Weakness in depth: Cabinet ministers follow suit
By politics.co.uk staff
Anger over today’s MP expenses furore is extending beyond No 10 to the entire Cabinet, with Jack Straw, Alistair Darling and David Miliband under particular scrutiny.
After it became apparent MPs would have to publish their expenses Mr Straw confessed he had claimed back the full amount for council tax for four years, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Yet he had received a 50 per cent discount on council tax on his second home. A handwritten note dated July 20th 2008, in which Mr Straw admitted a further error, saw him admitting that “accountancy does not appear to be my strongest suit!”
A statement from the Ministry of Justice said: “An error arose because the amount of interest declined rapidly towards the end of the mortgage. This error was identified by the Commons authorities on information provided by Mr Straw and then repaid.”
The Telegraph investigation found chancellor Alistair Darling switched his ‘main home’ designation four times in as many years. He insisted the shifts were made within House of Commons rules.
Foreign secretary David Miliband, it has emerged, spent so much on his South Shields home his gardener questioned whether the work was necessary.
As part of a near-£30,000 expense on repair work on his constituency home, his gardener expressed concerns. “Please let me know if you would like pots making up at front and back this year, given the relatively short time you’ll be here and their labour-intensive nature,” the gardener wrote.
A spokesman said that “at every stage, David Miliband followed the procedures and rules as laid out by parliamentary authorities”.
Business secretary Peter Mandelson’s conduct has also raised questions. He put through an expenses claim for nearly £3,000 for work on his constituency home in Hartlepool – after he had been told by Tony Blair he would stand down to become Britain’s European commissioner.
“The work done was necessary maintenance. All claims made were reasonable and submitted consistent with parliamentary rules,” a spokesman said.
Other Cabinet ministers have also been embarrassed by today’s Telegraph revelations.
Culture secretary Andy Burnham submitted one expense claim for £16,500 for a new London flat.
Communities secretary Hazel Blears spent time in a fashionable London hotel as she claimed for three properties in one year.
And transport secretary Geoff Hoon once attempted to claim £1,199 for an LCD television. He was rebuffed by parliamentary authorities, who told him the maximum limit was £750.
