MPs back Prime Minister's expenses review proposal (From Bucks Free Press)

MPs back Prime Minister's expenses review proposal

12:45pm Tuesday 31st March 2009 in News By Andy Carswell

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MPs have called for a review of Parliamentary expenses after the latest figures were released this week.

Beaconsfield MP Dominic Grieve called for “complete transparency” of MPs expenses – and Wycombe MP Paul Goodman said the system needed “radical reform”.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this week MPs' pay should be looked at again after a couple of high-profile scandals.

Harrow East MP Tony McNulty claimed £60,000 for a second home he lived in with his parents just eight miles from his main ministerial property.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was also criticised for the £116,000 in expenses she claimed after staying at her sister's home in London – and for claiming back £10 for adult films watched by her husband. She has since apologised for the error.

Mr Grieve – the Shadow Justice Secretary and Shadow Attorney General – said there were “wider issues” related to MPs' expenses.

He told the Bucks Free Press the "huge public disquiet" about expenses was something "which Parliament cannot and should not ignore".

He said: “The way the allowance system works requires level-headed thinking. I am sure MPs have enough allowances to do their work, but those that don't attract public wrath for living with their snouts in the trough.”

But he added: “Some have justified reasons for claiming much more than others.

“It's a duty of every MP to try and keep his allowance costs down as much as possible.”

The latest set of figures, for the period April 2007-March 2008, show Mr Grieve claimed a total of £128,343 in expenses.

This included £80,741 on staff costs, £21,582 on office running costs and £18,668 on staying away from his main home.

Mr Grieve lives in London but also rents a property on the edge of his Beaconsfield constituency.

He said he had not claimed any mileage expenses when using his car to get to events in his constituency, saying he confined costs to travelling between London and Beaconsfield.

“Being an MP tends to be quite an expensive activity,” he said. “The nature of the job means you are having to spend quite a lot of money on things.

“We have to fund our own office. This is a very busy office – I'm a front bencher and there's a huge amount of correspondence.”

Wycombe MP Paul Goodman claimed £128,899 in expenses, which included £89,477 in staffing, £13,831 on staying away from his main home and £9,882 in Commons allowance.

He said: “I've said many times that the expenses system is dysfunctional, and needs radical reform.

“After all, what business would list a secretary's salary under expenses, as the Commons authorities do? Or refuse to accept receipts for food claims?

“Essentially, the system is like the tar baby in the famous Brer Rabbit story. MPs either engage with the system, and get covered in tar, or don't engage at all, and are out of pocket. My choice, like that of other Bucks MPs, has been to engage with the system.”

Mr Goodman added: “I hope that my own claims are reasonable. I'm sure that any critics would themselves turn down public money - as I did during the last Parliament, when I refused to take a pension rise because I thought the terms were unfair to the taxpayer.”

Chesham and Amersham MP Cheryl Gillan claimed £153,886.

David Lidington, MP for Aylesbury, claimed the lowest amount of expenses out of south Bucks' four MPs - £115,891.