Khalid Mahmood's charity gesture after hotel storm

Jun 10 2009 by Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Mail

THE Birmingham MP who claimed the cost of steamy nights in a posh London hotel with a lover on his expenses today repaid the £1,700 bill to charity.

Khalid Mahmood insisted he had done nothing wrong by staying in the hotel, that the bills were ‘approved’ by the Fees Office and that no-one had asked or expected him to return the money. But the Labour MP for Perry Barr said that he understood why his constituents were angry and that he wanted to make a public gesture to show that he “gets it”.

The 47-year-old said: “Some of my constituents have expressed anger and I know where they are coming from and how they see this.”

Mr Mahmood was heavily criticised by Birmingham Mail readers after it was revealed he spent nine nights at The Bentley hotel in Kensington, London, in 2004, with his then lover Elaina Cohen, also employed by him as a Parliamentary assistant.

The £175-a-night cost of the hotel stays was reclaimed from taxpayers.

He insisted the cost to the public was actually less than it would have been if he had rented a flat in London, or bought a property and reclaimed some of the mortgage, like most other MPs.

And he would also have spent time with his partner wherever he was staying, he said.