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Clegg wants more expenses repaid Clegg wants more expenses repaid
(about 1 hour later)
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has called on the expenses audit that has angered many MPs to be widened. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has said the MPs' expenses audit should be widened to force those who "flipped" homes or avoided capital gains tax to pay up.
He wants more scrutiny on MPs who dodged tax by switching their second home allowance, even though so-called "flipping" was not against the rules. Both practices were heavily criticised during the expenses scandal although they were allowed under the rules.
Auditor Sir Thomas Legg has already asked some MPs to repay certain household expenses, after retrospectively setting new limits. An audit of claims since 2004 has introduced retrospective caps on some, angering MPs who have been asked to pay back money that was previously cleared.
This has angered MPs, who have accused Sir Thomas of penalising the innocent. Commons leader Harriet Harman said it had to be done on a cross-party basis.
Mr Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron have urged their reluctant MPs to obey Sir Thomas and pay up. BBC deputy political editor James Landale said the Labour and Conservative leadership were desperate to draw a line under the affair but Mr Clegg was asking for auditor Sir Thomas Legg to go further.
Like many members, Mr Clegg has questioned whether Sir Thomas has been consistent in trying to allay public criticism of Parliamentary expenses. 'Property speculators'
Mr Clegg says while Sir Thomas has imposed limits on household expenses like cleaning and gardening, he has not dealt with MPs who accrued much larger sums through property deals. The Lib Dems have long called for changes to the expenses system to stop MPs profiting from taxpayer-funded homes and have called for them to pay back any profits when they are sold.
'Worst offences' Mr Clegg told the BBC: "I think it's wrong that MPs have converted themselves in some instances, from servants of their constituents to spivy property speculators trading up from one home to the next for personal profit."
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Clegg said: "I think most people expected the worst offences to come under the toughest scrutiny - MPs who avoided capital gains tax, claimed cash for mortgages that didn't exist or flipped their second home so they could claim for renovations on house after house." Writing in the Telegraph Mr Clegg, who has been asked to repay £910 of the £3,900 he claimed for gardening between 2006 and 2009, said Sir Thomas had not dealt with MPs who accrued large sums through property deals.
He added: "Every single MP who flipped, avoided capital gains tax or claimed for non-existent mortgages must be forced to repay the money and held to account. Every single MP who flipped, avoided capital gains tax or claimed for non-existent mortgages must be forced to repay the money and held to account Nick CleggLib Dem leader
"I believe we need to get MPs out of the property game altogether; they shouldn't profit from taxpayer subsidies. He said to "rebuild faith in politics, there can be no half measures" and said people "expected the worst offences to come under the toughest scrutiny".
No matter what we do we are simply not going to win back anything like respect from the public because of what we've done Stephen Pound MP He added: "Every single MP who flipped, avoided capital gains tax or claimed for non-existent mortgages must be forced to repay the money and held to account."
"If we want to rebuild faith in politics, there can be no half measures. Only fundamental reform will be enough." Under the rules MPs were allowed to tell Commons officials that one property was their "second home", on which they could claim expenses - but tell the taxman it was their "main home" on which they did not have to pay capital gains tax when they sold it.
Mr Clegg is due to repay £910 of the £3,900 he claimed for gardening between 2006 and 2009. Angry MPs
At Prime Ministers' Questions, the party leaders will clash for the first time since the summer recess. Several were accused of "flipping" their second home - by changing the designation of the property they claimed expenses on, sometimes several times, which allowed them to refurbish several homes at public expense. Interim measures have stopped MPs switching the designation this year.
Although some MPs have expressed anger and frustration over Sir Thomas's audit, it is not clear whether any of them will press the prime minister on the issue. Others are being investigated for claiming for a mortgage after it was paid off - David Chaytor and Elliot Morley have both said they will stand down as MPs, they have repaid the money they say was mistakenly claimed.
Despite the pressure from party leaders, some MPs are so disenchanted with the new audit that they have threatened to refuse to pay. This week about 600 MPs received letters from Sir Thomas Legg, the independent auditor appointed by Downing Street in the wake of the expenses furore, who has been through all the claims made over five years again.
'Not delighted' READ THE GUIDANCE NOTE class="" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/13_10_09_legg.pdf">Sir Thomas Legg's guidance note[436KB] Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html">Download the reader here
The Conservative MP Sir George Young, who is the former chairman of the commons watchdog, the standards and privileges committee, thinks that is unlikely. However many are furious that they are being asked to repay claims for services like gardening and cleaning, saying they were within the rules when the claims were made, and approved.
He believes any revolt will fizzle out in the face of public opinion. But Sir Thomas has applied his own annual limits of what he thinks was reasonable to claim - £1,000 a year for gardening and £2,000 a year for cleaning - and has asked those who claimed more to repay the difference.
There is also concern he has asked for paperwork to back up mortgage interest and rental agreements and has warned that those who fail to do so will be "recommended to repay the whole of the allowance granted for the mortgage etc".
Leaders' 'competition'
Some MPs have blamed the Fees Office for losing paperwork which in some cases might date back to 2004 and may be difficult to find. Others have said there are errors in Sir Thomas's report and they are being asked to back up claims they never made.
Gordon Brown and David Cameron have urged their reluctant MPs to obey Sir Thomas and pay up, but some are believed to be preparing to refuse to pay.
Commons leader Harriet Harman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the issue would not be "sorted out by a competition between the political leaders".
They would be absolutely mad not to accede to Sir Thomas's recommendations Stephen Pound MP
"This is an issue for the whole House of Commons to do what is necessary to restore public confidence," she said.
She said the "payback" being requested was "another step on the important path to ensuring the public know once and for all that we've sorted this system out."
But shadow Commons leader Sir George Young, the former chairman of the Commons standards and privileges committee, believes any revolt will fizzle out.
He said: "By the time we reach the end of the process my view is there will be very few MPs who will hold out and defy what their party leaders want them to do and what the public want them to do."He said: "By the time we reach the end of the process my view is there will be very few MPs who will hold out and defy what their party leaders want them to do and what the public want them to do."
Labour MP Stephen Pound said he was not aware of anybody who was refusing to co-operate with a repayment request. And Labour MP Stephen Pound said he was not aware of anybody who was refusing to co-operate with a repayment request: "There's some ugly stirrings in the undergrowth, people aren't exactly delighted, but no-one is saying they are refusing to do it," he said.
"There's some ugly stirrings in the undergrowth, people aren't exactly delighted, but no-one is saying they are refusing to do it," he said.
"Frankly, they would be absolutely mad not to accede to Sir Thomas's recommendations.""Frankly, they would be absolutely mad not to accede to Sir Thomas's recommendations."
But he added: "The impression I get, and a lot of MPs get, is that no matter what we do we are simply not going to win back anything like respect from the public because of what we've done - it's so shocking to most people.
"It's a terrifying situation - we've all been tarred with the same brush, we all know it, but at least hopefully paying back the money in many cases, even when it's not absolutely legally necessary, will go some way towards it. Sadly I doubt it."