14 May 09 Gordon Brown on Expenses and other problems

This just about sums up the entire fiasco concerning the government, in fact every single grubby, thieving, grasping MP. I came across this on You Tube. I suggest if you are offended by foul language you do not play the video.

What might make you use a few four letter words of your own is this list from The Times. It shows the expenses revealed in the latest round of  expenses abuse. And as every new revelation and grubby little member plays what used to be called ‘They don’t know so we don’t care” and is now called “Shit! Busted”. I hope the Time don’t mind me reposting it here – it really ought to be publicised as widely as possible. Personally I would like them to all resign and be suspended from standing for Parliament for ten years. It’s still better than the conviction and criminal record the rest of us would have faced if we had ever found a way of doing this in our own lives.

THE EYE-WATERING CLAIMS

• Douglas Hogg Former Agriculture minister Mr Hogg has been paid more than £20,000 a year between 2004 and 2008 in second home allowances, it has been revealed. Among the costs itemised were £2,115 for having a moat cleared, £646.25 for “general repairs, stable etc” and £40 for piano tuning, the Telegraph said.
• Hazel Blears The Communities Secretary claimed for three different properties in a single year, spending almost £5,000 of taxpayers’ money on furniture in three months. She also avoided capital gains tax on her £45,000 profit when she sold a London flat by telling Inland Revenue it was her main home, and thus exempt – despite its being registered with the Commons as her second home. On Tuesday night Ms Blears said she would voluntarily pay £13,332 to the taxman
• Sir Michael Spicer Sir Michael, who is chairman of the influential Conservative 1922 Committee of back bench MPs, has claimed £620 for the installation of a chandelier and rewiring work and more than £1,000 for servicing an oven, The Daily Telegraph said. He also claimed more than £5,650 for gardening work at his Worcestershire manor house, as well as £4,000 for council tax on two homes. Other items reportedly claimed included £3,000 for roof repairs and £2,350 for work on his chimney.
• John Prescott The taxpayer paid for the former deputy prime minister to fit the front of his home in Hull with mock Tudor boards and for his toilet seat to be repaired twice in two years.
• David Heathcoat-Amory The Tory MP for Wells in Somerset reportedly claimed £388.80 for horse manure between 2004 and 2007. He also submitted a bill of £986.17 for heating oil in January 2008, and between July and September 2007 Mr Heathcoat-Amory also claimed £1,792.50 worth of invoices from a gardening firm.
• David Miliband The Foreign Secretary claimed almost £30,000 for doing up his £120,000 constituency home over five years, it was reported. He spent up to £180 every three months on the garden at the property in South Shields. At the bottom of one receipt for £132.96 in April 2008, his gardener wrote a note questioning whether some of the work was necessary.
• Alan Duncan The shadow leader of the Commons claimed thousands of pounds for his garden before agreeing with the fees office that the spending “could be considered excessive”. Millionaire Mr Duncan recouped £4,000 over three years. However, a £3,194 bill for gardening in March 2007 was not paid after officials responded suggesting that the claim might not be “within the spirit” of the rules, according to the Daily Telegraph. In a letter to the MP for Rutland and Melton, the fees office said that it expected gardening costs “to cover only basic essentials such as grass cutting”. In March 2007, Mr Duncan claimed £598 to overhaul a ride-on lawn-mower and then a further £41 to fix a puncture a month later. Mr Duncan is also said to have claimed £1,400 a month for mortgage interest on his home in Rutland. On Tuesday Mr Duncan refunded £4,704.86 of his gardening claims
• Margaret Beckett The Housing Minister found herself in trouble with the Fees Office after attempting to claim £600 for hanging baskets and pot plants.
• Michael Gove Mr Gove – the Shadow School Secretary and a close ally of Mr Cameron – spent more than £7,000 in five months furnishing a London property in 2006 before “flipping” his second home designation to a new property he bought in Surrey. He then apparently claimed more than £13,000 in stamp duty and other fees from his Parliamentary expenses for this property. On Tuesday Mr Gove repaid £7,000 of furniture costs and £500 he claimed for nights staying at the Garrick club in London
• Ken Clarke The former Chancellor’s book-keeping skills “leave much to be desired” according to the newspaper. Mr Clarke, now Shadow Business Secretary, was apparently asked repeatedly to submit receipts for thousands of pounds in claims for security and cleaning at his second home in London. The records also revealed he does not claim a council tax discount of up to 10% to which he should be entitled having designated the property as his second home. On Tuesday Mr Clarke repaid £600 relating to council tax
• Margaret Moran The Labour MP for Luton switched her second home to the house she shares with her partner, 100 miles from her constituency – just days before spending £22,500 on treating dry rot at the seafront property. On Tuesday Ms Moran promised to repay the £22,500
