Kirkbride defends expenses claims

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Ms Kirkbride has come under attack after details of her parliamentary expenses claims were published in the Daily Telegraph, with a group calling itself Julie Must Go collecting signatures in her Bromsgrove constituency demanding her removal as Tory candidate in the general election.

She insisted she wants to remain the party's candidate, but said that the decision was in the hands of her local Conservative Association.

Ms Kirkbride explained that the extension was necessary so that her brother Ian could continue staying with her family to provide childcare for her eight-year-old son Angus.

And she said any working mother would understand that having a family member on hand was the best way of ensuring flexible and reliable childcare, adding that without Ian's help she would have been unable to serve as MP.

Ms Kirkbride told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I understand people are angry about the way MPs' expenses operate, it is very hard to defend and I can understand why questions are being raised.

"But until this week's furore, it didn't cross my mind that I had done anything wrong. I thought I was doing the best for my constituents, who I am privileged to serve, and I thought I was doing the best thing by my family, particularly my little boy who is my principal concern in all of this.

"Up until now, I thought I had a good reputation in Bromsgrove as a hard-working constituency MP who is compassionate and caring about her constituents. That's the service I think I was offering, but that's not what appears in the newspapers this week."

Ms Kirkbride said that the £50,000 extension at her flat was needed because it was "inappropriate" for her young son to share a bedroom with his uncle.

She said the arrangement - which saw her claims for mortgage interest payments rise by around £250 a month - was explicitly authorised by the Commons Fees Office. And she defended her decision to claim £1,000 of taxpayers' money to cover photographs of herself, saying they were needed for literature published in relation to her parliamentary work.