MPs defy pressure to reform their expenses

8:02am Friday 4th July 2008

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By Rob Merrick »

MPs yesterday defied calls to tighten up their muchcriticised £24,000 "second home" expenses, despite growing public anger after a succession of scandals.

They voted down the findings of a Commons review that would have stopped them buying new kitchens, TVs and other household goods from the so-called "John Lewis list".

It means MPs will still be able to spend £400 a month on food shopping without receipts and claim for items up to £25 without any proof of purchase.

The vote, by 172 to 144 - a majority of 28 - also means MPs' expenses will only be internally audited, rather than face tougher checks by an outside body.

North-East and North Yorkshire MPs who voted to keep the second home allowances included Dave Anderson, Roberta Blackman- Woods, Nick Brown, John Cummings, John Greenway, Sharon Hodgson, Kevan Jones, Phil Wilson and Iain Wright.

The proposed shake-up - to replace the additional costs allowance (ACA) with an annual £19,600 accommodation allowance, plus £30-a-day for subsistence - was an attempt to restore public trust following the Derek Conway scandal.

It emerged in January that over three years, the Tory MP paid his son, Freddie, more than £40,000 as a parliamentary researcher, despite him being a fulltime student in Newcastle.

There was further anger when husband and wife Tory MPs Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton claimed £21,600-a-year to "rent"

their second-home - even though they had bought the flat outright and transferred it to a family trust.

However, there were criticisms that the new system would have allowed MPs to claim almost as much as they do at present, but with much less embarrassment .

Furthermore, because of recent Freedom of Information rulings, the public will be able to see details of all major purchases made from the "John Lewis list".

The Members' Estimate Committee's recommendation for new offices was approved, potentially increasing the annual bill for MPs' constituency offices from £2.8m to £6m.

Earlier, MPs did bow to public pressure - and a plea by Gordon Brown - by awarding themselves a below-inflation pay rise of 2.25 per cent this year.

They also agreed to link future pay increases to those of a basket of public sector workers, ranging from senior military officers and judges to doctors, dentists, teachers and police officers.

It means MPs will never again decide their own pay, amid general agreement that allowing them to do so has become a public relations disaster.

The votes came as a relief to the Prime Minister who had urged MPs to show restraint as an example to public sector workers, some of whom are threatening to strike over pay.

A rebel bid to give MPs a £650 "catch-up" payment for each of the next three years was heavily defeated, by 224 votes to 123.

The payments - worth about 4.4 per cent in total - were recommended in an independent review, which decided MPs' salaries had fallen behind comparable professions. They currently earn £61,181.

A separate attempt to raise pay by 2.3 per cent this year, but defer any aboveinflation addition until next year, was also rejected, by 196 votes to 155.