Enemies of the People

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2021-05-09T16:24:00.018+01:00

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"Enemies of the People" --Now Available in Hard-copy: a Handy-size Booklet

2020-04-24T23:01:00.006+01:00

Citizens’ Handbook

This work is an A5 60-page booklet that charts the criminals and rogues in British politics. In the booklet you will find irrefutable evidence of criminal and roguish M.P.s, councillors and other political party affiliates that is supported by website addresses linking to a national newspaper or media source that carried the story. There are a staggering 341 separate entries charting the criminals and rogues in New Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, UKIP -and yes, even the Scottish National Party.

This booklet is an absolute must for all those citizens who demand the truth before deciding on whom, or for what party, to vote.

For more information, an introduction to the booklet, and details on how to order your copy, please click on the link below:

LASTING THOUGHT PRESS

LEAFLET ADVERTISING CITIZENS' HANDBOOK AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE

The Readership of the Enemies of the People Website Consistently Increases

2013-01-20T23:24:00.046Z

Above: a rise of 110% takes this blog to a position if 3,911,595 in the world rankings. Screenshot taken Saturday 27th June, 2009.

Above: Enemies of the People progresses further with a 170% increase in readership, leading to a very comfortable world traffic rank of 4,568,528. ( Screen-shot taken on Saturday 23rd may, 2009.)

Below: Our traffic rank for February 2009 showing a spectacular 150% increase in readership.

Firstly, we'd like to extend profound thanks to members of the public for all the recent assistance we have been in receipt of. This website is for your benefit -so please continue to help yourselves, your children and your future. Well done.

PS, please feel free to join the Facebook group:

MOBILISE THE PEOPLE AGAINST STATE-CRIME:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/207679?m=8267094b&recruiter_id=42538183

The more people that join, the more forceful the message against those in power who are clearly doing us harm. FIGHT BACK, NOW!

A Message to the PEOPLE

2012-12-19T01:08:00.012Z

All the criminals and rogues on this blog approximate a matter that can be described only as SCUM. The similarities with this extraneous matter are endless: like the residue on a toilet bowl they will not remove themselves (because they are stocial in their warmth, their environment) and their succuour, like a parasite's, comes from the Host --that is YOU and your hard-earned and stolen taxes. They are laughing sinisterly at us all. They have chosen their side in this WAR that the State has declared on us and our families, on our security and our trust. We did not ask for this war --but we will, with blogs like this, defend ourselves against it.

We MUST unite and DEFEND ourselves accordingly. This corrupt system relies heavily upon the fragmentation and division of the People. The best way to combat these crimes against us is to unite --by uniting we mean talking to your friends, contacts, colleagues, and acquaintances about this blog, the criminals in government, and our collective unfortunate demise --IF WE DO NOT COME TOGETHER AND FIGHT. By that we mean REFUSING this corrupt system of "democracy" and instead implementing REAL democracy by voting for parties that are outside of the INCESTUOUS cartel of the Lib-Lab-Con-men --all of whom EVIDENTLY seek to do YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HARM.

We, the People, are aligned together in this FIGHT. Either we fight back like a GLORIOUS people oppressed, or we give up and suffer LIKE PATHETIC COWARDS. THAT IS YOUR CALL. Are you going to get pissed and forget all about the trouble? Are you going to hide away and envelope yourself and ignore the CRIMES against us? Or are YOU going to FIGHT BACK and do all in your power to secure our future and, more importantly, THE FUTURE OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILY?

This blog is quite evidently not here for the purpose of self-fulfilment, or some form of self-gratification. What have we (the authors of this blog) to gain (or lose) from this venture? The only thing we have to gain is the welfare and future of our people -WITHOUT THE SELF-SERVING POLITICO SCUM INTERFERING IN THEIR LIVES. The purpose of this blog is thus one of altruism.

FIGHT BACK OR SUFFER YOUR FATE. We have done all in our power to help you.

The Leech Table as it Stands on 15/12/08

2011-01-15T17:37:00.000Z

Well, it seems Zanu Labour is in a commanding position at the top of the table. Can the flagging but promising Con-men claw back some ground in terms of crimes against the electorate? Not forgetting the dark-horse outsider: might the Lib-Demons show a bit of resolve and climb further up the table with one or two more sexual crimes under their belt? Well, all is to play for in this game that is anything but enjoyable -not for the people, at least. Watch out for more barnstorming misconduct from our Enemies as they play the corrupt game of "democracy" in constituencies up and down the country -never seeking to beat each other, seeking only instead to beat down further the morons that vote for them.

Decadent Elite -1 Innocent Citizens -0

(2009) New Labour Party -RACISTS

2009-07-19T21:21:00.001+01:00

The Labour Party has become embroiled in a race row after a prospective female councillor was allegedly told she was 'too white and Jewish' to be selected.

Elaina Cohen claims that Labour councillor Mahmood Hussain said he would not support her application for an inner-city ward because 'my Muslim members don't want you because you are Jewish'.

Mrs Cohen, 50, has made an official complaint about the alleged remarks made by Mr Hussain, a Muslim and former lord mayor of Birmingham.

She said: 'I am shocked and upset that a member of the Labour Party in this day and age could even think something like that, let alone say it.

'People should not be allowed to make racist comments like that. If someone in the party feels I cannot represent them because of my colour or religion, that's ridiculous.

'I felt particularly aggrieved because I have worked across all sections of the community, particularly with the Muslim section, and have been on official visits to Pakistan.'

Read on

(2009) New Labour M.P. Mark Hendrick -PARASITE

2009-07-19T00:17:00.002+01:00

Mark Hendrick, a Labour MP, admitted “estimating” the amount of mortgage interest he paid on his second home when claiming on his taxpayer-funded parliamentary allowances.

Mark Hendrick, the MP for Preston, said he had found it difficult to work out how much the interest element of the mortgage on his London flat came to, and so tried to “work on an average for the year”.

Under parliamentary rules, MPs may claim for the interest on a second home but not the capital repayment.

Mr Hendrick regularly submitted claims for between £900 and £1,015 a month on his London flat, before “flipping” his second home designation to a house in his constituency, where his claims rose to £1,469.

When contacted by The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hendrick insisted that he had always acted in line with the rules but refused to disclose his mortgage documents to confirm his statement. He said he regularly provided the Commons fees office with copies of his mortgage documents. None appears on files seen by The Daily Telegraph.

Asked why his mortgage interest varied from month to month, Mr Hendrick said: “My mortgage was a capital plus interest mortgage. Therefore, payments included both, and I did not know until the end of the year from my statement exactly how much of the payment was interest, therefore I tried to work on an average for the year as a whole.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Anne Keen -PARASITE

2009-07-19T00:11:00.002+01:00

A married couple dubbed 'Mr and Mrs Expenses' will face a formal sleaze inquiry over their use of Commons second home allowances.

Ann and Alan Keen, both Labour MPs, have come under criticism after it emerged that they were living full time in their designated "second home" near Westminster, while their designated "main" property a short commute away lay empty for up to a year.

The couple face repossession by their local council, and are also battling to evict squatters from the house in Mrs Keen's constituency of Brentford and Isleworth in west London.

Read on

(2009) New Labour M.P. Alan Keen -PARASITE

2009-07-19T00:09:00.001+01:00

A married couple dubbed 'Mr and Mrs Expenses' will face a formal sleaze inquiry over their use of Commons second home allowances.

The couple face repossession by their local council, and are also battling to evict squatters from the house in Mrs Keen's constituency of Brentford and Isleworth in west London.

Read on

(2009) Conservative M.P. Bill Cash

2009-07-18T23:58:00.001+01:00

Bill Cash, a senior Conservative MP, claimed more than £15,000 in taxpayer-funded expenses to pay his daughter rent for her London flat – even though he owned a home closer to Westminster.

Mr Cash designated a west London flat owned by his daughter, Laetitia, as his “second home” for parliamentary expenses during 2004 and 2005.

During the period he was renting the flat, Mr Cash owned a flat in Pimlico — a short walk from Parliament.

He said on Thursday that he was not living in the Pimlico property nor renting it out at the time. It was not clear why he did not live in this flat — although he has designated it as his second home since 2005. His main home is a country house in Shropshire.

Shortly after the MP stopped claiming money for his daughter’s flat, Miss Cash, 35, who is hoping to become a Conservative MP and is on David Cameron’s “A list” of preferred candidates, sold the property for a £48,000 profit.

She had owned the apartment for less than a year and a half, and for more than 12 months of that period her father had paid her £1,200 a month in rent from taxpayer funds.

Following the move, Mr Cash, a leading Eurosceptic who has regularly rebelled against the Conservative leadership, nominated two private members’ clubs as his “second home” for a three-month period.

Read on

(2009) New Labour M.P. Margaret Beckett -PARASITE

2009-07-18T23:48:00.000+01:00

Margaret Beckett tried to claim £600 for hanging baskets and pot plants as she lavished tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on her constituency home whilst living in a grace and favour apartment in London.

The housing and planning minister found herself in trouble with the fees office when she submitted the claim in 2006, which covered “the supply of plants for hanging baskets, tubs, pots, planters, pouches and garden”, and another £711 for “labour and materials for painting of summer house, shed and pergola”.

An official in the department of finance and administration sent her a letter explaining that expenses claims had to be “wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred to enable you to stay overnight away from your main home”. The official said that in respect of the work in the garden: “I find it difficult to conclude that it meets the requirements set out in the Green Book.”

The official cut £1,311 from Mrs Beckett’s total claim of £15,211.21 for work on her house, which drew this response from the minister: “We live in an old cottage – not the beautiful, strong, stone-built type, but the kind of thing you throw together for the farmworkers from the bricks you had when you knocked down the pigsty – and it requires a good deal of maintenance and repair.”

