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Speaker's wife complaint rejected Speaker's wife complaint rejected
(about 6 hours later)
A complaint about taxi journeys claimed on expenses by Commons Speaker Michael Martin's wife has been dismissed.A complaint about taxi journeys claimed on expenses by Commons Speaker Michael Martin's wife has been dismissed.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, John Lyon, said the more than £4,000 spent by Mary Martin was "reasonable" and within the rules. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, John Lyon, said the £4,139.17 claimed by Mary Martin was "reasonable" and within the rules.
The cost was "not excessive", and the journeys had been taken to assist her husband, Mr Lyon added. The cost was "not excessive", and the shopping trips had been taken to assist her husband, Mr Lyon added.
The Speaker is himself currently heading a wide-ranging inquiry into the future of MPs' expenses. Some of the food bought was consumed by the couple, although it was "also used for hospitality", it emerged.
'Necessary' In a memorandum, Mr Lyon said Mrs Martin had been using taxis since 2004, mainly for shopping trips, and had claimed the fares back on expenses.
In a memorandum, Mr Lyon said £4,139.17 had been spent on taxis by Mrs Martin over four years, mainly for shopping trips, and claimed back on expenses. It's shocking that they are able to use taxpayers' money for taxis to do their domestic grocery shopping Mark WallaceTaxPayers' Alliance
"The journeys taken met the necessary requirements of Mr Speaker to assist him in carrying out his official duties," he said in a memorandum to the Standards Committee. Mark Wallace, the campaign director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, who submitted the complaint, said it appeared the trips were "more for food for the Martins than for official functions".
"Taking account of the requirements and the cost of alternative provision, the costs were not excessive." "If so, it's shocking that they are able to use taxpayers' money for taxis to do their domestic grocery shopping," he said.
Mr Martin's own inquiry - as chairman of the Members' Estimate Committee - was set up following revelations about Tory MP Derek Conway's use of expenses to employ his son. It is due to report this summer. "If this is within the rules, then the rules urgently need tightening up.
"We are all being told to tighten our belts in these tough times - it's about time the Speaker of the House of Commons set a good example and stopped indulging himself with other people's money."
The Speaker has faced controversy over MPs' expenses and is leading a High Court challenge against their publication in detail.
'Easing the burden'
He is also heading a "root and branch" parliamentary inquiry into all aspects of MPs' expenses, in the wake of a furore over Tory MP Derek Conway's employment of his sons.
But it has emerged that, since 2002, the Speaker has been entitled to up to £2,500 a year for the use of taxis for "normal office business".
The allowance was provided by a former Clerk of the House to allow Mrs Martin to "ease the burden" on her husband by "doing the shopping to support him in his official duties", according to the minutes of a meeting between Mr Martin and Mr Lyon.
The Speaker said he had "tremendous pressures on his time from early morning" until, often, late at night and "Mr Speaker's duty demanded that he be in the House".
Some of the provisions were also used for providing refreshments during meetings in his grace-and-favour apartments in the Commons.
New furnishings
"The food was not purely for Mrs Martin and himself," the minutes record.
Mrs Martin has taken 156 taxpayer-funded taxi journeys since 2004, it was disclosed.
She visited a large supermarket roughly once a month where she kept the taxi on a "wait and return" basis because they were "not easy to hail".
Other visits were to smaller shops to purchase "further provisions and perishables", official clothes for Mr Martin and table decorations for official functions.
The Martins also claimed for a taxi trip to a store to pick new furnishings for the Speaker's House as part of the £700,000 of rolling improvements carried out since he took the job in 2000.
Spokesman's resignation
Two more visits were to the Martins' private London home - thought to be in Willesden, North West London - to drop off official papers.
During an interview with Mr Lyon, Mr Martin complained that the TaxPayers' Alliance had informed the media that he was investigating the matter.
This had been "much to Mrs Martin's disadvantage, denigration of character and without right of reply", he said.
The row over Mrs Martin's taxi trips led to the resignation of the Speaker's spokesman, Mike Granatt, earlier this year.
Mike Granatt quit after he unwittingly misled a journalist about reports Mr Martin's wife claimed £4,000 taxi expenses since May 2004. He has said officials did not tell him the whole truth.
'Put the matter to rest'
The commissioner dismissed the TaxPayers' Alliance complaint and strongly supported Mrs Martin's role in assisting her husband with his duties.
"Taking account of the requirements and the cost of alternative provision, the costs were not excessive," he said.
The commissioner's memorandum was published by the Standards and Privileges Committee, which does not usually produce a report when a complaint has been dismissed.
But the committee said today that it wanted to "put the matter to rest" and had "no hesitation in endorsing both the decision of the commissioner to dismiss the complaint, and the grounds on which he did so."