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MPs' expenses claims are revealed | MPs' expenses claims are revealed |
(30 minutes later) | |
Several MPs' expenses claims have been revealed, showing that John Prescott spent £4,000 in a year on food and that Tony Blair had his TV licence paid. | |
Mr Prescott, Mr Blair, Gordon Brown and ex-Tory leader Michael Howard also had council tax bills for their second home paid for in 2003-04, the figures show. | |
Mr Brown claimed £11,826.81 for flights during the period. All six MPs received money to pay mortgage interest. | |
The revelations follow a freedom of information request by the BBC in 2005. | The revelations follow a freedom of information request by the BBC in 2005. |
Cleaning costs | Cleaning costs |
They also cover former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy and former Tory MP Jonathan Sayeed. | They also cover former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy and former Tory MP Jonathan Sayeed. |
Mr Blair, prime minister from 1997 until last year, claimed £116 for his TV licence. | Mr Blair, prime minister from 1997 until last year, claimed £116 for his TV licence. |
Mr Prescott, his deputy during that time, did not claim for any cleaning costs, and neither did Mr Kennedy. | Mr Prescott, his deputy during that time, did not claim for any cleaning costs, and neither did Mr Kennedy. |
There is no suggestion that any of the claims were in breach of rules. | There is no suggestion that any of the claims were in breach of rules. |
Of the six MPs, Mr Howard spent the most on "additional costs" - including mortgages, utility bills, council tax, phone bills, cleaning, food and provisions and household repairs, claiming £20,347. | |
Mr Prescott was next on £20,057, followed by Mr Sayeed on £18,618. | |
Arguments | |
Mr Blair spent £15,490 and Mr Brown £14,304. | |
Meanwhile, Mr Kennedy's £12,869 additional costs claim all went on mortgage interest payments. | |
Mr Prescott claimed the most on groceries, with Mr Blair the only other MP of the six to claim under this category, for £174.41. | |
Following the BBC's FOI request, the House of Commons Commission argued that a detailed breakdown of travel expenses could identify regular routes travelled by MPs, exposing them to a security risk. | Following the BBC's FOI request, the House of Commons Commission argued that a detailed breakdown of travel expenses could identify regular routes travelled by MPs, exposing them to a security risk. |
We are all assumed to be wrong 'uns Ann Cryer, MP | We are all assumed to be wrong 'uns Ann Cryer, MP |
However, in January this year the information commissioner ruled that the Commons should publish some of the details. | |
The House of Commons Commission has also released details of the second home costs of nine senior politicians from 2005/06, in response to a FOI request from campaigner Heather Brooke. | |
Conservative leader David Cameron claimed the most in mortgage interest payments - £21,293 - but he did not claim for other items such as council tax, food, cleaning or repairs, the figures show. | |
Sir Menzies Campbell, then Lib Dem leader, claimed the most for food - £3,700, with John Prescott claiming almost half the amount he did did two years earlier - £2,300. | |
But Ms Brooke faces a High Court battle to get a more detailed breakdown of the costs after the Commons rejected a request by the information commissioner to release them. | |
Labour MP Ann Cryer said the pursuit of expenses details by journalists was "becoming a witch hunt" and politicians were "all being tarred with the same brush". | Labour MP Ann Cryer said the pursuit of expenses details by journalists was "becoming a witch hunt" and politicians were "all being tarred with the same brush". |
She told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "We are all assumed to be wrong 'uns." | |
But Liberal Democrat transport spokesman and anti-sleaze campaigner Norman Baker said: "This is public money we are talking about and we have to be accountable for it." | |