Mrs Beckett, 66, claimed second home allowances of £72,537 for her constituency home in Derby in the four years between 2004 and 2008, despite having no mortgage or rent to pay on the property.

Mrs Beckett earns £104,050, but during her spells as environment secretary and foreign secretary she earned £141,866.

During much of the time she was making the claims, she was living rent-free in Admiralty House, Whitehall, which enabled her to rent out her London flat.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Anthony Steen

2009-07-18T23:42:00.002+01:00

Anthony Steen, a Tory grandee, spent tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money on his million-pound country home, including paying a forestry expert to inspect 500 trees in the grounds, according to a claim he submitted.

Mr Steen, the MP for Totnes in Devon, designated his constituency property as his second home and then claimed the maximum available amount under the Additional Costs Allowance.

Over four years he claimed £87,729, including payments for tree surgery, guarding his shrubs against rabbits, maintaining a separate cottage and overhauling his private sewage system. In January 2005, items on Mr Steen's claim for £13,742 included £2,858.94 for leaking pipes, £1,755.89 for fixing the water supply from the "spring and bore hole'', £1,318 for a wrought iron fireplace and £597.14 for lights.

There was also a £459 charge from a woodland consultant to come and inspect new plantings on Mr Steen's lands. The consultant tagged shrubs and assessed whether there was a need for "additional guarding'' against rabbits.

Another £120 was for "fencing on two fields to the right of the drive leading down to the stables''. A fees officer scrawled on that bill: "I've paid this, should I have?''

Another invoice detailed how a chartered forester, who was a member of the International Dendrology Society, had been employed to carry out a survey of the laurels and rhododendrons. The forester was also hired to "carry out annual maintenance programme to approx 500 trees within the grounds and inspect said trees.''

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Phil Hope -PARASITE

2009-07-18T23:36:00.001+01:00

Phil Hope, the care services minister, is facing questions over how he spent nearly £10,000 a year refurbishing a small south London flat.

The Government minister claimed more than £37,000 in MPs expenses in just over four years on everything from a new kitchen, seven doors, and wooden flooring.

Mr Hope also claimed for a chest of drawers, a mattress, a television, a sofa, an armchair, a washing machine, three chairs, two bookcases, one coffee table, a wardrobe and a dining room table.

He also charged the taxpayer for a £120 new barbecue and £61 for gardening materials – even though Commons rules say that MPs can only claim for the cost of maintaining a garden.

Land registry plans show that the flat has access to a communal garden, which yesterday was empty with no plants, nor any sign of the barbecue.

Mr Hope bought the flat in Southwark, south London, in 1998, and remortgaged the property with Cheltenham & Gloucester in October 2002.

The Commons Green Book bans MPs from claiming "the capital cost of repairs which go beyond making good dilapidations and enhance the property".

Mr Hope's monthly returns for the additional costs allowance between 2004-05 and the middle of last year show that he was able to overhaul the flat completely.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Madeleine Moon -PARASITE

2009-07-18T23:18:00.002+01:00

Madeleine Moon, the MP named “Furniture Parliamentarian of the Year”, spent thousands in furniture shops near her Welsh constituency house and claimed the money back on her London designated second home allowance.

Mrs Moon, Labour chairman of the House of Commons Furniture Industry Group, submitted at least 19 receipts totalling more than £4,000 for fixtures and fittings either bought in Wales or delivered to her house there.

MPs may use their Additional Costs Allowance to run a second home if they consider it necessary to perform Parliamentary duties. They are not permitted to make claims for their designated main residence.

After being elected MP for Bridgend, mid Glam in 2005, Mrs Moon bought a small flat in south London and designated it as her second home. But the records show that over the last four years she has regularly submitted claims for items bought in shops in Cardiff, Swansea and Bridgend. She also had furniture delivered to her seafront house in Porthcawl.

Among the furniture which Mrs Moon had delivered there was a £769 coral “triad” sofa from Marks & Spencer, and £683.56 in furnishings, including a bedside table and pillows, from Ikea. Both firms have outlets in London. She also bought a dining table and four chairs from a Swansea shop at a cost of £399, and spent £818.89 on a DVD player and television at Currys in Bridgend in July 2006.

Mrs Moon bought at least four sets of bedding in four years in shops in Wales and London. Mrs Moon said that she went to outlets such as Ikea in Cardiff because as a new MP in 2005 she did not know where to shop in London. Mrs Moon was buying items in Wales as late as May 2008, which she claimed were for her flat in the capital.

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(2009) Conservative Party M.P. Eleanor Laing -PARASITE

2009-07-18T23:02:00.002+01:00

Eleanor Laing, a Conservative front bencher, has admitted that she did not pay capital gains tax when she made £1 million profit on a second home bought with the help of taxpayers’ money.

Mrs Laing, the shadow junior justice minister, claimed more than £80,000 from the public purse towards mortgage interest and service payments on two adjacent flats she bought in Westminster, even though her constituency home is less than an hour’s journey away by Tube.

She was able to claim parliamentary expenses on the flats because she nominated them as her second home, and she reiterated last night that she had “always regarded” the flats as her second home. When she sold the flats last year for £1.8 million, she made at least £1 million profit, which would have left her with a £180,000 capital gains tax bill if she had declared the flats as her second home to HM Revenue & Customs.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Barry Gardiner -PARASITE

2009-07-18T22:56:00.001+01:00

Barry Gardiner, a former environment minister, made £198,500 profit from a flat funded and refurbished at taxpayers' expense.

The Labour MP for Brent North bought a flat in Pimlico for £246,500 in 2003 and spent more than £11,000 renovating it – and claiming mortgage interest – before selling it for £445,000 in 2007, according to the Land Registry.

He spent £2,000 on decorators and a kitchen was installed. Other receipts covered plumbing and rewiring.

Although the rules say that "extravagant or luxurious" items should be avoided, the MP claimed £235 on bed linen from Harrods and £248 for a Christopher Wray light.

His council tax and mortgage interest costs of around £1,000 a month were also covered by expenses.

Cheaper items included a £65 "mixer tap" and an £80 gas hob. Parliamentary rules state that the additional costs allowance should not be spent on enhancing the property.

During the four financial years that he owned the flat, Mr Gardiner claimed £81,935 – £14 short of the maximum allowance.

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(2009) Liberal Democrat M.P. Menzies Campbell

2009-07-18T22:43:00.002+01:00

Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Liberal Democrat leader, spent £10,000 of taxpayers' money hiring an interior designer to renovate his small London flat.

The makeover included a flatscreen TV, a king-size bed and scatter cushions for his second home in Dolphin Square near Westminster.

Sir Menzies, once known as 'moral Ming' for his old-school rectitude, justified the large raid on the public purse on the basis that he had not used up his second homes allowance in previous years.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Chris Grayling -PARASITE

2009-07-18T22:37:00.001+01:00

Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary claimed thousands of pounds to renovate a flat in central London – bought with a mortgage funded at taxpayers’ expense, even though his constituency home is less than 17 miles from the House of Commons.

Mr Grayling, who represents Epsom and Ewell, lives in a large house in Ashtead, Surrey, but also claims expenses for a flat in Pimlico, near the House of Commons. Mr Grayling also owns other buy-to-let flats and now has four properties within the M25.

The disclosure is particularly embarrassing for the Conservatives as Mr Grayling is the party’s “attack dog” who has criticised a series of Labour ministers implicated in sleaze scandals.

Within weeks of first being elected in 2001, he bought a flat in a six-storey block for £127,000. In 2002, he set up an unusual arrangement with the Parliamentary Fees Office, claiming £625 a month for mortgages on two separate properties, both the main home and the new flat in Pimlico. This is usually against the rules, but Mr Grayling negotiated an agreement because he was unable to obtain a 100% mortgage on the London flat that he had bought.

This arrangement ended in May 2006.

Over the summer of 2005, Mr Grayling undertook a complete refurbishment of the flat. Shortly after the general election in May, Mr Grayling claimed £4,250 for redecorating and £1,561 for a new bathroom.

The next month, he claimed £1,341 for new kitchen units and in July, he claimed a further £1,527 for plumbing and £1,950 for work that included rewiring the flat throughout. It is thought to have risen substantially in value since then.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Michael Gove -PARASITE

2009-07-18T22:10:00.002+01:00

Michael Gove, a front-bench ally of David Cameron, spent thousands on furnishing his London home before “flipping” his Commons allowance to a new property in his Surrey constituency, and claiming £13,000 in moving costs.

Shortly after being elected MP for Surrey Heath in 2005, Mr Gove furnished a house in north Kensington, west London, for which he claimed the Additional Costs Allowance.

Over a five-month period between December 2005, and April 2006, he spent more than £7,000 on the semi-detached house, which Mr Gove, 41, and his wife Sarah Vine, a journalist, bought for £430,000 in 2002. Around a third of the money was spent at Oka, an upmarket interior design company established by Lady Annabel Astor, Mr Cameron’s mother-in-law.

Mr Gove bought a £331 Chinon armchair from there, as well as a Manchu cabinet for £493 and a pair of elephant lamps for £134,50.

He also claimed for a £750 Loire table – although the Commons’ authorities only allowed him to claim £600 – a birch Camargue chair worth £432 and a birdcage coffee table for £238.50. Other claims in the five-month period included Egyptian cotton sheets from the White Company, a £454 dishwasher, a £639 range cooker, a £702 fridge freezer and a £19.99 Kenwood toaster.

