PARASITES ALL...

MPs' expenses: Ministers claim Commons officials approved outrageous expenses claims

Gordon Brown refused to apologise today after humiliating details about serial alleged abuse of the expenses gravy train by senior Cabinet ministers were revealed.

The Prime Minister, himself under fire for paying his brother £6,500 for cleaning services, simply blamed the system when challenged to explain the claims.

Leaked documents showed he also mistakenly claimed for a £150 plumbing bill twice over, while ministers claimed for everything from a Kit Kat bar to loo seats.

They too denied milking the system when confronted with the payments, insisting they had only ever acted with the rules.

Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman admitted it 'looks bad' but passed the buck on to the Commons officials who had approved the claims.

Meanwhile, Mr Brown said: 'The system doesn't work. I've said it doesn't work, it's got to be changed. We voted for change and that change has got to come quickly.'

The two faces of Gordon Brown: The Prime Minister managed a smile first thing this morning despite the expenses row but was soon frowning again

His spokesman, when asked if ministers had shown integrity at all times, added: 'The individual ministers have responded to the individual claims about them and they have explained how the action that they have taken is consistent with Parliamentary rules.'

Downing Street was forced to rush out the Prime Minister's cleaning contract with his brother Andrew in a bid to show it was above board.

Officials insisted the set-up was not 'unusual or wrong' and insisted the implication there was anything inappropriate about it was 'wholly unjustified'.

It showed Mr Brown paid his brother, a senior executive of EDF Energy, £6,577 over 26 months for cleaning work on his private Westminster flat.

Andrew Brown then paid the cleaner from his own pocket, at a rate of £357 a month or £4,284 a year.

Downing Street insisted the set-up was legitimate and that neither brother had profited personally.

'The insurance and tax records are always retained and show all payments were made directly to the cleaner,' a spokesman said. 

Leaked receipts also revealed Mr Brown made a mistaken claim for a plumber, charging the £150 bill to taxpayers' twice over. 

He apparently paid the money back yesterday when the mistake was drawn to his attention.

The full expenses claims of 13 Cabinet ministers revealed that they have missed no trick in lining their pockets from the public purse.

From 2001, they claimed an astonishing £2.3million on running costs, furniture and refurbishment for their second homes.

Their full receipts, published for the first time, revealed that:

• Jack Straw, who has responsibility for the criminal justice system, claimed £1,700 in expenses to cover the costs of council tax he never paid. He also overclaimed for mortgage payments.
• John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, claimed two toilet seats in two years and got taxpayers to pay for mock Tudor beams to front his property.
• Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy submitted a claim for £3,000 for a new hot water system, complaining to Commons officials that his water was 'too hot'.
• Communities Secretary Hazel Blears got taxpayers to pay for £5,000 of furniture in just three months and claimed on three different properties in a year.
• Shaun Woodward, the richest member of the Cabinet, claimed £100,000 toward the mortgage on one of his seven homes.
• Foreign Secretary David Miliband claimed hundreds of pounds to pay for a gardener at his constituency home. The gardener questioned whether the work was necessary.
• Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, claimed nearly £3,000 for repairs to his ex-constituency home in Hartlepool, even after he had decided to quit as an MP.

The claims were submitted under the highly controversial allowance that lets MPs recoup the running costs on their second homes from the public purse.

The details are certain to fuel public disgust at the way senior MPs have taken advantage of the system and reinforce calls for an end to the lax regime of oversight which allows them to police the rules themselves. 

Sir Alistair Graham, the former Westminster anti-sleaze chief, said today: 'The rules are being stretched to the absolute limit in a way which is allowing MPs to enhance their personal income.'

The bizarre lengths to which ministers have been prepared to go to claim taxpayers' money were starkly revealed in the case of Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, who is said to have waged a months-long campaign to try to claim funds for the purchase and renovation of a London flat.

After being turned down three times by Commons officials, he eventually sent a jokey handwritten note asking that he be paid the money promptly or he 'might be in line for divorce'. He later received £16,500.

He has denied any wrongdoing.

Scroll down for full details of ministers' claims

The revelations seem particularly damaging to Mr Brown, who has staked his reputation on cleaning up the discredited system.

MPs are bemused the Prime Minister had potentially laid himself open to accusations of sharp practice by handing over large amounts of public money to his brother, Andrew.

He has made much play of his status as a politician with a firm 'moral compass' but the details of his claims reveal a man quite happy to call on the public purse.

