A glimmer of hope for the British public this morning, I suppose, as one of David Cameron’s key aides has resigned over his expenses claims. Andrew MacKay stepped down as Cameron's senior parliamentary and political adviser less than 24 hours after telling his local paper he was confident there was nothing "unreasonable" in the expenses he claimed over the past four years. However, Cameron said MacKay had made "unacceptable" claims, adding: "He will go before scrutiny to determine how much of that money needs to be repaid." The Bracknell MP, who is married to fellow Tory Julie Kirkbride, the MP for Bromsgrove, claimed £22,575 second home allowance for interest on their joint mortgage for a London home until April this year. At the same time, Kirkbride – who was previously a political corespondent for the Telegraph, which has sparked the latest furore over expenses by printing leaked details of claims – registered the London property as her main home and takes second home allowances for the Bromsgrove home they also share. Utterly shocking! I would imagine that the Telegraph will publish information about more pairs of married MPs in the days ahead, such as Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton, and the Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and his wife Iris.
Earlier this morning, we were told about Elliot Morley, a former Labour Minister, who claimed £16.000 of parliamentary expenses for a mortgage that had already been paid off. Mr Morley, the ex-agriculture minister, continued claiming for the mortgage interest on his constituency home for more than 18 months after the loan had been repaid. The disclosure is the most serious to be uncovered so far by The Daily Telegraph during the week-long investigation into MPs’ expenses. Gordon Brown is said to be "very concerned" over the allegations about Mr Morley. On Wednesday night, Mr Morley apologised and said that he had informed the Chief Whip and the parliamentary fees office. He said he had repaid some money but refused to disclose how much. In a statement issued to The Telegraph, he said: “I do not believe any offence has been committed. I have reported this to the finance department and chief whip. I have made a mistake, I apologise for that and I take full responsibility. My priority was to repay and if I suffer financially as a result of that, I have only myself to blame.”
It can also be disclosed that, in November 2007, Mr Morley “flipped” his designated second home from the Scunthorpe house to his London property - and the dubious mortgage claims were never uncovered. Mr Morley, a former government whip and privy councillor, was renting out the London property, which was designated as his “main residence”, to another Labour MP. Ian Cawsey, a Labour Party vice-chairman, who was renting the house, said last night he was unaware that the property was also Mr Morley’s main residence. It is unclear where Mr Morley was actually living in London. For four months after Mr Morley “flipped” his homes, the former minister claimed full mortgage interest on the London house and Mr Cawsey, who had designated the house as his second home, continued to claim £1,000 a month for the same property in rent. The rent money was paid to Mr Morley.
Fabian Hamilton, a Labour MP, declared his mother’s London house as his “main” residence — allowing him to claim thousands of pounds for his family home in Leeds. In 2004, the MP admitted over-claiming on his expenses by nearly £3,000, charging for the full cost of his mortgage — rather than simply the interest as is permitted….John Maples, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, declared that a room in his private members’ club in Pall Mall, London, was his main home. This allowed him to spend money on his family’s Oxfordshire home…. Stephen Crabb, a Conservative MP, claimed his “main home” was a room in a flat rented by another MP, after buying a new house for his family in Wales and claiming £9,300 in stamp duty. He had previously “flipped” his second home to the family house from another London flat that was sold for a profit after more than £8,000 in taxpayer-funded refurbishments. It would probably be easier for the Telegraph to publish the names of those who have conducted their affairs in an ethical manner, and have only claimed for those expenses needed in connection with their Parliamentary work. That is, of course, if they can find any.
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