[guide.chat] m ps steal eighty nine million pounds on expenses

  • From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2012 05:48:58 +0100

£89m! MPs' expenses soar by more than a quarter in just a year
By DANIEL MARTIN
PUBLISHED: 01:03, 7 September 2012 | UPDATED: 01:03, 7 September 2012

The amount spent by MPs on expenses soared by more than a quarter in just one 
year.
Despite the expenses scandal three years ago, MPs claimed £89.4million last 
year in taxpayer funding for accommodation, travel, staffing and other costs.
This is up from £71million the year before, but the expenses watchdog said that 
figure was unusually low because of the 2010 election, which meant a shorter 
parliamentary year.

MPs claimed £89.4million last year in taxpayer funding for accommodation, 
travel, staffing and other costs
The total, which includes the cost of 50 iPads bought by MPs, is now only 
slightly lower than the £95.4million total in 2008/09, on the eve of the 
expenses scandal.
The Lib Dems' Greg Mulholland came top of the expenses league table - claiming 
almost £190,000 in just one year; three times his salary.
The information, released by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, 
revealed that disgraced Labour MP Eric Joyce, spent the second-largest amount 
on travel.
 
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And failed Labour leadership candidate David Miliband took the number two spot 
on staffing costs. Former PM Gordon Brown claimed £127,197 despite hardly ever 
attending the Commons.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt claimed almost £170 on petrol for his intern's 
motorbike, and Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman claimed £7,500 for a focus 
group of young people following last year's riots.
Sir Ian Kennedy, chairman of IPSA, said the figures showed that the 'expenses 
scandal is behind us', and that 99 per cent of MPs were sticking to the new 
rules.
'There will be some who might say ?this is too much? or ?I could do it for 
less?,' he said. 'But we should look at the issue in more depth. MPs are there 
to represent us.

Lib Dem Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West, came top of the expenses 
league table - claiming almost £190,000 in just one year; three times his salary
'If we want to be able to see our MP, contact their staff - and it is in on 
MPs' staff where most of this expense goes, visit MPs' offices, have them write 
to us, represent us in Parliament, and help us with problems in the 
constituency, we have to face the fact that there is a cost to doing so.
'If we want a good service from our MPs, we have to fund them. And if you don't 
think you get a good service from your MP, the answer is not to withhold 
funding - it is to use your vote.'
The £89.4million covered the year 2011/12, and is 26 per cent higher than the 
total in 2010/11.
Sir Ian said the total for that year so much less because Parliament was closed 
from the start of April to mid-May as a result of the election campaign.
In addition, many new MPs took a while to appoint members of staff and set up 
their offices, so there was an additional period when costs were not incurred.
He said that the 2011/12 figures could even end up being higher, because some 
MPs may not have put all their claims in yet.
Top of the league table on total spend was Greg Mulholland, Lib Dem MP for 
Leeds North West, who claimed £188,783.40 overall. A spokesman said the costs 
were higher than usual because two of the staff in his constituency office had 
to take six months off sick.
A spokesman said: 'To ensure that he could continue to fulfil his parliamentary 
duties and work on behalf of his constituents he had no option but to apply to 
IPSA's contingency budget, which provides additional funding to employ 
temporary staff to cover for sickness absence.
'The additional costs were closely scrutinised and approved by IPSA. Mr 
Mulholland is pleased that these problems of ill health have now passed and 
anticipates that his staffing costs will return to normal in the current year.'
Mr Mulholland was followed closely by Stephen Gilbert and Alistair Carmichael, 
both of whom claimed more than £185,000.
Tory MP for Salisbury, John Glen, claimed £26,240.13 on accommodation, while 
Elfyn Llwyd, the Westminster leader of the pro-independence Plaid Cymru, spent 
£6,963.77 on administration.
The MP with the highest travel costs was the Lib Dem MP for Orkney and 
Shetland, Alistair Carmichael, who spent £40,106.73.
He was followed by Eric Joyce, MP for Falkirk, whose travel bill was 
£30,298.92. He resigned from the Labour party earlier this year after 
head-butting a Tory MP in a Commons bar brawl.
Labour's Brent North MP Barry Gardiner spent £150,948.50 on staff; just ahead 
of David Miliband on £143,288.
Jonathan Isaby, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Of course MPs need 
reasonable expenses and office support to help them carry out their roles, but 
taxpayers will certainly be left wondering how MPs representing nearby seats 
can end up spending vastly different amounts.
'While MPs should be judged on their records by their constituents and not just 
a financial league table, these large variations should prompt taxpayers to 
seek explanations from those claiming the largest amounts.'


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