Mr Gove even claimed for a £34.99 foam cot mattress in Feb 2006 from Toys 'R’ Us – despite children’s equipment being banned under Commons rules. He also charged the taxpayer for eight coffee spoons and cake forks, worth £5.95 each, four breakfast knives and a woven door mat worth £30. A claim for new patio furniture worth £219, including a four-seater bistro dining set, was turned down by Commons officials.

Read on

(2009) Conservative M.P. Francis Maude -PARASITE

2009-07-18T22:01:00.002+01:00

Francis Maude claimed almost £35,000 in two years for mortgage interest payments on a London flat when he owned a house just a few hundred yards away.

The shadow minister for the Cabinet Office owned the house outright but in 2006 took out a £345,000 mortgage on the flat about one minute’s walk away. He then rented out the house and began claiming mortgage interest payments on the flat which is in a grade II listed building with a gym and 24-hour concierge.

Labour ministers Alistair Darling and Hazel Blears have previously claimed for second homes in the same building.

Mr Maude also claimed, and was paid, £387.50 for the cost of moving his effects down the road from the house to the flat.

He claimed £18,112.50 in mortgage interest payments for the year 2006-07, £1,790 for council tax, £2,237 for a service charge and £820 for cleaning.

A further £9,801.78 was claimed for mortgage interest payments from April 1 to Aug 31, 2007.

The senior Tory MP then submitted a claim for the mortgage interest payments for the remainder of the 2007-08 financial year, which came to £13,070.96.

In a note to the House of Commons fees office he said he knew there was not enough left in his ACA account to cover the payments.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Alan Duncan -PARASITE

2009-07-18T21:54:00.003+01:00

Alan Duncan, the senior Conservative MP who oversees the party’s policy on MPs’ expenses, claimed thousands of pounds for his garden – but stopped after agreeing with the fees office that his expenditure “could be considered excessive”.

Mr Duncan’s gardening claims raise serious questions about whether expenses by some MPs can be justified as entirely necessary for their parliamentary work. In a three-year period, he recouped more than £4,000. He has not been asked to repay the money despite later concerns over the garden claims.

The bill for £3,194 for gardening in March 2007 was not paid by the fees office, which wrote to Mr Duncan suggesting that the claim might not be “within the spirit” of the rules.

However, by then the multi-millionaire MP for Rutland and Melton had claimed £4,000 of gardening costs that were approved. In a letter to the MP, the office said that it expected gardening costs “to cover only basic essentials such as grass cutting”. Mr Duncan submitted receipts showing that his gardener was being paid £6 an hour for up to 16 hours a week in grounds of less than an acre.

In March 2007, Mr Duncan claimed £598 to overhaul a ride-on lawn-mower and then a further £41 to fix a puncture a month later.

Mr Duncan also claimed £1,400 a month for his mortgage interest on his home in Rutland. He bought the large detached house without taking out a mortgage on the property itself in January 1992, shortly before he was elected to parliament.

Read on

2009-07-18T21:44:00.002+01:00

James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, avoided paying capital gains tax on the sale of his London flat after claiming taxpayer-funded expenses for advice from an accountant, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The Cabinet minister saved thousands of pounds after informing the parliamentary authorities that Manchester was his “main” home while the tax authorities considered London to be his “primary” residence. Mr Purnell claimed for a £395 accountant’s bill that included “tax advice provided in October 2004 regarding sale of flat” on parliamentary expenses which are intended to cover the costs of running an MP’s office.

It can also be disclosed that Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, did not pay capital gains tax on the sale of his London home in 2006. Earlier this week, Gordon Brown criticised Hazel Blears’s similar failure to pay capital gains tax as “totally unacceptable”. Miss Blears, the Communities Secretary, wrote a cheque for £13,000 to cover the tax last week. She said yesterday that acting within the rules “doesn’t cut it with the public”.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Geof Hoon -PARASITE

2009-07-18T21:30:00.001+01:00

Geoff Hoon has established a property empire worth £1.7 million after claiming taxpayer-funded expenses for at least two properties.

During his time as Defence Secretary and Leader of the House, Mr Hoon lived in a grace-and-favour apartment in Whitehall yet claimed costs for his home in Derbyshire.

Within months of losing his grace-and-favour apartment in 2006, Mr Hoon bought a new London townhouse. He then claimed that his Derbyshire home was his main property and designated the new house as his “second home”. This allowed him to fund the London property using the expenses system.

He now stands accused of exploiting the system by switching properties on his parliamentary declaration, enabling him to claim close to the maximum allowable amount most years. This is how he took advantage of the system:

At his Derbyshire family home between 2004 and 2006, Mr Hoon claimed thousands of pounds for renovations and refurbishments. In that time he redecorated and re-carpeted the property, which he has owned since 1986, and claimed for regular visits to DIY stores.

In 2005, Mr Hoon attempted to claim £1,199 for an LCD television — only to be told by the parliamentary authorities that he would receive a maximum of £750.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Ian McCartney -PARASITE

2009-07-18T20:57:00.002+01:00

Ian McCartney, the former Labour Party chairman, spent £16,000 furnishing and decorating his designated second home but paid the money back two years later.

Mr McCartney’s claim, which was submitted in 2006, included £4,045 on furniture for a bedroom and lounge, £3,300 spent at B&Q, £1,328 on two settees, £817 on towels and kitchen ware, £699 on a mattress, £699 on a dining table and chairs, £662 on bedding and soft furnishings, £399 on a television, £249 on a vacuum cleaner and another £241 on soft furnishings. It also included £1,815.37 on decorating.

The House of Commons fees office informed Mr McCartney that the total claim of £16.274.10 exceeded the John Lewis list limit and it was reduced to £14,914.10. That included reducing a claim of £1,100 for a wardrobe to £600.

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(2009) Conservative Deputy Mayor Ian Clement -to FACE FRAUD ENQUIRY

2009-06-26T21:37:00.003+01:00

Scotland Yard today opened a fraud inquiry into allegations that one of Boris Johnson's key deputies misused his corporate credit card.

Detectives will question Ian Clement over claims revealed by the Standard that he used his City Hall expenses to entertain his 23-year-old lover — but said he was buying meals for Tory councillors. He could face jail if convicted of an offence of fraud or of misconduct in public office.

Mr Clement, 44, dramatically quit on Monday after City Hall admitted there were serious “discrepancies” in his expense claims. Then the Standard revealed how Mr Clement falsely claimed for three restaurant meals he said were with Tory council leaders — all of whom denied being present.

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A Video of what "Democracy" Does for You The People (WAKE UP!)

2009-06-20T23:41:00.003+01:00

(2009) New Labour M.P. Gerald Kaufman -PARASITE

2009-06-20T22:48:00.002+01:00

Sir Gerald Kaufman charged the taxpayer £1,851 for a rug he imported from a New York antiques centre and tried to claim £8,865 for a television.

The former environment minister was asked to attend a meeting with officials from the parliamentary fees office to discuss details of another claim relating to £28,834 of work on the kitchen and bathroom at his London flat.

He told them that the work was necessary because he was “living in a slum”, though his second home, off Regent’s Park, is in one of the most fashionable areas of the capital. He was eventually reimbursed for £15,329.

On one occasion he asked a civil servant “why are you querying these expenses?” and on another threatened to make a complaint unless a dispute was settled by noon on the day in question. In one document, an official in the fees office noted that invoices Sir Gerald had submitted took him to “within 6p” of his annual limit. He also claimed £1,262 for a gas bill that was £1,055 in credit.

Between 2001 and 2008 the Manchester Gorton MP, one of the Labour party’s longest-serving members, claimed a total of £115,109 in additional costs allowances on his London flat, which he owns outright. In June 2006, he submitted a claim for three months’ expenses totalling £14,301.60, which included £8,865 for a Bang & Olufsen Beovision 40in LCD television. The maximum amount MPs are allowed to claim for TVs is £750.

On July 7, 2006 the fees office wrote to Sir Gerald to say: “I regret to inform you that this item falls within the not allowable category of luxurious furnishings, and as such has been rejected.”

He was paid £750.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. John Gummer -PARASITE

2009-06-20T22:44:00.001+01:00

John Gummer, the former Conservative Cabinet minister had moles removed from his country estate at taxpayers' expense.

John Gummer, the former environment secretary, used the parliamentary expenses system to claim more than £9,000 a year for gardening.

Mr Gummer also received hundreds of pounds to meet the costs of "treating" moles, removing jackdaw nests, tackling insect infestations and an annual "rodent service" contract. He claimed more than £100 a year for the mole treatment alone.

Only costs essential for an MP to carry out his or her parliamentary duties are supposed to be recouped. It is not clear why Mr Gummer's claims were authorised by House of Commons officials.

The former Cabinet minister, who famously allowed his daughter to be pictured with a hamburger during the BSE crisis in 1990, lives in a grange in Suffolk. He has a £60,000 mortgage on the property and initially claimed around £200 a month towards the interest on the loan.

However, he still claimed close to the maximum allowance of more than £20,000 annually during most years once his other expenses were added.

Letters seen by this newspaper show that officials in the House of Commons fees office were concerned that Mr Gummer was not producing receipts to justify many of his claims.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. John Butterfill -PARASITE

2009-06-20T21:39:00.001+01:00

Sir John Butterfill built a servants' wing at his country home in Surrey for the gardener and his wife with taxpayers' money.

In the beginning there was the viscount's moat. Then, as the expenses saga developed, there was a floating duck island funded by the taxpayer on behalf of a knight of the shire.

And now, just as the nation was beginning to tire of the great 2009 expenses scandal, we have servants' quarters paid for out of the public purse.

Sir John Butterfill, a Conservative grandee hoping to serve out his last year as the MP for Bournemouth West, Dorset, in some style, was last night having to embark on the rather vulgar business of explaining how the taxpayer paid for an extension which housed the gardener and the gardener's wife.

