MPs expenses list up for sale for £300,000

Mar 31 2009 By Jonathan Walker

The Prime Minister and other party leaders also urged the UK’s sleaze watchdog to bring forward an inquiry into Westminster remuneration.

Embattled Ms Smith received £22,948 from the taxpayer to help pay for her “second home” in Redditch last year, new House of Commons figures have revealed. Ms Smith also claimed £2,531 in travel costs for her husband Richard Timney.

The Worcestershire MP claimed a total of £157,631 in expenses, including travel costs and the cost of running her office.

The most expensive MP in Birmingham was Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr) claimed £164,614.

The cash was used to fund a constituency advice office which was open five days a week for his constituents, he said.

But other MPs managed to get by on far less.

Walsall North MP David Winnick (Lab Walsall North) claimed £96,202.

In general, MPs appeared to be claiming less than in previous years - perhaps as a result of the bad publicity surrounding expenses claims.

Across the region, the total claimed was £7 million in the last financial year, down from £8 million a year previously.

Mr Mahmood spent £101,894 on staffing costs and £8,963 on communicating with constituents, for example by printing questionnaires. He also spent £10,600 on rail fares.

He said: “I am very happy to provide a service to my constituents. Not a penny of it is spent on me.”

For the first time, MPs’ travel expenses were published in detail, including how much they spent on travel fares for their spouses and children.

Mr Winnick warned that the expenses system had to change - but rejected any suggestion that dishonesty was widespread in the House of Commons.

He said: “Since the public clearly doesn’t accept that the system is as it should be, it needs considerable tightening up.”

The MP with the highest expenses claim in Britain was Eric Joyce (Lab Falkirk), who claimed £187,344. The high cost was due largely to his travel expenses.

See what Midlands MPs claimed