TOILET seats, helipad hedge trimming, pornographic films, luxury wallpaper and flatscreen TVs – these are just some of the items Midland MPs have claimed for on expenses.
The assortment of everyday items which most people pay for out of their salaries, but which MPs charged to the taxpayer, has sparked outrage over the past month.
And here are 10 of the worst examples of the most ludicrous claims made by Midland MPs.
1. Defence secretary Bob Ainsworth spent thousands of pounds on redecorating his designated second home, including rebuilding a fireplace and fitting oak beams onto his ceiling.
During 2004/05 the Labour MP for Coventry claimed £1,100 for repairs to a water leak plus redecoration costs, £470 for wooden flooring, £850 for central heating repairs, and £1,304 for painting the outside of the house.
In 2005/06, the replacement of a fence and gate cost £951 and redecoration and new floors resulted in a claim for £6,930. The MP also claimed £1,000 for a Samsung flatscreen TV, but was paid £750 by the Parliamentary Fees Office.
By 2006/07, Mr Ainsworth was claiming £2,000 to repoint the garage, £2,000 for scaffolding and £2,715 for a gas fire, new loft ladder and tumble dryer.
In the same year he claimed £2,475 for a lounge corner unit, £575 for a dresser, £55 for a glass lamp table and £95 for a coffee table. During 2007/08, more urgent repairs were required, this time £4,500 for new fencing.
During the year, Mr Ainsworth, also claimed £4,100 for food and £633 for dry cleaning.
2. Senior conservative MP Bill Cash, claimed for more than £15,000 to pay rent at his daughter’s London flat – even though he owned a home closer to Westminster.
The Stone MP claimed on his expenses form that daughter Laetitia’s property was his second home during 2004-2005. Shortly after the MP stopped claiming money for Ms Cash’s property, she sold her home for a £48,000 profit.
The 35-year-old had only owned the apartment for 18 months and for more than 12 months of that period, was being handed £1,2000 of taxpayers fund as rent by her dad.
Mr Cash, a well-known Eurosceptic, then nominated two private members’ clubs as his “second home” for a three-month period claiming he was “nomadic” at the time.
Mr Cash’s claims have been investigated by the Conservative scrutiny committee and he has agreed to repay £15,000.
The rules were changed in 2006 in order to stop MPs renting homes from close relatives.
3. Redditch Labour MP Jacqui Smith’s husband Richard’s porn-watching got her into trouble after she claimed for pay-per-view blue movies he had watched. She was forced to pay back £10 for the two adult films.
The mum-of-two’s living arrangements also led to deep public anger after she claimed that the room she rented in her sisters London home was her genuine “main home”.
That allowed her to claim £116,000 on her Redditch home which she shares with her husband and children.
Other items claimed for included a flatscreen TV, scatter cushions, a £40 barbecue – and even a bathplug.
Some of her angered constituents signed up to the anti-Jacqui campaign group, Jacqui Must Go Now, calling for Ms Smith to quit over her expenses. She has since resigned as home secretary.