To the horror of the Tory leadership, which believes the expenses claims of grandees are reviving old stereo-types, Butterfill appeared slightly confused as he explained that today's Daily Telegraph had mistakenly claimed that he had servants. "It is a gross misrepresentation of what I said to the young lady at the Telegraph," he told the BBC Newsnight programme as he denied having built servants' quarters from his parliamentary allowance.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Bill Wiggins -PARASITE

2009-06-20T21:21:00.002+01:00

Bill Wiggin, a Conservative whip, has admitted claiming interest payments for a property with no mortgage for two years, but claims it was a mistake and that he is only "human".

The MP for Leominster, a contemporary of David Cameron at Eton, received more than £11,000 in parliamentary expenses after declaring his constituency property was his second home.

But he and his wife owned outright the £480,000 home near Ledbury in Herefordshire, where he has gone on to breed chickens and prize-winning cattle, and had not taken out a home loan on it.

Mr Wiggin denies that he intended to claim a "phantom mortgage", however, and says he meant to put his £900,000 house in Fulham, west London, as his second home.

But, The Daily Telegraph has disclosed, he submitted expenses claims forms to the Commons fees office for 23 consecutive months on which he had written the Herefordshire address, before officials queried his living arrangements and he changed his designated residence back to London.

In a round of interviews today, Mr Wiggin was forced to admit that he had claimed on the wrong property but said it was an honest mistake. David Cameron, the Conservative leader, agreed but said it was a "bad mistake".

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Peter Viggers -PARASITE

2009-06-20T21:11:00.002+01:00

Sir Peter Viggers, a Tory grandee, included with his expense claims the £1,645 cost of a floating duck house in the garden pond at his Hampshire home.

Sir Peter, the MP for Gosport, submitted an invoice for a “Stockholm” duck house to the Commons fees office.

The floating structure, which is almost 5ft high and is designed to provide protection for the birds, is based on an 18th-century building in Sweden. The receipt, from a firm specialising in bird pavilions, said: “Price includes three anchor blocks, duck house and island.”

It was announced last night that following The Daily Telegraph’s disclosures, Sir Peter will retire at the next election.

Sir Peter, a qualified jet pilot, lawyer and banker, has been an MP for 25 years and is a member of the Treasury select committee. He lists his recreations in Who’s Who as opera, travel and trees.

His expenses files reveal that he was paid more than £30,000 of taxpayers’ money for “gardening” over three years, including nearly £500 for 28 tons of manure.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Ben Champan -PARASITE

2009-06-20T21:06:00.000+01:00

An investigation has been launched by Labour into the Daily Telegraph disclosures that House of Commons officials colluded with MPs to let them make inflated claims on their mortgages.

Parliamentary authorities, overseen by Michael Martin, the Speaker, gave secret permission for some MPs to over-claim for thousands of pounds in home loan interest in deals that led to the systematic abuse of the taxpayer-funded expenses system.

Ben Chapman, a Labour MP, admitted on Sunday night that he was allowed to continue claiming for interest payments on his entire mortgage after repaying £295,000 of the loan in 2002.

Over 10 months the arrangement allowed Mr Chapman to receive £15,000 for the part of the home loan which had been paid off.

He has so far refused to give back the money.

But Labour has now launched an investigation into the claims. The party’s chief whip had spoken to Mr Chapman and wpuld be seeking further clarification from the MP and the Fees Office, a Downing Street spokesman said.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Howard Stoate -PARASITE

2009-06-20T21:02:00.002+01:00

Howard Stoate, the Labour MP for Dartford, submitted bills for thousands of pounds worth of DIY materials as he spent years doing up his second home.

The Labour MP for Dartford, whose taxpayer-funded flat in London is only 15 miles from his constituency home, claimed a total of £55,836 in second home allowances in four years, while having no rent or mortgage to pay.

More than £1,000 of the money was spent in B&Q, the DIY retailer, and hundreds more in other home supply stores such as Focus. Dr Stoate spent £4,520 on Everest replacement windows.

Dr Stoate, who worked as a GP before entering politics, is known in Parliament for his practical side. He is also a motoring enthusiast who built his own two-seater kit car.

Since the expenses scandal broke, Dr Stoate has pledged not to claim second home allowances in future and has returned his entire claim for the 2008-09 financial year, amounting to £11,000.

Between 2005 and 2008, Dr Stoate made claims for materials including paint, timber, pipes, shelves, sandpaper, dust sheets and cabling.

Almost all the receipts included in his expense claim are from stores near his constituency home in Dartford, Kent. One B&Q receipt, submitted in 2005, included £5.14 for MDF, £5.96 for stripwood, £24.76 for loft insulation, £8.23 for ready-made plaster, £2.78 for a hinge and £1.30 for a washer.

Two days later, at the same store, Dr Stoate bought a tin of undercoat for £4.98, Dulux gloss paint for £8.28, £4.48 wood stain, a cabinet knob for £2.98 and adhesive for £4.48. Another claim for a B&Q receipt in 2007 included £13.98 for a ball valve, 98p for assorted screws, £4.96 for two tap connectors and £15.78 for three lengths of 15mm tubing.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Paul Goggins -PARASITE

2009-06-20T20:36:00.003+01:00

Mr Goggins shares the house in south-east London with Chris Bain, who is the director of the Catholic aid charity Cafod and a friend since university.

They have lived together for the past 11 years. For the past three years, Mr Goggins, the MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, has designated the property as his “second home” and claimed almost £45,000 in expenses for it. He did not tell the Commons fees office that he shared it.

Mr Goggins claimed for the entire £600 a month mortgage interest, annual council tax and utility bills.

He said Mr Bain, who earned £76,000 a year, had contributed to the costs between 1998 and 2003, when they were not met by taxpayers. After being approached by The Telegraph yesterday, the men said the arrangement was no longer appropriate and they would repay a large amount based on a “thorough assessment” of how many nights Mr Bain stayed there.

In February 2008, Mr Goggins paid Mr Bain £3,829 for the installation of a new kitchen in the house. They said that the money had then been given to Mr Bain’s brother, Don, who carried out the work.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Paddy Tipping -PARASITE

2009-06-20T20:18:00.000+01:00

MP Paddy Tipping has claimed £400 – the maximum allowance for food – almost every month for the past five years.

The claims were made throughout the year, including during parliament's two-month summer holiday.

Speaking to the Evening Post he said: "That was the amount prescribed in the rules and I do go to parliament during the recess, not every day or as regularly when parliament is sitting."

Other expenses included a £199.98 vacuum cleaner from Currys, £1,175 on external decoration and repairs at his flat in London as well as annual TV licences.

He also pays about £500 on mortgage interest payments on his flat in London.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Barry Gardiner -PARASITE

2009-06-20T20:15:00.004+01:00

A BRENT MP is preparing to face questions over his controversial expenses claims.

Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North, has called a public meeting with residents about the expenses scandal engulfing Parliament.

The MP has come under fire for his own claims, which including almost £11,000 for refurbishing a second home which he later sold for a reported £200,000 profit.

He has also been accused of submitting lavish claims for household items, when rules expressly ban luxury purchases being paid for out of the public purse.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. David Chaytor -THIEF

2009-06-20T20:07:00.002+01:00

Labour MP David Chaytor faces a fresh criminal probe after giving £5,000 of expenses to his daughter under an alias.

The Metropolitan Police is already considering whether to investigate the disgraced backbencher after he was caught pocketing £13,000 for a 'phantom mortgage'

But it was revealed yesterday WED that he paid taxpayers' money to 'Sarah Rastrick' for research work, who he later admitted was actually Sarah Chaytor.

The MP for Bury North, who was forced to announce he was quitting at the next election, claimed the cash under his generous office allowances.

A copy of Miss Chaytor's birth certificate shows Rastrick as one of her middle names. The address and mobile phone number of 'Sarah Rastrick' also match Miss Chaytor.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Jonathan Djanogly -PARASITE

2009-06-19T23:46:00.003+01:00

Jonathan Djanogly, the multi-millionaire shadow business minister, claimed almost £5,000 to have automatic gates installed at his large home in his Huntingdon constituency.

The Conservative MP also claimed £13,962 for cleaning and £12,951 for gardening at his second home, which did not have a mortgage, in just four years.

The scale of the claims, which are likely to be regarded as excessive by ordinary taxpayers, is certain to infuriate David Cameron.

The Conservative leader has spent much of the past 10 days attempting to crack down on wealthy Tory MPs who have lavished money on their country homes.

Mr Djanogly is repaying £25,000 to the fees office following discussions earlier this week. In most of his claims, Mr Djanogly charged £65 a week for a cleaner, submitting receipts showing that his monthly staffing bill was up to £1,600 for three staff.

The large wooden gates – which cost £4,936 for installation and maintenance — can be opened automatically by an electronic touchpad from a car.

The MP installed the gates following security fears after he helped constituents threatened by animal rights activists over their links to the animal-testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Barbara Follett -PARASITE

2009-06-19T23:37:00.002+01:00

Babrara Follet, one of Parliament’s richest MPs, has claimed more than £25,000 for a private police force to patrol near her four-storey home in London’s Soho.

The Minister for Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism made taxpayers shell out for the extra security when she claimed she felt unsafe after being mugged and followed by a stalker.

She earns £95,000 a year, while her husband, the thriller writer Ken Follett, is said to earn about £13million a year from his bestsellers.

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(2009) Liberla Democrat Leader Nick Clegg

2009-06-19T21:17:00.002+01:00

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has revealed he claimed more than £7,000 on expenses to renovate his constituency home.