On top of the cleaning and plumbing claims, Mr Brown is said to have cashed in by changing the designation of his second home shortly before he moved into Downing Street.

That allowed him to claim the running costs of his home in Fife, including £1,500 to tidy his garden, the hire of a cleaner at £10.50 an hour.

Before he became Prime Minister, Mr Brown had designated his London flat as his second home.

The Prime Minister also submitted extensive incidental expenses, including one bill to call out a pest control agency at a cost to the taxpayer of £352. 

Miss Harman insisted this morning: 'I don't think that because Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, shared a cleaner for his flat with his brother, that that is fiddling.'

'I don't think anyone's suggesting that Gordon Brown was pocketing that £6,000, nor are they suggesting that his brother was pocketing that £6,000.'

But she admitted: 'I know people are angry and I know it looks bad.'

A clearly-furious Lord Mandelson tried to downplay the revelations, insisting the claims would not have been approved had they been against the rules.

'When you see something like this in a paper like the Telegraph you can either react with sort of boiling anger at the attempt to smear or traduce half the cabinet and you should rail at what motivates a Tory supporting paper to mount an operation like this,' he ranted.

'Or you take it more philosophically, you accept that this is what passes for modern journalism - you don't allow yourself to be diverted from it as a minister and you get on with your day job, and that's what I intend to do.'

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Ed Balls admitted: 'All these people are within the rules but the rules are no good. They are out of date and need to change.'

There were immediate demands for all the receipts to be released immediately instead of waiting until July 1 to avoid MPs being 'held to ransom'. 

Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke wrote to Commons Speaker Michael Martin urging their publication now to avoid Parliament being even more discredited.

Mr Straw's claims may draw the most criticism. Leaked documents revealed that for five years the Justice Secretary claimed the full council tax on his second home, when for the entire period he had paid only half of it.

When Mr Straw discovered the problem, he is alleged to have admitted that he had based his submission on pure guesswork rather than a receipt and he was forced to pay the money back.

In the letter to Commons officials he readily confessed 'accounting is not my strongest point.'

Mr Straw's spokesman insisted that all his claims 'have been made entirely in accordance with the rules set by the Commons authorities'.

He added: 'On the claims relating to mortgage interest payments an error arose because the amount of interest declined rapidly toward the end of the mortgage.

'This error was identified by the Commons authorities on information provided by Mr Straw and then repaid.

'It was also Mr Straw himself who spotted errors in the claims for council tax and alerted the authorities. He repaid the difference.'

But if Mr Brown's and Mr Straw's questionable claims might be put down to oversights, many of the other claims might be seen to have helped members of the Cabinet profit from the property market.

Miss Blears, the Communities Secretary, has some explaining to do after it was alleged that she twice charged taxpayers for the cost of a television in a single year.

In the space of a year she sold a property in Manchester, bought a second in London, then sold that and moved into a hotel, before buying a third property.

It is understood that she claimed also expenses for household goods, which include bed linens, in all three homes. Chancellor Alistair Darling is also said to have used the system to his own advantage, making claims for multiple properties.

He changed his second home four times in as many years.

A similar tactic was allegedly used by Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon, who switched his second home in a way which allowed him to improve his family home in Derbyshire at taxpayers' expense before buying a London townhouse.

Mr Burnham, Europe minister Caroline Flint and Mr Murphy all bought flats - or the freehold on properties they already owned - and are said to have claimed back the stamp duty and other moving costs.

Few showed a sharper eye for taking public cash than Mr Prescott. The Hull politician claimed huge amounts for groceries and home furnishings.

In addition to having mock Tudor pillars added to his turreted constituency home, Mr Prescott claimed £1,187 for the outside of his house to be repainted in 2004-5 and a further £609.92 on white goods, including a Zanussi washing machine.

The self-confessed bulimic claimed the maximum possible amount for food, £4,800 a year, and twice in as many years got taxpayers to fund a new lavatory seat.

By contrast, Hillary Benn, the Environment Secretary, claimed just £147.78 for food in one year.

In total more than half the Cabinet are facing serious questions about their expenses claims.

The degree to which some of them appeared to be using the system was thrown into sharper relief by the fact that not all of them have felt the need to fund lavish lifestyles on public funds.

In contrast to many ministers who claimed the vast majority of the £24,000-a-year second homes allowance, Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Secretary claimed just £6,300 a year in rent for a small home in his constituency.

His brother David was more lavish with public money, running up such colossal costs for gardening that even his gardener questioned whether he needed to spend so much.