• Francis Maude The Shadow Cabinet Office minister claimed almost £35,000 over two years for a mortgage on a London flat a few minutes walk from a house he already owned and then rented out. The taxpayer footed the £387.50 bill for moving his effects down the road. He also tried to claim mortgage interest on his family home in Sussex, but the arrangement was reportedly rejected by the Fees Office. On Tuesday party leader David Cameron banned Mr Maude from claiming the second homes allowance in future
• Stephen Byers The former Labour Trade Secretary used the expenses system to claim more than £125,000 for the London flat owned by his partner. Over the past five years, Mr Byers spent more than £27,000 on redecoration, maintenance and appliances at the flat in Camden, north London. The claims included extensive renovations to the outside of the entire building, which consists of four flats. Documents showed Mr Byers put the entire £12,000 bill for the work – including his partner’s share – on expenses.
• David Willetts The shadow innovation, universities and skills secretary claimed £115 plus VAT to replace 25 light bulbs at his second home in west London. On the same claim – part of a £2,191 invoice for odd jobs that included cleaning a shower head – Mr Willetts charged another £80 to “change light bulbs in bathroom”. But parliamentary authorities pared the bill back by more than £1,000, refusing to refund £175 for a dog enclosure and £750 for a shed base. According to the Telegraph, the fees office frequently cut his claims because of errors or overclaims. On Tuesday Mr Willetts repaid the £115 plus VAT for fitting the light bulbs
• John Reid According to leaked receipts, the former Home Secretary appears to enjoy his creature comforts when in his Scottish constituency. Mr Reid’s claims included a £199 pouffe, a £370 armchair, an £899 sofa and a £29.99 a “black glitter toilet seat”.
• James Arbuthnot Mr Arbuthnot claimed £1,471 for “grass, trim, pool, fuel” costs associated with the garden of his property in Hampshire. During the period May to October 2007, he also submitted a claim for £2,433 “for the expense of our housekeeper”. Furnishing he asked to be reimbursed included £728 for a new television and £100 for a sign at his new home. In total, the chairman of the Defence Select Committee has claimed £108,062 over the past five years – the maximum amount possible according to the paper. On Sunday he said he would be repaying the swimming pool work claims
• Cheryl Gillan The shadow Welsh Secretary spent £4.47 of taxpayers’ money on dog food. The fees office also reduced a claim for a gas bill because the statement showed Ms Gillan’s account was in credit. On Sunday Ms Gillan said she would repay the £4.47 she had claimed by mistake
• Oliver Letwin Mr Letwin, who is in charge of drawing up the Conservative general election manifesto, claimed more than £2,000 to replace a leaking pipe under his tennis court. He said he had been ordered to mend the pipe by the local water company and did not make any improvements to the court or his garden. The taxpayer also picked up the tab for regular services to his Aga cooker. On Tuesday Mr Letwin repaid the £2,000
• Chris Huhne The Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman regularly submits claims for food and groceries including pints of milk, fluffy dusters and chocolate biscuits. Millionaire Mr Huhne, who is MP for Eastleigh in Hampshire, also expensed a £119 trouser press which was delivered to his main London home. On Monday Mr Huhne said he had repaid the cost of the press
• Lembit Opik The Liberal Democrat housing spokesman billed a £40 summons for the non-payment of council tax on a flat to his second home expenses. On Monday Mr Opik said he will pay back the £40
• Andrew George The Liberal Democrat MP has claimed £847 a month for a riverside flat in London used by his student daughter, according to the Telegraph. Mr George, who is MP for St Ives in Cornwall, said his daughter Morvah, 21, had access to the property in Rotherhithe but was not the sole user.
• Sir Menzies Campbell Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies spent nearly £10,000 of taxpayer funds refurbishing his central London flat. Among the items claimed were a new king-size bed worth £1,024, bed linen worth £373 and five cushions costing £176.25. He also claimed thousands of pounds of food over the summer recess. On Wednesday Sir Menzies said he would repay the £1,490.66 fee to the interior designer who oversaw the work on his flat
• Julia Goldsworthy The Liberal Democrat local government spokesman spent thousands of pounds on furniture just days before the deadline for using up parliamentary allowances, it was reported. She bought a £999 TV, £1,500 of furniture in House of Fraser and a £1,200 leather rocking chair from upmarket furniture store Heal’s on March 28 and 29, 2006. The House of Commons financial year ends at the beginning of April, after which expenses incurred must be set against a new allowance. Ms Goldsworthy said that she had claimed “reasonable” costs for furnishings. On Wednesday Ms Goldsworthy said she would repay £1,005 she claimed for the chair