He used the cash to pay for carpets, curtains, light fittings, garden maintenance and plastering work.

He also received over £12,000 for his mortgage on the property in Sheffield, nearly £1,700 for his council tax and £600 for his telephone bill.

MPs can claim up to £23,000 a year on expenses for costs associated with running a second home.

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(2009) Conservative Leader David Cameron M.P. -PARASITE

2009-06-19T21:01:00.002+01:00

David Cameron MP, the Conservative leader, is to repay almost £1,000 claimed on Parliamentary expenses after reviewing his claims over recent weeks.

The Tory leader had already announced his intention to pay back £680 he claimed towards repairs at his second home in Oxfordshire.

But on Thursday he wrote to the Commons Fees Office volunteering the repayment of £947.29 - including the £680 for repairs - after identifying a series of over-claims.

"Over the last few weeks, I have carefully gone through the claims I have made against the Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) since 2004," he wrote in a letter to Terry Bird, the Commons' director of operations.

"This has brought to light a number of points. I would like to make clear that these were discovered as a result of a thorough review by my office, not as a result of media inquiries."

The additional amounts for which he is reimbursing the Fees Office include:

:: £218.91 in mortgage over-claims resulting from "an inadvertent administrative error" arising from changes to his home loan arrangements;

:: £9 he was over-compensated for on an electricity and gas bill;

:: £10 too much he received for a researcher's phone bill;

:: £29.38 he claimed towards a banner on his website he was subsequently asked by the Commons to take down.

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(2009) Lib-Lab-Con-men Investigated by Scotland Yard

2009-06-19T20:07:00.002+01:00

A small number of MPs and peers will face criminal investigations into allegations they misused their expenses.

Scotland Yard said a joint assessment panel of senior detectives and prosecutors had decided full inquiries were necessary.

The police inquiries were expected to focus on politicians accused of deliberately misleading the authorities or claiming "phantom mortgages".

The investigation will be conducted by officers from the Met's Economic and Specialist Crime Command, overseen by Temporary Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams. It is understood the joint panel of experts will continue to consider a small number of other individuals.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "After consideration by the joint Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service assessment panel the Met has decided to launch an investigation into the alleged misuse of expenses by a small number of MPs and peers."

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Anne Main

2009-06-18T00:57:00.003+01:00

The daughter of Anne Main, a Tory MP, has been living rent-free at a flat paid for by her mother’s taxpayer-funded second home allowances.

Mrs Main, the MP for St Albans, has claimed a 10 per cent second home discount on her council tax for the apartment in her constituency even though her 27-year-old daughter, Claire Tonks, has lived there for up to three years.

This discount can only be claimed if no one lives at the property full-time.

Mrs Main’s principal home is a large detached house in Beaconsfield, Bucks, 25 miles from St Albans. The house is roughly six miles further from Westminster than the St Albans flat. Mrs Main has no regular accommodation in the capital.

The MP charged the taxpayer £1,095.68 a month in mortgage interest payments for the flat, along with service charges, utility bills and furnishing costs. She has claimed a 10 per cent discount on council tax since 2004 — amounting to £171.09 last year — and submitted the bill on her expenses.

Two neighbours who in live in other flats in the building — who the Telegraph spoke to alongside the MP yesterday — both said that it was the first time they had met her.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Ian Gibson

2009-06-18T00:34:00.001+01:00

Ian GIbson, the senior Labour MP, has offered to stand down at the next election over his expense claims after being approached by the Daily Telegraph.

Full details of questionable expenses he has made on a London flat will be disclosed in the newspaper tomorrow.

The MP had published his expenses on his website, but redacted crucial information which has been uncovered by the Daily Telegraph. The information would not have been released under Parliamentary plans to publish details of MPs expenses.

Dr Gibson’s announcement came within hours of another Labour MP, Ben Chapman, announcing that he will also stand down at the next election.

On Monday, the Telegraph disclosed how Mr Chapman had claimed £15,000 of expenses to which he was not entitled.

He confirmed that he would step down in a statement released on Thursday night.

Between December 2002 and October 2003, Mr Chapman deliberately claimed about £15,000 in expenses for interest on a part of the mortgage on his second home that he had already repaid.

He was given permission to do this by an official in the Commons fees office, in an arrangement that internal correspondence suggested was not unique.

Mr Chapman refused to consider paying back any of the money.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Peter Luff THIEF

2009-06-18T00:28:00.001+01:00

Peter Luff, a Conservative MP, bought three lavatory seats, three food mixers, two microwaves and 10 sets of bed linen while kitting out his country house and London flat at taxpayers’ expense.

During a four-year period, Peter Luff, the MP for Mid-Worcestershire, spent £17,000 on various items including four beds and mattresses, five tables, two ironing boards, two vacuum cleaners, five sets of towels and three kettles.

In the months before he switched the designation of his second home from Worcester to the capital, he paid for more than £5,000 of decorating and repairs, including the £53.71 cost of having his Aga cooker fixed.

Six months later, he switched his designation to a small flat in south London, where he spent more than £3,000 decorating the bathroom, kitchen, sitting room and hall.

Records seen by The Daily Telegraph show that Mr Luff submitted receipts for furniture and furnishings or decorating bills virtually every month over a four-year period.

Under the rules governing second home expenses, MPs are not allowed to make purchases which would be deemed “extravagant or luxurious”. On virtually each occasion, the House of Commons fees office signed off Mr Luff’s expenses without question, although he did have an £809.91 claim for a television reduced to £750.

In March 2005, he attended a meeting with fees office staff, who told him that his claim for a £1,583 dining room table and chairs was considered excessive. He was paid £750.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. George Mudie -PARASITE

2009-06-17T23:19:00.001+01:00

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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(2009) Conservative M.P. Robert Syms -PARASITE

2009-06-17T23:12:00.002+01:00

Robert Syms, a Conservative MP, claimed more than £2,000 worth of furniture on expenses for his designated second home in London, but had it all delivered to his parents’ address in Wiltshire.

Mr Syms, the MP for Poole in Dorset, chose to send a bed, mattress, bedroom furniture, sofa and chair to their home, which is just five miles from his designated main residence in his constituency.

In January 2007, he submitted an expense claim to the fees office that included a £1,379.75 receipt from Beds Direct in Chippenham, and a £677 receipt from DFS in Swindon.

Yesterday, the 52-year-old, who has two children and is divorced, insisted that his actions were above board.

He said: “The reason is that I was a director of a building company in Chippenham and the easiest thing was to get the items shipped to my parents’ address.

“It was stored there and then taken up in a van.

“If I had had it delivered to London, I would have had to spend all the day waiting for a delivery, when obviously I am busy in parliament.

“My parents took delivery and then I took it up to London a week or two later to my second address – I drove the van myself.” Mr Syms was elected as an MP in 1997 and became a frontbench spokesman for environment, transport and the regions in 1999.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Ed Vaizey -PARASITE

2009-06-17T23:09:00.000+01:00

Ed Vaizey, a key ally of David Cameron, had £2,000 worth of furniture delivered to his London home when he was claiming his Commons allowance on a second home in Oxfordshire.

Mr Vaizey also charged more than £10,000 in stamp duty and legal fees to the taxpayer when he moved from rented accommodation to a house he bought in his constituency. Claims submitted by Mr Vaizey, a Conservative culture spokesman, show that his wife Alexandra ordered furniture worth £1,968.45 from the upmarket online retailer Oka in 2007.

Oka was co-founded up 1999 by Lady Annabel Astor, Mr Cameron’s mother-in-law. The shop says on its website that its “extensive furniture range includes painted, rattan, bamboo, sofas, beds, tables, chairs and armoires”.

Receipts submitted by Mr Vaizey show that he ordered a £467 two seat “Hurlingham” sofa and Carmargue chair, worth £544, an “ebony/brown” low table, worth £280.50 and a £671 Dordogne table in February 2007.

The Commons fees office knocked back the claim because the receipt said that the furniture was due to be delivered to the Vaizeys’ home address in west London. An official told Mr Vaizey that his claim was turned down because it “included an invoice from Oka in relation to an address which is different from that nominated as your home”.

The bill was later paid when Mr Vaizey, who entered the House of Commons in 2005, told the fees office that the furniture was intended for his designated second home in his Wantage constituency. He wrote: “I re-attach my claim for furniture as this furniture has been bought for my second home in Wantage.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Jim Devine -PARASITE

2009-06-17T22:59:00.001+01:00

(Pictued right)

(See below for details.)

(2009) New Labour M.P. Michael Connarty -PARASITE

2009-06-17T22:43:00.003+01:00

Michael Connarty (pictured left), a Labour MP, sold some of the contents of his London home to Jim Devine, a close colleague, before charging the taxpayer thousands of pounds for goods delivered to addresses in Scotland.

Mr Connarty sold his flat in the capital to Mr Devine, an MP from a neighbouring constituency, and left behind some of his furnishings and household items when he moved out.

Mr Devine agreed to pay Mr Connarty £4,000, including £1,000 for a sofa bed. Mr Devine then reclaimed the entire sum as expenses incurred at his designated second home.

Mr Connarty, the MP for Linlithgow and Falkirk East, then claimed thousands of pounds for goods for his new second home in London, including a £250 alarm clock and luxury stereo equipment.

He also claimed back the cost of two beds and two sofas, all purchased in Scotland, which were delivered to his constituency home in Falkirk and an address in Glasgow.

The Green Book, which dictates what is permissible under the Commons second homes allowance, states that MPs must only purchase items necessary for them to perform their duties and forbids anything that could be deemed a luxury.

Less than two weeks before his arrangement with Mr Devine, Mr Connarty submitted an expenses claim for £509.87, including £379.99 for a television and £69.99 for a Freeview box.