Over five years Mr Miliband claimed £30,000 in repairs, decoration and furnishings for a home in his South Shields seat that was only worth £120,000. His attempt to claim for a pram was rejected by Commons authorities.

In a sign of the Government's desperation to control the damage, Labour MPs and ministers last night tried to claim that the leaks were the result of a smear operation launched by the Tories.

But they were unable to provide any evidence for that assertion and refused to point the finger at any member of the opposition.

Further revelations are expected when the full details of all MP's expenses are published in July. Further abuses are expected to include a junior minister who charged a new sauna to taxpayers. 

Brown pays brother £6,500 for 'cleaning services'

Salary as Prime Minister £194,250

Gordon Brown, then the Chancellor, paid his brother Andrew £6,577 for cleaning on his Westminster flat between 2004 and 2006.

Downing Street insists the arrangement was not for any personal financial benefit and was totally above board.

The Prime Minister was also shown to have claimed twice after calling someone in to clear his drains in 2006.

He apparently paid back the money yesterday after the duplication was brought to his attention.

he is also said to have claimed for variety of household items, including wallpaper, a fridge, lightbulbs costing £15 and a John Lewis vacuum cleaner worth £265.

Gravy train: Leaked documents of expense claims show Gordon Brown paid brother Andrew, right, £6,577 for cleaning services on his Westminster flat

Prescott's two loo seats in two years

Salary as Deputy Prime Minister 1997 - 2007 £134,000

Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott had his toilet seat mended twice in two years at taxpayers' expense.

In December 2004, a plumber charged £210.79 for repairs to pipework and taps in the bathroom and to 'refix a WC seat'.

Two years' later, in September 2006, he was reimbursed by the taxpayer for a £112.52 maintanence bill that included 'refit WC seat'.

Mr Prescott, who has admitted suffering from bulimia, also claimed the maximum £4,800-a-year for food.

And he had mock Tudor beams attached to the front of his eight-bedroom turreted house in his Hull East constituency.

Expenses forms submitted to the Commons' Fees Office reveal that he used the generous additional costs allowance - worth £24,000 this year - to spruce up the property.

Burnham: 'I need £16,500 or I may be in line for a divorce'

Salary as Culture Secretary £141,866

The Culture Secretary is said to have waged a months-long campaign to try to claim funds for the purchase and renovation of a London flat.

Commons officials turned down the request three times, prompting him to write a jokey note asking the money be paid promptly or he 'might be in line for a divorce'.

The minister later received £16,500.

He was also among several ministers to buy flats - or the freehold on flats they already owned - and claim back the stamp duty and other moving costs.

Mandy's £1,500 bill for 'pruning of leggy shrubs'

Salary as Business Secretary £106,653

Lord Mandelson was paid almost £3,000 for work on his constituency home in Hartlepool less than a week after announcing he was quitting as an MP.

The terrace house was renovated in 2004 before it was sold for a profit of £135,000.

Receipts show his decorator sent a bill for £1,350 on July 25, two days after he had agreed to become Britain's European Commissioner.

Three days later, he was billed by his gardener for £1,500.

The work cited 'crown topping of overgrown trees' and 'pruning of leggy shrubs'.

Another bill for £385 to cover work to the roof and the bathroom was dated September 23, days before a by-election to find his successor.

Blears claims for three different houses in ONE year

Salary as Communites Secretary £141,866

Hazel Blears claimed under the second home allowance on three different houses in 2004.

In March, she said her second home was her house in her Salford constituency which had a £300-a-month mortgage.

A month later, she said it was her house in London where mortgage payments were £850-a-month.

Then in December, she bought a second London flat and claimed mortgage costs there of £1,000.

She is also believed to have paid for household goods at all three houses, including bed linen.

'Accountancy isn't my strong point', says Straw

Salary as Justice Secretary £141,866

Jack Straw claimed for double the amount of council tax he paid over a period of four years, receiving between £807-943 on his constituency home in 2004.

But at the same time, he was paying his local authority half that figure because the house was designated his second home.

He contacted the fees office to admit his mistake last summer shortly after it emerged the claims were to be revealed, including a cheque for £1,395.88 to cover the shortfall.

'I am sorry about this, I am afraid that the reality of life over the last few years is that I've often had to complete the claims in marginal time and without recourse to all the records.'

But a month later, he realised his maths had been wrong and wrote back saying: 'Sorry about that too - accountancy does not appear to be my strongest suit.'

From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1178516/MPs-expenses-Ministers-claim-Commons-officials-approved-outrageous-expenses-claims.html