Kent News - MPs claimed nearly £4million in expenses

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Monday, February 8 2010, 23:13

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MPs claimed nearly £4million in expenses

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Derek Conway MP: 'I'm terminating this call'

Taxpayers are subsiding county MPs to the tune of nearly £4 million, with many claiming the full allowance for a second home in London.

  New figures show the county’s 21 representatives have claimed an average of £121,368 a year to pay for accommodation the capital, travel and office and staff costs between April 2006 and March 2007.

  This does not include their £60,277 salaries.

  Critics have slammed MPs for claiming so much, with the Taxpayers’ Alliance saying they “should be ashamed of themselves”.

  The most expensive MP was Old Bexley and Sidcup Tory representative Derek Conway, who claimed £140,943. This included £22,060 for a second home in London, despite his constituency being just 12 miles from Westminster.

  Mr Conway said he was “entitled” to his second home, and that “most MPs have one”.

  He said: “I’m surprised I have claimed the most in Kent, although I consider myself a London rather than a Kent MP, because I do not spend my full allowance.

  “What is never reported is when someone has to halve their salary to become an MP. I was the chief executive of quite a big outfit.”

  Mr Conway then said he would “terminate this call” before slamming the phone down.

  The second highest claimant, Sittingbourne and Sheppey Labour MP Derek Wyatt who clocked up £139,838, said: “I pay my staff exceptionally well, but I don’t do anything exceptional at all. I don’t get £140,000 to just put in my pocket, it is broken down into office costs.

  “I have had a second home for 10 years, because I find you can’t get home after 11pm. I’ve always had a house in London, I’ve got a family and they have lived there for the last three years.”

  Gravesham’s Tory MP Adam Holloway argued money spent on staff costs and second homes was necessary.

  He said: “The staffing allowance is somewhere in the order of £85,000 and that effectively pays for three staff - a secretary to run the office, a researcher to help with Commons contributions and another for case work. In my office we are swamped and all of us, myself included, do case work. I could easily employ six staff and keep them all very busy.

  “Every day I get into the office at about 7.30am and leave at about 10.30pm, and apart from the month of August I am often working 70-hour weeks. I’m really sorry but I am not spending another three hours a day travelling.”

  The official figures do they take into account a new £10,000 communications allowance voted for by MPs in May, which can be spent on leaflets and other documents to be sent to constituents.

Some MPs also receive money for newspaper articles, speeches and advice they give to industry. These must be declared in the register of interests.

  Matthew Elliott, chairman of the Taxpayers Alliance, said: “The key point is expenses have gone up by seven per cent in the last year at a time when most families are having to economise. MPs should be looking after our money more carefully.”

POSTED: 28/10/2007 09:00:00