Tory MPs agree to pay back thousands in Commons expenses - full list

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Central Government

Tory MPs have agreed to pay back a further £125,000 in Commons expenses, party leader David Cameron announced today.

The repayments - following the examination of the MPs' claims by the party's scrutiny panel - comes on top of the £135,000 they have already returned to the Commons authorities.

In addition, the party said its MPs had agreed to forgo future second home allowances totalling £100,000.

"Conservative MPs have responded in a positive way and shown a real desire to take the lead on this damaging issue," Mr Cameron said.

"It is an effort - both collectively as a party and individually as Conservative MPs - to address the public's anger about what has happened."

Mr Cameron said the party had gone beyond Labour and the Liberal Democrats in considering whether claims had been "disproportionate" and not just whether they fell within the rules.

He said the agreement of a particular MP to make a repayment did not indicate guilt or a breach of the rules.

"Many MPs need to be able to live in London and in their constituencies to do their job properly, and the vast majority of MPs do an excellent job. But we recognise public anger about expenses, and we have a duty to listen and respond to it. That is what this is about," he said.

He acknowledged that the scrutiny panel process was not perfect and warned it may throw up some "inconsistencies".

"In some cases it may have been too tough. In others, some may feel it has not been tough enough. We had a small team. This was not a forensic accounting examination. The House of Commons examination may pick up issues which we have not," he said.

"This is just one step - of many - that needs to be taken to restore both some trust and some faith in the political system.

"Step by step, brick by brick, we can and we will fix our political system."

The biggest single sum repaid was £25,000 by shadow justice minister Eleanor Laing - with no details given of what the claim or claims had originally been for.

The MP for Epping Forest had not previously repaid any cash to the Commons authorities, according to the list supplied by the Tories.

She had, however, been at the centre of a storm over capital gains tax when it was revealed that she made a reported £1 million profit on the sale of a second home, which she "flipped" to her main residence.

Bill Cash, MP for Stone, agreed to repay the £15,000 second home allowance he controversially claimed to pay his daughter for renting her London flat, while his son lived in the MP's own apartment.

Bournemouth West MP Sir John Butterfill is to pay back a further £14,478, having already repaid £3,000, according to the Conservatives.

He had reportedly claimed for the upkeep of his servants' quarters.

Ex-minister John Gummer is to repay £11,538 received for gardening and household expenses, half of his 2007-08 allowance claim.

He hit the headlines when the Daily Telegraph said he had claimed for removing moles from his garden.

And Gosport MP Sir Peter Viggers - who notoriously had a claim for a floating duck house rejected - is to repay £10,000 in claims for garden maintenance and repairs.

The Tories said nine MPs, including former leader Ian Duncan Smith, party grandee Michael Ancram, Mr Gummer and ex-Cabinet minister John Redwood, had voluntarily agreed to forgo all or part of any future second home allowance claims.

The party said the potential claims would have been worth an estimated £108,600.

Earlier, in a speech at Imperial College, London, Mr Cameron said: "This is not about MPs that broke the rules - we all know the rules weren't good enough.

"It's about understanding the level of public anger, about a system that was broken, and the part we played in it. It's not good enough just to sort out the rules for the future - we need to recognise the mistakes of the past.

"And these payments are an important part of that. This is just one step - of many - that needs to be taken to restore both some trust and some faith in the political system."

The Tory leader added: "It's about having to recognise and somehow atone for the mistakes of the past."

The party said its scrutiny panel had now examined the additional costs allowance - dubbed the second home allowance - claims of all 195 Tory MPs for the years from 2004-5 to 2007-8.

The Conservatives said the claims of 186 MPs had so far been "resolved", resulting in the extra £125,000 paid back. Repayments already made totalled £133,517, said the party.

Party sources later clarified that Eleanor Laing's £25,000 repayment had been for capital gains tax, rather than in respect of additional costs allowance.

Sir John Butterfill's repayment related to claims for mortgage interest and council tax on the annexe to his house, said the sources.

In a statement, Mr Ancram said: "Six weeks ago I made it clear that I supported the action that David Cameron was taking in relation to claims under the additional costs allowance and that I would abide by the findings of his scrutiny committee as to what in the public's view was disproportionate, even where claims may have been made within the rules as they stood at the time.

"David Cameron himself set the example by acknowledging that certain claims for garden maintenance fell into that category and made repayment. I am happy to follow his example and, at the request of the scrutiny committee, have similarly made repayment.

"I have also reiterated that I will make no further claims of any sort against the allowance, nor will I claim for mileage within my constituency. Moreover, in April, before all this arose, I informed the Fees Office that I would not be taking the annual rise in my salary as an MP as I thought at a time of recession it was inappropriate.

"The claim of £98.50 for servicing the swimming pool boiler was repaid on May 12 before the scrutiny committee was formed. There have been no further claims against the swimming pool."

These are the new repayments by Tory MPs:

Michael Ancram - gardening, repairs/maintenance, swimming pool - £1,133.25

James Arbuthnot - gardening, household, swimming pool - £9,338.77

Peter Atkinson - gardening - £121.85

Julian Brazier - other - £150

Simon Burns - rent/mortgage - £2,924

Alistair Burt - food/drink -£229.46

John Butterfill - other - £14,478

Douglas Carswell - gardening, household - £129.23

Bill Cash - rent/mortgage - £15,000

James Clappison - gardening -£3,100

Stephen Crabb - stamp duty - £9,300

David Curry - household - £183.13

David TC Davies - various - £2,033.87

David Davis - gardening - £414.98

Stephen Dorrell - other - £94.44

Tobias Ellwood - household - £145

Liam Fox - other - £140.62

Mark Francois - household - £200

Paul Goodman - household - £183.35

John Gummer - gardening, household - £11,538.10

Charles Hendry - household, other - £325.18

Mark Hoban - household - £613.10

Adam Holloway - gardening - £47.96

Gerald Howarth - gardening, household, repairs/maintenance - £2,000

Stewart Jackson - household - £97

Bernard Jenkin - gardening - £659.17

Daniel Kawczynski - household - £200

Julie Kirkbride - household - £701.04

Eleanor Laing - other - £25,000

David Lidington - household - £126.23

Peter Luff - household, repairs/maintenance - £3,700

Anne Milton - household - £250

Andrew Mitchell - household, gardening - £560.41

Mike Penning - household - £507

David Ruffley - household - £924

Michael Spicer - repairs/maintenance, gardening - £4,700.60

Anthony Steen - repairs/maintenance, gardening - £1,537.93

Peter Viggers - gardening, repairs/maintenance - £10,000

John Whittingdale - other - £928

David Willetts - repairs/maintenance, gardening, council tax - £600

TOTAL: £124,315.67