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(2009) S.N.P. Leader Alec Salmond -PARASITE

2009-06-17T22:33:00.002+01:00

Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister, claimed £400 per month for food when the Commons was not even sitting.

Later, after winning power at Holyrood, his appearances at Westminster became scarce but he still claimed more than £1,700 in expenses for food in 2007/08.

The SNP leader also had a hotel bill cut by the Westminster authorities when he charged the taxpayer for drinks from a minibar.

MPs can claim a maximum of £400 per month for food, without having to produce receipts, but questions will be asked why the First Minister spent so much. Commons records show Mr Salmond claimed the maximum allowance for eight months in 2005/6, a total of £3,200.

However, included in Mr Salmond's claim was £800 for the months of August and September 2005, when the Commons was on its summer recess. Mr Salmond voted on July 12, 2005 but was not required to take part in another division until October 12.

The SNP's victory in the 2007 Holyrood election curtailed his appearances at Westminster, but the food claims did not stop.

In the 2007/08 financial year, which covers the period between the end of March 2007 and the start of April 2008, he voted on only six days in the Commons.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Kitty Ussher

2009-06-17T21:42:00.001+01:00

Kitty Ussher, a junior minister, wrote a letter asking if she could put a full re-fit of her run-down Victorian house on her House of Commons expenses.

Her two-page note details 12 separate major repairs she hoped to have carried out on the home in South London, including the removal of a “bad taste” Artex ceiling.

Her use of allowances is highlighted on the third day of the Telegraph’s exposé of the lax expenses regime in operation at the House of Commons, which allowed MPs to claim thousands of pounds of tax payers’ money for costs most ordinary people are forced to bear themselves.

The records reveal that Miss Ussher, the MP for Burnley, contacted the Commons fees office within 12 months of being elected, with a detailed programme of work for the property she had already lived in for five years.

She wrote: “I am writing for guidance as to whether a number of essential repairs can be claimed under the Additional Costs Allowance.

“The basic situation is that this house was relatively cheap to purchase but requires quite a lot of work.”

She then listed 12 repairs which she hoped to have carried out on the taxpayer, including a bathroom which did not “function” and “peeling” walls in the shower room.”

(2009) New Labour M.P. Charlotte Atkins -PARASITE

2009-06-17T00:47:00.002+01:00

Charlotte Atkins, a Labour MP, claimed more than £35,000 in renovations on her second home allowance including £20,000 for windows, £4,000 for the chimney, £9,000 for the bathroom and nearly £2,000 for the garden.

Over four years, Miss Atkins carried out extensive work on her detached Edwardian red brick constituency house in Leek, Staffordshire.

Her first major application to the fees office came in March 2005 when she claimed £4,000 for pulling down and rebuilding the chimney and £15,000 for window repairs and replacement.

When challenged, the MP said she had not realised the windows were rotten when she bought the property.

Officials agreed that the chimney was essential, but argued that the large scale renovations on the windows went “beyond the definition for allowable work set out in the Green Book”.

Notes of a conversation between the MP and the fees office said: “I think she accepted, but did not necessarily agree with, the idea that there was some benefit to her in the window replacement programme.

“I suggested that a 50/50 sharing of the costs might be appropriate. She neither agreed nor disagreed with this proposition.”

Miss Atkins’s memory of the conversation was slightly different: “We agreed what was acceptable under the Green Book – ie 50 per cent of the window repair – and I was entirely happy with that.”

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Hilary Armstrong -PARASITE

2009-06-17T00:30:00.002+01:00

A former government chief whip was told by the Commons authorities that allowing the Labour Party to pay for and run a computer at her taxpayer-funded home could make her “politically vulnerable”.

A Commons official added that she should be careful, “particularly in the run-up to an election”.

Hilary Armstrong, the MP for North West Durham, also claimed £3,100 towards the cost of repointing the gables and walls on her constituency home.

The Green Book rules state that MPs must avoid any suggestion “that public money is being diverted for the benefit of a political organisation”.

A note of a conversation with Mrs Armstrong written on fees office notepaper discloses that officials were uneasy about the former Cabinet minister claiming for the computer on her expenses. The official wrote on June 22, 2004: “I said that we were uneasy about her providing a desk and computer for party use in ACA home.

“It conflicted with the 'wholly, exclusively + necessarily incurred’ requirement. Could make her politically vulnerable. Mrs Armstrong said party had no office in her constituency. What else could they do?”

The pair discussed “redesignating her North East home as her main property” so that she could install the computer at her own expense.

The official added: “Currently she has designated London as her main home. Mortgage on London is in her husband’s name. Change now would mean reallocating the mortgage. The risk was probably not huge, provided that she was careful particularly in the run-up to an election.”

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(2009) Conservative M.P. James Arbuthnot -PARASITE

2009-06-17T00:24:00.002+01:00

James Arbuthnot MP claimed from the public finances for cleaning his swimming pool at a country residence.

The claims by James Arbuthnot were among a series of payments made to maintain a home in Hampshire that he rented before buying a £2 million home without a mortgage two years ago.

Last night, the chairman of the defence select committee said that claiming for the swimming pool maintenance was an error of judgment and that he would return the money.

He was unable to calculate the sum he would repay the fees office. One handwritten invoice for a three-month period, for “grass, strim, pool, fuel” came to £776. Another bill for two months came to £594. The bill for the whole of the 2006-07 financial year for these services was £1,471.

In a letter to the fees office, Mr Arbuthnot acknowledged that his new house was unusually costly to run. He was “well aware” that he quickly spent the additional costs allowance, he wrote, but that was because “[his home] is an expensive house to run”. In June 2007, it took four hours to mow the “main lawn and swimming pool lawn” at a cost of £44.

Email exchanges between the MP and the fees office at this time illustrate the laxity of the fees office in enforcing the rules. Mr Arbuthnot rented a house in a village in Hampshire.

(2009) Conservative M.P. Michael Ancram

2009-06-17T00:13:00.001+01:00

Michael Ancram, the former Conservative deputy leader, put the cost of having his swimming pool boiler serviced on his taxpayer-funded parliamentary allowances.

The MP, who is the Marquess of Lothian, submitted claims running to thousands of pounds for gardening and cleaning at his country house, also charging for maintenance at a cottage set in the grounds used by his housekeeper.

After being asked by The Daily Telegraph over the claims, he agreed to repay the £98.58 cost of his swimming pool boiler repair, but insisted that all his other claims were necessary for maintaining his property, saying: “None of the other items were extravagant or luxurious.”

Among the receipts submitted by the MP, who retired to the backbenches after losing the leadership contest to David Cameron in 2005, were payments for “rodent control”, moss removal and the servicing of his Aga oven.

One receipt, issued by a local heating engineer in May 2006, shows that Mr Ancram claimed £90.17 for a boiler service at his “main house,” another £98.58 for the swimming pool boiler, and £72.50 for a third boiler at “Honeysuckle Cottage”.

He converted the cottage for the use of a couple who look after the house when he and his wife are away.

The same month, Mr Ancram asked for reimbursement of £1,117.43 for a gardening bill which included “cleaning up moss etc” on the house in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire.

(2009) Conservative M.P. Brian Binley -PARASITE

2009-06-16T22:59:00.005+01:00

A millionaire Conservative MP broke parliamentary rules by claiming more than £50,000 in taxpayer-funded expenses to rent a flat from his own company.

Brian Binley claimed £1,500 a month to rent the flat for more than three years, despite House of Commons rules forbidding MPs from renting properties from themselves or their companies.

The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Mr Binley’s rental claims were first flagged up by parliamentary officials in April 2006, but the payments were not stopped until April of this year.

In 2006, he was told that the claims were not allowed. But he was permitted to continue claiming after appealing to Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons. Mr Martin only ruled in April 2009 that the claims must stop but Mr Binley has not had to repay the £57,000 he improperly received while the Speaker deliberated.

The latest disclosure concerning MPs’ expenses will cast further serious doubts over the policing of the system by the parliamentary authorities.

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Binley's Previous Crime:

An MP, who tried to get a driving ban overturned by claiming it would harm his constituents, has lost his appeal. Brian Binley, MP for Northampton South, totted up 12 points on his licence when caught doing 37mph in a 30mph zone in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. The 65-year-old MP, with nine points already, was given three more and a ban in March, by Towcester magistrates. Judge Richard Bray at Northampton Crown Court confirmed the six-month ban because he had the resources to cope. Mr Binley, caught speeding in August last year, claimed he needed his car to reach constituents in his rural seat.

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(2007) Conservative Former Mayor Raja Akhtar -VOTE RIGGING

2009-06-14T00:08:00.001+01:00

CHARGED: Former Mayor of Peterborough Raja Akhtar and, inset, Mohammed Choudhary, who are both now facing charges relating to alleged vote rigging.

A SERVING city councillor and a former Peterborough mayor have been charged with vote rigging.

Cllr Abdul Razaq, of Alexandra Road, Millfield, and former mayor Raja Akhtar, who lost his Central Ward seat in the May elections this year, have both been charged with forgery.

(2007) Respect Election Cadidate Sajid Mehmood -FALSE DECLARATION

2009-06-14T00:04:00.001+01:00

A HALIFAX election candidate who failed to declare his criminal record has appeared in court.

Sajid Mehmood, 36, of Saxon Street, off Hanson Lane, Halifax, admitted making a false statement on nomination papers.

He stood for the Respect Party in Park ward, Halifax, in council elections in May.

Sentencing was adjou-rned at Bradford Crown Court until November 23.

Under the Represen-tation of the People Act, anyone given a prison sentence of three months or more, even if it is suspended, is disqualified from standing for election for five years.

