End of the John Lewis list: MPs to be banned from buying TVs and installing new kitchens on expenses

MPs will no longer be able to squander taxpayers' money on furniture and home improvements.

A shake-up of Commons pay and expenses published yesterday will allow them to claim £23,800 a year from the public purse to cover the costs of living near Parliament.

It replaces the additional costs allowance, this year worth £24,006, which can be used to run and furnish a second home.

And it signals the end of the 'John Lewis list', an unofficial guide used by the Parliamentary authorities to determine how much MPs could claim back from the taxpayer for kitting out their second homes.

The aim has been to restore public trust in politicians following a string of scandals involving misuse of expenses.

The list of 38 items was based on prices at the department store, which specialises in top-of-the-range goods  -  and allowed MPs to claim for items including a £10,000 kitchen and a £750 TV.

The current expenses regime allows them to claim for £400 a month of groceries or any item under £250 without needing a receipt.

Under the latest proposals, £19,600 could be used to run a second home in London.

This would cover mortgage interest payments, rent or hotel bills, council tax, utility bills, insurance and repairs. But MPs would be ordered to provide a receipt-by-receipt breakdown.

They would handed a £30-a-day 'subsistence allowance' on the 140 days on which Parliament sits, however, with no need for receipts  -  raising fears that they could pocket £4,200 a year.

The proposals were unveiled yesterday by the Commons' Members Estimate Committee which has carried out a root-and-branch review of MPs' pay and perks.

They included backbencher Derek Conway, who was kicked out of the Tory Party after being caught paying his son Freddie £40,000 of public money while he was a full-time student.

Under the proposals, one in five MPs will face National Audit Office spot checks on expenses and every MP will have claims audited externally at least once every Parliament.

But critics rounded on the recommendation for the subsistence allowance, as receipts will not be required to prove how the money was spent.

Husband and wife Tory MPs Sir Nicholas and Lady Ann Winterton were recently exposed for using thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to rent a London flat

Tory MP Douglas Carswell said: 'How many things could you buy from John Lewis with £4,200? If this money can be claimed without receipts, it is simply not straight.

'If MPs are uncomfortable about full disclosure, full transparency, of how they spend public money, maybe they shouldn't be spending the money in the first place.'

But Sir Stuart Bell, a member of the committee reviewing the system, said: 'The days of the gentlemen's club in the House of Commons is over. Up until now there were no checks. We need an urgent overhaul of the system to verify claims.'

The committee rejected plans to scrap expenses and increase MPs' pay by more than £33,000.

But it said MPs should be permitted to keep profits from selling on properties funded by the taxpayer. MPs will vote on the plans next Thursday.