George Mudie, a Labour MP who has been one of Gordon Brown’s key attack dogs over the profligacy of bankers, claimed £62,000 in expenses for his London flat in four years, while having a mortgage of just £26,000.
Mr Mudie, the MP for Leeds East, claimed almost £17,000 from the taxpayer for furniture and renovations, including a dining room set he had delivered to his constituency home before claiming it on expenses for his designated second home in London.
Mr Mudie also bought a bedroom suite, a leather chair, an ironing board and a lavatory seat in Leeds. When the parliamentary fees office questioned why some of the items were delivered to the “wrong” address, he said he had taken them to London himself.
He was also reimbursed for a television set and sofa he bought in Leeds even though he had claimed for a TV and sofa covers he bought in London.
Mr Mudie, whose house in Leeds is up for sale, has been at the forefront of parliament’s attacks on bank bosses and hedge fund managers in recent months through his role as a member of the all-party treasury select committee.
However, the former education minister has repeatedly voted against greater transparency when it comes to MPs’ expenses.
Mr Mudie’s expense files show that between 2004 and 2008 he claimed £62,041 in second homes allowances on his flat in Westminster, where his mortgage interest repayments last year were £105 per month.
Between 2005 and 2006 he spent more than £12,000 on renovations and furniture for the London flat, including almost £7,000 for a Moben kitchen, £650 for carpets, £580 on repainting, £929 on tile work and £50 for a parking ticket incurred by his builder. He also claimed £249 for sofa covers, £299 for an LCD television set and £169.99 for a DVD player, all bought locally.
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