In 2003, Mehmood was sentenced to three months in jail for possession of heroin and cocaine.

He was also convicted of driving offences and received four months in prison in 2004 and another 16 weeks in 2005.

In August, the High Court refused to order a re-run of the election in Park ward after former Conservative councillor Mohammed Chaudhary Saghir petitioned the court for the result to be declared void.

(2007) New Labour Former Mayor Lawrence Bailey

2009-06-13T23:48:00.005+01:00

CRIME 1: A former leader of Swansea Council has been banned from becoming a councillor for two-and-a-half years after indecent images were found on his computers.

Lawrence Bailey, 52, was found to have breached codes of conduct by the Adjudication Panel for Wales.

It also found he had broken rules by writing to a local newspaper using false names.

At least 70,000 "graphic" images were found on one computer.

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CRIME 2: But the panel also found it contained 253 documents, mostly letters to the Swansea Evening Post.

"Although the police examination showed Mr Bailey as being the author, the documents purported to have originated from various residents of Swansea," stated the report.

"In some cases the addresses did not exist or the postcodes did not match them, or the true residents had no knowledge of the letters."

"Widespread practice"

In his own submission to the panel, Mr Bailey claimed that writing letters to the press under pseudonyms "was widespread practice in political life in Wales".

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(2009) Labour Cllr. Mohammed Najib -WANTED FOR ELECTORAL FRAUD

2009-06-13T23:36:00.004+01:00

A FORMER councillor is wanted by police investigating election fraud.

Mohammed Najib was arrested last May after the local elections, it emerged yesterday.

But he failed to answer bail in September and is now believed to be abroad.

Calderdale's first Asian councillor lost his Labour seat in Park ward last year after a 22-year stint.

It is believed Mr Najib is now living in Pakistan and inquiries are being made to trace him there.

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(2009) Conservative Newly Elected Mayor Tom Wilson -ELECTION FRAUD THAT COST TAXPAYERS £20,000

2009-06-13T23:08:00.004+01:00

A BREACH of election rules by mayor Tom Wilson could cost Nuneaton and Bedworth taxpayers £20,000.

That is the estimated bill for staging a Warwickshire County Council by-election in Arbury-Stockingford, forced by Mr Wilson’s shock resignation, as reported in yesterday’s Telegraph.

After finishing first in last week’s poll, to win a place at Shire Hall, the 63-year-old Tory candidate will have to face the voters again because of an illegal nomination paper.

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(2009) Labour M.P. Elliot Morely -THIEF

2009-05-31T22:05:00.003+01:00

Elliot Morley, the former environment minister, has become the 13th MP to step down in the wake of the expenses scandal.

Mr Morley, who claimed £16,000 over 18 months for a mortgage that did not exist, has confirmed that he will stand down at the next general election.

He had already been suspended by the Labour Party.

Scotland Yard is also considering whether to launch a criminal probe in the wake of his involvement in the MPs' expenses scandal exposed by The Daily Telegraph.

The Scunthorpe MP made his announcement after arranging a meeting with his local party association.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. David Wilshire -PARASITE

2009-05-31T21:59:00.001+01:00

David Wilshire, a former Conservative whip, claimed thousands of pounds of taxpayers money for monthly payments towards the cost of replacing curtains and carpets at some point in the future.

David Wilshire, MP for Spelthorne, had an arrangement with the Parliamentary Fees Office which allowed him to claim £66.66 a month for what he called the "share of renewal of carpets/curtains every 10 years" at his second home.

There is no documentation in his claims between 2004 and 2007 to show that he actually bought a replacement carpet or curtains during that period.

It suggests that Mr Wilshire was effectively being paid in advance by the fees office for items he would not have to buy for years to come.

His expenses claims show that he estimated he would have to spend £8,000 every decade replacing curtains and carpets. He then calculated what this would cost if the bill was spread over 120 months and claimed £66.66 a month.

Between April 2004 and December 2007 - when he stops them claims - the fees office paid Mr Wilshire £2,200 through the arrangement, even though no receipt for carpets or curtains were submitted.

Mr Wilshire used the same technique to claim for the cost of redecorating his apartment, which is just yards from Conservative Central Office and the Palace of Westminster.

Every month the MP claimed £83.33 for the "share of redecoration" - 1/60th of the £5,000 he estimated he would have to pay for redecoration every five years.

(2009) Conservative M.P. Peter Ainsworth -PARASITE

2009-05-31T21:41:00.001+01:00

Peter Ainsworth, a Tory MP and former shadow environment secretary who tried to charge nearly £1,000 for a “pewter finish” radiator cover on his expenses, was warned by the fees office that it could be excessive.

Mr Ainsworth submitted a receipt for £957 and tried to secure a £1,461 dining room table on the public purse. His submissions were refused and he was told: “Our concern is that your claim may be considered excessive within the spirit of the proviso 'wholly, necessarily and exclusively on parliamentary duties’ as outlined in the Green Book.”

Mr Ainsworth, who claimed for a second home in London even though his Surrey constituency was 22 miles from Westminster, looked into claiming more than £8,000 for work to his garden in May 2007 but was again turned down by the fees office.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. David Mundell

2009-05-31T21:24:00.002+01:00

Shadow Scottish Secretary David Mundell has claimed more than £3,000 on MPs' expenses for cameras, photographers and photo-editing computer software to take hundreds of pictures of himself.

The "Out and About" section of his website displays more than 700 pictures, mostly of Mr Mundell in various different parts of his Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale constituency.

Mr Mundell appears to have set himself the task of visiting as many places in his constituency as he can and getting his picture taken beside the road sign as proof.

His tour has so far taken him to Bankend, Beattock, Boreland, Cardrona, Clarencefield, Durisdeermill, Ecclefechan, Gretna and Hightae, to name but a few.

He is also pictured taking overseas trips overseas to places such as Israel and Rwanda.

His passion for photography got him into trouble in August 2006, according to details contained in his expense claims.

A picture of "David Mundell and Family at Biggar Bonfire" was used on the MP's website and in a parliamentary report, without authorisation from the photographer.

As a result, Mr Mundell was sent an invoice for £175 for its use on the website with another £175 added on top as a penalty for failing to seek his permission.

The other reproduction was also charged at a "double rate" of £180, bringing the total bill to more than £620 with the inclusion of VAT.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Roger Godsiff -PARASITE

2009-05-31T21:18:00.002+01:00

A backbench Labour MP claimed for bath mats, gardening equipment and more than £7,000 of property repairs on his office expenses.

Roger Godsiff was already claiming his maximum second home allowance to cover the interest on a large mortgage for his home in London when he made dozens of claims for 'office sundries' on his office expenses.

Receipts suggest the purchases were in fact for household items including a lawnmower, hedge trimmer, cushion covers and bath mats.

He also used office expenses for extensive roofing work, rewiring, replacement guttering and even clock repair at a property he owns in his Birmingham constituency.

The former bank clerk used the maximum Additional Cost Allowance (ACA) in the four years between 2004/5 and 2007/8 by claiming around £1,900 a month for the mortgage interest and around £400 a month for a secured loan on his detached house in Lewisham, south-east London, which he designated his second home.

The total monthly claims of around £2,300 were so large that the maximum ACA was not enough to cover all his annual repayments.

In total Mr Godsiff claimed £86,919 over four years in second home costs for the house which is in the area in which he grew up and began his political career and where his wife and family are listed on the electoral roll.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Doug Henderson -PARASITE

2009-05-31T19:52:00.001+01:00

Doug Henderson, a former government minister, has claimed hundreds of pounds for telephone calls made from his family home which is more than four hours drive away from his constituency.

Doug Henderson, Labour MP for Newcastle North, sought more than £800 for landline calls he made in 2007/08 from the house he shares with his wife Geraldine in the fishing village of Anstruther, where he went to school.

The Scottish house is more than 150 miles away from Newcastle and more than an eight hour drive from his second home in London

When asked about the bills, Mr Henderson said he lived and worked in Anstruther, but was "in Newcastle very regularly, nearly every Friday and some weekends".

He said his presence in Fife was known about in the constituency because the Liberal Democrats "put leaflets out telling everybody".

In an analysis by The Sunday Telegraph, which assessed MPs' value for money based on how much work they did in parliament compared to their overall expenses, Mr Henderson came out as one of the worst for value-for-money.

He attended parliament for about half of all votes, spoke in just eight debates and submitted 23 written questions in 2007/08, but claimed a total of £151,860 in expenses, including travel, home, office and staffing costs.

(2009) New Labour M.P. Glenda Jackson -PARASITE

2009-05-31T19:43:00.001+01:00

Glenda Jackson, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, has repaid more than £8,000 in expenses she wrongly claimed towards publication of an annual report.

The former double Oscar winning actress had claimed £8,850 to cover the cost of the publication which was called First Magazine.

Ms Jackson agreed to pay back the money because the publication carried a reference to the Labour Party in breach of the rules

The MP last night said she had not proof read the document properly when the document was first produced and had missed the single reference to the Labour Party at the end of the magazine.

"I failed to proof read a line at the very end of the document which mentioned the party and I have paid back the money."

Several of Ms Jackson's other claims relate to payments to the Labour Party.

In March 2006 she claimed £7,500 in office expenses from the taxpayer to pay her local party for the "provision of constituency services during 2006".

The payment, which was claimed on her Incidental Expenditure Provision (IEP) covered the cost of "constituency contacts, office facilities, member's surgery support, administration and the downloading of the electoral register".

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Bob Walter -PARASITE

2009-05-31T19:39:00.001+01:00

Bob Walter, the Conservative MP for north Dorset, attempted to claim £1,008 for handmade carpets he bought while on a trip to India.