THE LEADERS

• Gordon Brown Mr Brown used his expenses to pay his brother Andrew £6,577 for cleaning work at his Westminster flat between 2004 and 2006. The brothers shared the cleaner at their two flats. Under the arrangement, Andrew Brown paid the cleaner and the Prime Minister reimbursed his share of the cost.
• David Cameron The Tory leader claimed a total of £82,450 on his second home allowance over five years. The majority of Mr Cameron’s claims were for mortgage interest and utility bills for his Oxfordshire constituency home. One exception was a £680 bill for repairs to the property, which included clearing wisteria and vines from a chimney, replacing outside lights and resealing his conservatory’s roof. The newspaper reported Mr Cameron’s expenses appeared relatively straightforward compared to other members of the shadow cabinet. On Tuesday Mr Cameron repaid the £680 maintenance bill
• Nick Clegg The Liberal Democrat leader reportedly had his second home allowance docked last year after exceeding the £23,083 maximum by more than £100. Other claims made included £1,657.32 for food, and phone bills which included calls to Colombia and Vietnam. He said that when he sells his second home, any profit will go back to the taxpayer. On Tuesday Mr Clegg said he had paid back the £80.20 cost of the international calls

CABINET AND SHADOW CABINET

• Alistair Darling The Chancellor “switched” the location of his second home four times in four years, allowing him to claim thousands of pounds towards the cost of his Edinburgh home and for the London flat, it was reported. The taxpayer contributed almost £10,000 towards the cost of furnishing the Chancellor’s London flat, including £2,074 for furniture and £2,339 for “magnolia” carpets. The public also footed the bills for £765 from Ikea and £768 from Marks and Spencer for a bed.
• George Osborne The parliamentary authorities considered the Shadow Chancellor’s personal website too “political” to be publicly funded, the newspaper said.  After claiming £30 for a private company to host the site, Mr Osborne was told by an official: “I draw your attention to the ’Latest News’ section of your webpage. This includes some articles … which contain clearly political content and are therefore not acceptable on a publicly funded website.” He also put a £440.62 bill for a chauffeur company to drive him from Cheshire to London on November 11 2005 on expenses. While the invoice offered a 5 per cent discount for “prompt settlement”, Mr Osborne received the full amount. The records showed he also claimed hundreds of pounds for cleaning and remortgaged his second home in Cheshire, increasing his monthly mortgage interest bill from £1,560 a month to nearly £1,900. On Tuesday Mr Osborne refunded the £440.62 chauffeur’s bill
• Lord Mandelson The Business Secretary claimed thousands of pounds for work on his constituency home in Hartlepool shortly after announcing his resignation as an MP, it was reported. He renovated the terrace house in 2004 and sold it for a £136,000 profit. Lord Mandelson’s spokesman insisted the expenditure was to repair the property, “not improve it”.
• Geoff Hoon The Transport Secretary was able to switch his second home in a way which allowed him to improve his family home in Derbyshire at taxpayers’ expense before buying a London townhouse.
