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200 MPs could have to repay £1m expenses
12 Nov 2009
The extent of the Commons expenses scandal was laid bare today when it emerged that a third of MPs could be forced to pay back public money.
About 200 are being sent final demands by auditor Sir Thomas Legg today to return up to £1 million of taxpayers' cash.
At least one married MP couple will be asked to repay more than £100,000, senior Commons sources suggested.
A further 30 or more MPs will get new demands averaging £20,000 after Sir Thomas checked their mortgage papers.
In a further blow for MPs, it also emerged today that new independent expenses supremo Sir Ian Kennedy was set to rule out a major pay rise for at least five years.
Meanwhile, Sir Thomas — who was tasked by Gordon Brown with scrutinising all claims for the past four years — has decided not to accept excuses or delays and will publish his report naming and shaming the culprits on 14 December.
The Standard revealed yesterday nearly 40 MPs have signed a Commons motion calling for a rise in their £65,000 salaries. But Sir Ian, chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, has made clear privately that he wants reform to “bed in” first.
A source who has spoken to him said: “The public has to see the new system working and trust it before we can even talk about that. MPs can scream all they want but it's not going to happen.”
Sir Thomas had already ordered 166 MPs to repay money totalling £300,000 after they overclaimed for items such as gardening and cleaning — an average of £1,800 each.
But at least a further 35 will be asked to hand back on average £20,000 in mortgage interest claims, clawing back another £700,000. A senior Commons source said: “The second wave is a small number of larger demands, after the large number of small demands.
“The second wave are demands that you really wouldn't want to receive. If you've got a dodgy mortgage, it's going to be a large amount of money. One couple has a bill in excess of £100,000. I have seen nothing to suggest that a final bill of £1 million is wide of the mark.”
Allies of Sir Thomas say he has decided to come down particularly hard on MPs who paid money to members of their own families.
Tory couple claimed for children's flat
Tory MP couple Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton could face a hefty bill from Sir Thomas Legg.
They were found to have breached Commons rules by claiming the housing allowance for a flat that they had put into a trust for their children.
They were rebuked by the Commons watchdog after claiming £165,828 in the second home allowance. It is not known how much Sir Thomas has asked them to repay.
Reader views (8)
given the twists and turns thus far and the wheeler dealing that 'honourable members' indulge in as a matter of course we'd be wise to see the cash on the table, rather than cheque in the post before hailing any just
result.
- M.O'Brien, london.uk, 12/11/2009 18:01
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we have the names of the thieves now lets have them in court and in prison like joe public would be i bet the dpp and the police have not got the bottle
- Anon, leicestershire, 12/11/2009 11:48
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Can we name and shame please? Let no stone remain unturned!
- Marianne, SW France/London, 12/11/2009 11:44
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It just makes no sense, but does rather proove that the police are now totally politicised.
By now anyone else would have been interviewed under caution at the very least.
- Steve, London, 12/11/2009 11:12
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Why do they get away with it? simple because we let them.As a race we are to apathetic and that is what they are depending on.
- Maddy, Gedney Drove End UK, 12/11/2009 11:05
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Perhaps the Government could put this little windfall it wasn't expecting towards the equipment it said it couldn't afford for the troops in Afghanistan.
- Roz, France, 12/11/2009 10:58
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If 200 benefit cheats defrauded the taxpayer out of £1,000,000.00 they would now be IN PRISON.
WHY IS THERE ONE LAW FOR JOE PUBLIC AND AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT LAW FOR MP's AND LORDS?
- Reuben Camara, Plot 1, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR, 12/11/2009 09:56
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Why is it that anyone else caught cheating the system is called a benifit fraudster and prosecuted, and yet these cheats and liars are allowed to pay it back?
- Stephend, London, England, 12/11/2009 09:28
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