Bob Walter bought the carpets to furnish his home in his constituency while on an all expenses paid visit to the country with fellow Tories. Although the fees office knocked him back for the full amount, they agreed to pay him £600.

He made the carpets claim as part of £85,000 in second homes allowance he has claimed in four years for his home in Dorset after switching his second home designation from a property in London.

The total claimed on his Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) includes £16,790 in removal bills, solicitors' fees, stamp duty and estate agency commission when he moved five miles from his home in Gillingham to his new £395,000 home in Shaftesbury in 2004.

In addition to a £1200 monthly mortgage interest bill for his Shaftesbury home, Mr Walter also claimed for gardening, pot plants, cleaning, gas, electricity and water supplies.

His claims under the Incidental Expenses Provision (IEP), which is designed to cover office costs, included receipts for two Marks & Spencer's Choc Sundaes, an "Exquisite Sundae" from Morrisons and a Creme Egg bar costing 47p, along with other purchases during November and December 2007, which he said had been consumed by "unpaid post graduate interns who work on my staff".

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(2009) Respect Party M.P. George Galloway -PARASITE

2009-05-31T19:12:00.001+01:00

George Galloway, the controversial left-wing MP thrown out of the Labour Party, tried to charge the taxpayer for the cost of Christmas cards sent from his constituency office.

The Respect MP for the east London constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow – where many of his constituents are Muslim – submitted a claim for £32 on his Incidental Expenses Provision for the festive greetings cards.

However, the claim was rejected by the Parliamentary fees office, who informed the MP it was against the rules.

In a letter to Mr Galloway a member of the fees office stated: "The Department of Resources disallows costs relating to Christmas cards as they do not fall within the remit of this allowance."

On Saturday night, Mr Galloway said the claim was a "simple error" by a new member of staff.

As an MP for an inner-London constituency Mr Galloway is not eligible to claim a second home allowance. He did however receive a £1,978 supplement for MPs from the capital last year.

The previous year he received the maximum £2,712 London allowance.

An analysis carried out earlier this year by The Sunday Telegraph found that Mr Galloway, who was expelled from the Labour Party in 2003 for accusing Tony Blair and President George Bush of acting "like wolves" in Iraq, represents the least value for money for his constituents of any MP.

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(2009) Liberal Democrat M.P. Charles Kennedy -PARASITE

2009-05-31T18:48:00.002+01:00

The former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, charged taxpayers for three boxes of mints and two teddy bears bought from the gift shop at the House of Commons.

Mr Kennedy submitted the £35.75 bill for the items, which paperwork suggested were to be used as "prizes", under the Incidental Expenses Provision (IEP) which is meant to cover MPs' office costs.

The Commons Fees Office paid up for the three boxes of "dark chocolate mints" at £5.95 each and the two "toffee bears" at £8.95.

Mr Kennedy said on Saturday night that the claim had been an "error" – and that the money had been repaid earlier this month.

He said he received regular requests for such charitable donations. "These I meet from my own pocket and am happy to do so," he added.

Mr Kennedy, the MP for the seat of Ross, Skye and Lochaber, also attempted to use his taxpayer-funded office costs allowance for Remembrance Sunday poppy wreaths.

He successfully claimed £18 for a poppy wreath in November 2006 – but an attempt to claim £49 for wreaths a year later was disallowed.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Tim Yeo -PARASITE

2009-05-31T18:40:00.001+01:00

A former Conservative minister used his MPs' expenses to pay for a pink laptop computer from John Lewis in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

House of Commons officials prevaricated over querying the £905.95 purchase for the Sony Vaio laptop by Tim Yeo on 29 November 2007 – eventually deciding against doing so because they could not see a "basis" for the query.

Mr Yeo, the MP for South Suffolk, put the bill for the item through under the Incidental Expenses Provision (IEP) which covers MPs' office costs.

Marginal notes on the expenses documents by Fees Office staff first suggest: "Query pink laptop?" but another addition states: "No basis to question member etc."

In 2007-8 Mr Yeo claimed a total of £153,358 in expenses, including travel, home, office and staffing costs. In the same year, he turned up for only 42 per cent of votes and spoke in four debates and asked 13 parliamentary questions.

Mr Yeo, the environment minister in John Major's government, claimed the maximum possible amount under the Additional Cost Allowance (ACA) between 2004 and 2008 on his designated second home, a flat in a sought-after Thames-side tower block near Westminster.

The bulk of his claims under the ACA went on mortgage interest payments and service charges for the property but he also charged the taxpayer £1,790.20 on dry cleaning between 2004 and 2006.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. John Smith -PARASITE

2009-05-31T18:34:00.001+01:00

An MP claimed £57,955 in second home expenses in four years without submitting a single receipt.

John Smith, a Labour backbencher, took advantage of generous allowances to claim an average of £14,488 a year – more than the average salary of a minimum wage worker– without providing evidence of any spending.

When he eventually made a claim backed up by a receipt, it was for home furnishings including a vase, a frying pan, a bath robe, beaded drapes and poster art.

Until April last year, MPs were not required to submit receipts for claims up to £400 a month for groceries, £250 for utility bills, £250 for telephone bills, £250 for cleaning, £250 for service and maintenance and £250 for repairs and insurance.

The MP for Vale of Glamorgan, in south Wales, claimed close to the maximum Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) in the four years between 2004/5 and 2007/8 to cover the expense of renting a small flat in London.

In addition to monthly rent of up to £560, he claimed the full £400 for groceries and several hundred pounds across the other categories every month.

In total the 58-year-old claimed £86,675 in ACA over the four years, of which £57,955 was for costs at his London address below the threshold for which evidence was required.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Denis Skinner -PARASITE

2009-05-31T18:31:00.001+01:00

Dennis Skinner, the firebrand Labour MP, claimed more than £1,000 to cover the fees of accountants who helped him prepare his self assessment tax forms.

Mr Skinner, dubbed the beast of Bolsover, first claimed £528.75 to pay the bill of the accountancy firm Brayhaw Morey in July 2004 under the Incidental Expenditure Provision (IEP) designed to cover office expenses.

The invoice submitted along with the claim states: "Professional services in connection with preparation and submission of your 'self assessment' tax return for the year ended 5th April 2004 together with calculating all tax liability, corresponding with HM Inspector of Taxes on your behalf and generally advising you accordingly."

In July 2006 Mr Skinner claimed the same amount for identical services provided by the firm.

He paid the slightly lower sum of £470 in 2005 in return for the same professional service.

The MP on Saturday night said he had checked with the fees office before lodging the claims for the work.

MPs are obliged to pay tax on any reimbursed fees paid to accountants. The Inland Revenue is believe to be investigating whether up to 40 MPs including several Ministers have fulfilled this particular obligation.

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Natascha Engel -PARASITE

2009-05-31T18:26:00.001+01:00

Natascha Engel, Labour MP for North East Derbyshire, charged the taxpayer for copies of a DVD of her maiden speech to Parliament and a copy of a novel by an acclaimed German writer.

Miss Engel, a Labour backbencher, claimed £117.50 in October 2005 to pay for ten copies of the DVD from the Parliamentary Recording Unit showing her first speech since being elected in that year's General Election.

Miss Engel, who has said she wants her constituents to judge whether her expenses are justified, also claimed £12 for a copy of Thomas Mann's Nobel Prize winning novel, The Magic Mountain, set in a tuberculosis clinic in the Swiss Alps before the First World War.

In November 2005 she charged the taxpayer for a set of socialist history posters to decorate her office. Miss Engel claimed £28.95 on her office expenses for the material, bought by mail-order from the People's History Museum in Manchester.

They included reproductions of historic posters, including "Women vote Labour", "Labour Clears The Way" and "Women Workers".

She also claimed for a set of May Day greetings cards to celebrate workers' day and a set of cards by the 19th century artist Walter Crane, entitled "Solidarity of Labour".

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(2009) New Labour M.P. Frank Cook

2009-05-31T18:05:00.003+01:00

An MP used his expenses to claim for a £5 donation he made during a church service to commemorate the Battle of Britain.

Frank Cook, a Labour backbencher, sought reimbursement on his office expenses after the memorial service in his constituency town of Stockton-on-Tees. It was rejected by the parliamentary fees office.

The controversial claim was one of a series made by MPs that can be disclosed today, including reimbursement for carpets bought during a trip to India, chocolates bought by a former party leader and office expenses used for household items such as bath mats.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Ann Winterton -SCUM PARASITE

2009-05-26T00:26:00.004+01:00

Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton, the Conservative MPs, are to resign from parliament at the next election.

Expenses submitted by Sir Nicholas Winterton show he claimed for £41,508 in rent and his wife, Ann, claimed £41,584.

The couple will not run for re-election as the MPs for Macclesfield and Congleton.

In a letter to David Cameron, the Tory leader, the couple said that they could no longer "maintain the hectic pace" of political life and wanted to step down in order to spend more time with their family.

Their decision comes after the Telegraph disclosed that they claimed more than £80,000 in rent for a small London flat that was owned by a trust controlled by their children.

Expenses submitted by Sir Nicholas show he claimed for £41,508 in rent. His wife’s claims amounted to £41,584.

Since 2002 the Wintertons’ flat in Westminster has been owned by a trust which is controlled by their children.

The decision to pass the property into a family trust was reportedly designed to save hundreds of thousands of pounds in death duties.

The trustees are Sir Nicholas and Lady Winterton, together with the family’s lawyer. For four years the pair submitted rental claims of £900 a month each.

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(2009) Conservative M.P. Nicholas Winterton -PARASITE

2009-05-26T00:18:00.004+01:00