• Chris Grayling The Shadow Home Secretary received thousands of pounds to renovate a London flat, even though his constituency home in Surrey is only 17 miles from Parliament. Mr Grayling, who already apparently owned three properties within the M25, bought the flat with loans subsidised by the taxpayer. In an unusual move, Mr Grayling negotiated an arrangement with the fees office that allowed him to claim £625 a month for mortgages on two separate properties – the main home in Ashtead, Surrey, and the new flat. An exception to the rules was made for the Epsom and Ewell MP because he was unable to obtain a 100% mortgage on the flat. He is also alleged to have delayed putting in claims for decorating and refurbishing costs so he could receive the maximum in Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) over consecutive years. On Tuesday Mr Cameron banned Mr Grayling from claiming the second homes allowance in future
• Jack Straw The Justice Secretary claimed for the full cost of council tax, even though he received a 50% discount from his local authority. He repaid the money last summer, shortly after a High Court ruling requiring the receipts to be published. In a note to the fees office he wrote: “Accountancy does not appear to be my strongest suit.”
• Nick Herbert The shadow environment secretary claimed back £10,000 of the £14,700 stamp duty when he bought a home with his partner in his constituency. He also charged for fees and a survey of the property in Arundel, West Sussex and claimed for the entire monthly mortgage interest even though his partner’s name was on the deeds.
• Andy Burnham The Culture Secretary wrote a note to the fees office in which he pleaded for his expenses to be paid urgently and even wrote he “might be in line for a divorce” if the money did not materialise within days.
• Andrew Lansley The Shadow Health Secretary spent thousands of pounds renovating a thatched Tudor country cottage – and sold it shortly afterwards. He redecorated with premium paint in some rooms at a cost of £2,000 and spent more than £500 having the driveway re-shingled. He is then said to have “flipped” his expenses to a Georgian flat in London, and claimed for thousands of pounds in furnishings, including a Laura Ashley sofa. On Tuesday Mr Lansley repaid £2,600 he claimed for house renovations
• Shaun Woodward Taxpayers contributed almost £100,000 to help pay the mortgage on Mr Woodward’s £1.35 million flat – one of seven properties owned by the multi-millionaire Northern Ireland Secretary.
• Caroline Flint The Europe minister put solicitors’ fees and stamp duty totalling £14,553 on her Parliamentary expenses after buying a central London flat.
• Paul Murphy The Welsh Secretary used his second home allowance to buy the freehold on a flat close to Parliament, putting the arrangement fees and stamp duty on his expenses. He also claimed for decorating and furnishing costs, including £35 for a toilet roll holder, £537 for an oven, a £605 TV and a £449 sound system.
• Douglas Alexander Mr Alexander’s constituency home was damaged in a house fire in 2007 after he spent more than £30,000 doing it up, the newspaper reported. The International Development Secretary told the fees office he was “under-insured” and claimed almost £2,000 on items lost in the fire, which he later repaid when his insurers reimbursed him.
• Theresa Villiers The shadow transport secretary claimed nearly £16,000 in stamp duty and fees for a London flat, despite already having another house in the capital only 14 miles from Westminster, it was reported. On Tuesday Mr Cameron said that Ms Villiers would no longer claim the second homes allowance

