Cameron redraws expenses battle lines
By Ian Dunt
David Cameron has come out fighting from the expenses scandal, with tough new measures to apply to Tory MPs.
MPs and front benchers were called in for what appears to have been a dressing down by the party leader this afternoon, following two days of extremely damning headlines for the party.
He then scheduled a press conference at which he said: “I want to start by saying sorry – sorry it has come to this, sorry for the actions of some MPs. You’ve been let down.”
From today, all Tory frontbenchers will have to put up their expenses online for all to see as they claim them. Backbenchers will follow in due course.
The practise of ‘flipping’, whereby MPs use public money to do up a property, then flip the second home designation and use public money to buy furniture or repairs for the other home, will no longer be allowed.
Tory MPs will now only be able to claim for fundamental spending, such as mortgage interest, utility bills and council tax.
A panel will be set up to look at questionable expenses and force repayments on any item which is considered unethical, with the possibility that the member will have the party whip withdrawn if they refuse.
“Conservative MPs that have made excessive expenses claims will have to go in front of that panel and pay back the money claimed or they will no longer be Conservative MPs,” Mr Cameron said.
Mr Cameron stressed how many of his senior colleagues would be paying back the money they claimed on questionable expenses.
Michael Gove will pay back the money he spent on furniture – which he defended yesterday – along with the £500 hotel bill he put on expenses.
Oliver Letwin will pay back the money spent on fixing water pipes under his tennis court. George Osborne will pay back the money spent on a chauffeured journey to London. Ken Clarke will pay back money he claimed for council tax.
Andrew Lansley will pay back the money spent on home improvement and Alan Duncan will pay back the money on gardening expenses, as would a host of other prominent Tories, including Francis Maude and Theresa Villiers
Even Mr Cameron, himself, who was given a clear bill of health by the Telegraph, will pay back the money he claimed for a maintenance bill.
But the Tory leader faced criticism for refusing to take discplinary action against those MPs who made excessive claims.
Labour also sprung into action. Deputy leader Harriet Harman has written a letter to the cross-party committee on members’ allowances, which is meeting tonight, calling on it to set up a process where those claims which were outside the rules can be quickly claimed back.
“We’re asking the committee to look and see if a payment has been made that’s outside the rules, we obviously have to make arrangements to have it paid back,” she told the BBC.
The committee has also been asked to clear up the rules surrounding first and second homes. Currently, the homes are defined by where the MP spends the most time.
It also emerged that Labour’s chief whip will be meeting with some of the MPs named in the scandal, raising the possibility of disciplinary action.
Mr Cameron still had to respond to a wide-range of hostile questions today, with many asking him whether his claim that the Tory party had changed could stand up to headlines about MPs cleaning the moats around their country estates with taxpayers’ cash.
Mr Cameron flat out refused to answer questions about the status of Lord Ashcroft, the Tory party’s main donor, who is understood to be resident in Belize rather than the UK – potentially breaking electoral rules.
