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200 MPs could have to repay £1m expenses
12 Nov 2009The 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.