BACKBENCHERS AND THE REST

• Michael Martin Mr Martin, who as Commons speaker fought to prevent MPs’ expenses claims entering the public domain, spent more than £1,400 on chauffeurs in his Glasgow constituency.
• Phil Hope The health minister for care services claimed £41,709 over five years on furniture and fittings for his “modest” two-bedroomed flat in south London. The items claimed included a new kitchen, seven doors, wooden flooring, bedroom furniture, chairs and tables, two bookcases, a television, a £120 barbecue and £61 of gardening materials – despite a Commons ban on claiming for garden equipment. On Wednesday Mr Hope promised to refund the £41,709 in full
• Barry Gardiner The MP for Brent North made a profit of almost £200,000 from a flat mortgaged and renovated with the help of taxpayers’ cash, it was alleged.
• Vera Baird QC Mrs Baird, who as Solicitor General is one of the Government’s top legal advisers, fell foul of expenses rules after trying to claim for Christmas decorations. Officials rejected the £268 invoice.
• Sinn Fein Five Sinn Fein MPs raked in expenses of almost £500,000 for running a second home, despite not taking up their seats in the Commons. The party’s two most senior figures, president Gerry Adams and Northern Ireland deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, were said to have jointly claimed £3,600 a month to rent a shared two-bedroom flat in the capital, which a local estate agent suggested would be worth £1,400 a month.
• The three other MPs together claimed £5,400 a month to rent a shared town house estimated to be worth around £1,800 a month.
• John Gummer The former Tory cabinet minister claimed £9,000 a year for gardening, charging the taxpayer hundreds of pounds for treating insect “infestations” and removing moles and jackdaw nests from his Suffolk property, and for an annual “rodent service”.
• Tony Blair The former Prime Minister was able to use his parliamentary expenses to remortgage his constituency home for £296,000 – nearly 10 times what he paid for it – just months before buying a west London house for £3.65 million. The claims, some of which were revealed last year under a Freedom of Information request, showed interest repayments on his constituency home amounted to almost a third of the new mortgage. The London town house was one of five properties owned by Mr Blair – reportedly worth a total of £10 million, the newspaper reported.
• Kevin Brennan The junior minister was said to have had a £450 widescreen television delivered to his family home in Wales and then claimed it on his allowance for his second home in London.
• Kitty Ussher The Department for Work and Pensions minister drew up a list of renovations she hoped to make to her London house and asked Commons officials to “pay as much as you are able!”
• Iain Wright and Tom Watson Mr Wright, a junior housing minister, asked if he could buy furniture before he had even bought the property he shares with Mr Watson. He was told it would be better to wait until after the general election in case he lost his seat.
• He told the Commons authorities: “It seems stupid to carry it over into next year when a large chunk of my (allowance) would go unused.”
• Greg Barker Mr Barker – the first prominent Tory to be caught up in the expenses row – reportedly made a £320,000 profit on a flat he bought at the taxpayers’ expense.
• Stewart Jackson The Tory communities spokesman has claimed more than £66,000 for his family home in Peterborough, the paper said. He billed the taxpayer for £304.10 for work on the swimming pool, and more than £11,000 in professional fees and costs incurred with the move to the property in 2005. According to the report, household items claimed include a £3,000 berber carpet, a £741 king size bed and £775 for plumbing work in his summer room. He said he would be repaying the money claimed for the swimming pool work.
• David Davis The former shadow Home Secretary spent more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on home improvements in four years, including a £5,700 portico at his home in Yorkshire, it was disclosed. He also claimed more than £2,000 for the cost of mowing and rolling two paddocks at his home.
• Sir Alan Haselhurst The Deputy Speaker has charged taxpayers almost £12,000 for gardening bills at his Essex farmhouse, the report said. He told the paper that the gardener “does all the heavy work which I don’t have the opportunity to do when I’m in London.”
• Michael Ancram The former Conservative deputy leader charged the cost of having his swimming pool boiler serviced to his parliamentary allowances, it was reported. Records seen by the paper show £98.58 was claimed for the boiler repair, as well as more than £3,000 in cleaning costs and £1,250 of gardening expenses in a single year. He said none of his items claimed “could be considered extravagant or luxurious”.
• Bob Marshall-Andrews The left wing Labour MP has claimed £118,000 for expenses at his second home, including stereo equipment, redecoration and a pair of Kenyan carpets, The Daily Telegraph said. In 2006 he claimed £750 on a “multi-room audio system” and £830 on a DVD recorder and other electrical goods. He has also claimed almost £1,300 for an intercom, brass name plaque and other door adornments. Mr Marshall-Andrews said the claims for his TV and DVD recorder were “met” from second home allowances “in error”. They were mainly for office use and should have been claimed accordingly, he told the paper. He added that all other claims were “within the spirit and letter of the law”.
• Alan Reid The Liberal Dem MP for Argyll and Bute in Scotland has claimed more than £1,500 for staying in hotels and bed and breakfasts in his constituency, according to the Telegraph. The paper said he put in receipts for eight nights in Scottish lodgings during 2005/06, but was told by the Commons fees office that stays in constituency hotels could not be claimed. In 2007/08, he also claimed for three stays in Scottish hotels including one overlooking Loch Etive and one of the Isle of Bute, 38 miles from his designated second home.
• Norman Baker The campaigning Liberal Democrat MP asked the Commons fees office if he could claim for a bicycle for use between his London flat and Parliament. The request was denied.