MPs expenses

Just two years after the MPs expenses scandal, new evidence has emerged that politicians are still abusing the system.

Over 30 MPs have been revealed to be claiming rent for their second homes on expenses while letting out property nearby, a Channel 4 Dispatches probe has revealed.

Among the MPs are former Cabinet ministers who are claiming up to £20,000 in annual expenses for rent, while receiving money from properties often bought and refurbished with funds bankrolled by hard-pressed taxpayer.

In October, news emerged that 27 MPs were letting out their second homes while charging the taxpayer for renting another property.

Dispatches has now uncovered a further five — a trio of MPs engaged in the practice in the capital and a further brace renting and letting properties in their constituencies.

The Telegraph reports that the MPs to be named in tonight’s programme who are renting out homes in London are the Conservative chairman of the culture, media and sport committee, John Whittingdale and former Labour cabinet minister, John Denham.

The programme’s investigative team also discovered that Labour’s Michael Meacher had moved out of his Oldham home to rent a new property, while ex Labour minister, Pat McFadden, had done the same in Wolverhampton.

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) rules clearly state that “members of Parliament must not exploit the system for personal financial advantage”.

But the MPs are adamant that they have done no wrong, and were compelled to act by new IPSA rules banning claims for mortgage interest payments from the end of August.

IPSA is due to publish the names of the landlords of more than 300 MPs later today, in a move set to provoke the ire of Speaker, John Bercow, who is set against any such disclosures.

The revelations will lower even further the standing of MPs following the damaging revelations of the 2009 expenses scandal. Then, a series of deeply embarrassing stories emerged of politicians ‘flipping’ their homes for their own financial advantage at the taxpayers’ expense, as well as MPs collectively claiming hundreds of thousands of pounds for items such as a duck house and the draining of a moat.