Conservative MP Andrew MacKay has quit as parliamentary aide to David Cameron over what the party said was an "unacceptable" expenses claim.
Conservative MP Andrew MacKay has quit as parliamentary aide to David Cameron over what the party said was an "unacceptable" expenses claim.
He claimed most of the second home allowance on his London home, while his wife, Tory MP Julie Kirkbride, claimed the full amount for another address.
Mr Cameron has said all Tory MPs must be able to defend their allowance claims after a series of damaging allegations about MPs' claims.
Mr Cameron has said all Tory MPs must be able to defend their expenses.
Several senior Tory figures, including Michael Gove and Alan Duncan, have agreed to repay money they claimed.
In a separate development Gordon Brown announced that ex-minister Elliot Morley has been suspended from Labour.
Mr MacKay, MP for Bracknell, is married to fellow Tory MP Julie Kirkbride.
And the Conservative former minister Douglas Hogg has said he will repay £2,200 in expenses - the cost of clearing a moat at his Lincolnshire estate.
He argued the costs were included on paperwork submitted to the fees office but were not claimed. But on Thursday he acknowledged the clearing was "not positively excluded" from the claim.
'Unacceptable'
'Unacceptable'
The Conservatives said Mr MacKay had voluntarily submitted his expense claims to party officials and these had revealed "an unacceptable situation that would not stand up to reasonable public scrutiny".
Mr Cameron told BBC News: "It is not enough just to say the system is to blame. Consequences have to follow."
In 2007-8 Mr MacKay claimed £22,575 of the second homes allowance while Ms Kirkbride claimed £23,083 - the maximum permissible.
Mr MacKay said they had both claimed the allowance on two separate properties "for eight or nine years".
Elliot Morley was said to be "heartbroken"
"Although Mr MacKay maintains that those arrangements were agreed by the fees office, he resigned this morning with immediate effect," said a party spokesman.
He said he had followed the advice of the Commons fees office but he now realised the arrangement did not pass Mr Cameron's "reasonableness" test and he felt it was "wrong" to remain in his position.
He told the BBC: "Due to an error of judgement in accepting advice from the fees office I have let a lot of people down.
"I passionately believe in Parliament, in our democracy, and I think it is very important that members of Parliament are held in high regard."
'Error of judgement'
He said it was up to his constituents in Bracknell whether he should continue to be their MP.
"I will also be holding a public meeting so that any one of my constituents who wants to come and talk to me and cross-examine me can do so next week," he said.
He said he had apologised to Mr Cameron for "causing any hurt or difficulties" and had offered to repay the money, depending on what the Conservatives' new scrutiny panel, announced by Mr Cameron on Tuesday, decided.
Asked if his expenses claim felt wrong at the time, he said: "Looking back now, it does look strange. I have clearly made an error of judgement for which I profusely apologise."
Senior Tories say they do not expect to take any action against his wife, Julie Kirkbride, who is the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, with sources suggesting "for the time being she is in the clear".
In a survey of grassroots Tory members by the Conservative Home website, 66% say Mr Mackay should cease to be a Tory MP, with just 12% saying he should stay.
Some 82% of the 1,414 party members surveyed said all Conservative MPs facing questions over their behaviour should face de-selection meetings in their local constituency parties and 65% said "it's not nearly enough" for MPs to think that repaying inappropriately claimed expenses is the "end of the matter".
Meanwhile, Labour MP Elliot Morley was suspended from the Labour Party after the Daily Telegraph revealed he claimed £16,000 in mortgage interest payments over 18 months after the mortgage was paid off.
Mr Morley has paid the money back and referred his own claims to Parliament's standards commissioner.
Mr Morley said it had been a mistake and he had "no intent" to over claim but apologised for "sloppy accounting".
HAVE YOUR SAYTo simply hand this stolen money back and expect that to be the end of the matter is totally unacceptable.James, OldhamSend us your comments
HAVE YOUR SAYTo simply hand this stolen money back and expect that to be the end of the matter is totally unacceptable.James, OldhamSend us your comments
The Daily Telegraph also alleges Mr Morley rented out a London flat designated as his main residence to another Labour MP, Ian Cawsey, a close friend and former special adviser.
The Conservatives said Mr MacKay had voluntarily submitted his expense claims to party officials and these had revealed "an unacceptable situation that would not stand up to reasonable public scrutiny".
Mr Cawsey, it is claimed, named the property as his second home, allowing him to claim back the £1,000 a month in rent he paid to Mr Morley.
Mr Cameron said Mr MacKay had made "unacceptable" claims, adding: "He will go before scrutiny to determine how much of that money needs to be repaid."
It is understood that Mr MacKay and his wife claimed second homes allowances on two separate properties.
"Although Mr MacKay maintains that those arrangements were agreed by the Fees Office, he resigned this morning with immediate effect," said a party spokesman.
The party said Mr MacKay had agreed to appear before a new committee, announced by Mr Cameron on Tuesday, set up to scrutinise MP's expense claims.
It said the panel would discuss "how much of the allowance should be paid back".
The BBC's political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti said Mr MacKay was paying a heavy price for the public backlash against MPs' behaviour over their expenses and the strong action party leaders were now taking over the issue.
Mortgage claims
Former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit said Mr MacKay was a "good guy" but said he had done the "right thing" in stepping down given the nature of the situation.
"It ain't right," he said of the claims details. "I am glad he has recognised it is so."
Tories are complaining to me about what one calls "summary mob justice" in which all are judged guilty so that the good are punished while the real bad guys escape lightly Nick Robinson's blog
It comes as Westminster is rocked by the seventh day of revelations about MPs' expenses in the Daily Telegraph.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is said to be "very concerned" about former minister Elliott Morley claiming £16,000 for a mortgage he had already paid off.
Mr Morley has said it was a "mistake" and has paid the money back but Mr Brown is holding talks with Labour's chief whip about his future.
The newspaper also alleges Mr Morley rented out a London flat designated as his main residence to another Labour MP, Ian Cawsey, a close friend and former special adviser, who named the property as his second home, allowing him to claim £1,000 a month in rent, which he paid to Mr Morley.
In November 2007, the newspaper claims, Mr Morley "flipped" his designated second home from his Scunthorpe property to his London home and for four months the two men claimed expenses on the same property.
In November 2007, the newspaper claims, Mr Morley "flipped" his designated second home from his Scunthorpe property to his London home and for four months the two men claimed expenses on the same property.
The Commons fees office stopped the arrangement.
The Commons fees office stopped the arrangement. Mr Cawsey said he had not been aware of Mr Morley's financial arrangements.
Mr Morley has issued a lengthy explanation of his arrangement with Mr Cawsey in which he denied any wrongdoing and said he used the money from his Labour colleague to reduce his claim to the taxpayer.
He said: "Since 1997 I have only charged Mr Cawsey a notional rent which has also been declared to the finance department and deducted from my Additional Costs Allowance."
Mr Cawsey said he had not been aware of Mr Morley's financial arrangements.
Meanwhile pressure continues to mount on Commons Speaker Michael Martin - one Tory MP says he has cross-party support for a motion of no confidence in him, over his handling of the expenses furore.
In a straw poll of 173 MPs contacted by BBC Two's Newsnight, 48 said they had lost confidence in Mr Martin and 68 declined to answer.
Tory MP Richard Shepherd, who challenged Mr Martin for the job of Speaker nine years ago, accused Mr Martin of seeking to block information about MPs' expenses from coming out.
He told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "He has brought Parliament into contempt and ridicule."
