taxpayer game.

"My personal view is that running up mortgage bills on expenses is open to misinterpretation."

And a senior Labour backbencher said MPs should only be allowed to claim for rent, not for mortgage interest.

At City Hall, London Assembly members who represent suburban seats receive no housing allowance and are expected to commute to work.

Darren Johnson, Green Party group leader on the Assembly, said: "Payments to outer London MPs for flats in central London are a complete waste of public money. It is often just a means of MPs feathering their nests for retirement."

Mr Bell, an MP from 1997 to 2001, said members who bought second homes with help from taxpayers should forfeit any profit when the properties were sold. He said: "Since it was taxpayers' money that enabled them to buy the properties, then any profit they have made should go back to the taxpayer."

He added that with the scrapping of late-night sittings there was no longer any need for MPs with outer London seats to receive housing allowances.

Public-sector union Unison said it was unfair that MPs received special help while nurses and council workers often could not afford to live near where they work. A spokeswoman for the union said: "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander."

The publication of the register of expenses comes as an independent report was today set to order MPs to slash the over-inflated sums they can claim in mileage expenses.

The Senior Salaries Review Body will demand that the 57.7p a mile rate paid from the public purse is one third too high and far more than that paid by companies to their staff.

Some MPs are known to have cheated the system by car-sharing or buying cheap train or air tickets and then claiming to have driven. An MP claiming 20,000 miles at present can reap up to £11,540 but under the report's recommendations this will drop to £6,500.