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The Conservatives' George Osborne today defended taking out a mortgage on his taxpayer-funded second home for more than the purchase price.
The shadow chancellor paid £445,000 for the farmhouse in his Cheshire constituency in 2000, yet three years later mortgaged it for £449,995.
Labour MP Martin Salter said: “It's clearly wrong to buy a house in cash and then expect the taxpayer to repay you more than you actually paid for it.”
Mr Osborne, who designated his London family address as a second home after becoming an
MP, rejected claims that he “flipped” properties after taking out the mortgage.
His office stressed that he has not broken any Commons rules.
Reader views (2)
So the Tory Party has two millionaires at the top, Cameron and Osborne who need huge, expensive properties in their constituencies plus expensive town houses in London. We as Tax-payers are paying for their houses. Have these guys got no sense of shame? Quite soon they will be cutting funding to Old People's Homes and Schools as the new age of Tory Austerity, for us, becomes a reality while these two will be living the life of Riley at our expense. I've got nothing against millionaires having huge houses, but I don't see why I should be paying for it.
- T Tugger, Andover England
I am sure that Honest Dave Cameron said that'not breaking Commons rules' was not a defence for swindling the Taxpayer and I would expect Mr Osborne to be treated in exactly the same way as Mr Mackay who also insisted he hadn't broken any rules. Let us have some action and not just hot air, Mr Cameron.
- F Franks, Harlow England
