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Standards MP 'flipped' properties Standards MP defends homes claims
(about 4 hours later)
A second member of the MPs' standards committee is facing questions over his expenses amid reports he claimed £65,000 for second homes in London. A second member of the MPs' standards body is defending his expenses claims after reports he "flipped" two homes.
Labour MP Andrew Dismore is reported to have "flipped" his second home designation from west to north London. Labour's Andrew Dismore, who represents a north London seat about 10 miles from Parliament, claimed £34,000 on a second home in west London between 2001-2003.
A flat in his Hendon, north London, constituency had been his main home but he swapped as he spent more time in the capital, he told the Daily Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph said he then made second home claims on his Hendon flat, amounting to £31,000 from 2003-2009.
Committee chairman David Curry quit last week pending an expenses probe. He said he had done the "right thing" by the rules, had not sold on either flat and his claims had reduced.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Mr Dismore had claimed £34,000 in parliamentary allowances on a west London flat, before "flipping" the second home designation and claiming £31,000 for a flat a few miles away in his Hendon constituency. Mr Dismore is a member of the standards and privileges committee which decides on punishments for errant MPs. The committee has faced some criticism that it has been too lenient on MPs reprimanded for their expenses claims.
The claims are said to have been made over an eight-year period. Homeopathy surgery
Mr Dismore told the paper: "It was my intention when I bought the Hendon flat for it to be my main home. On Friday its chairman, Tory MP David Curry, stood down pending an inquiry into allegations about his own expenses.
"After about 18 months it became clear to me that with increasing parliamentary demands on my time, I was spending more time in London than in Hendon." MPs who represent seats within 20 miles of Parliament were stopped from claiming second homes expenses earlier this year but Mr Dismore's claims for a property in Notting Hill, west London, date back to 2001.
He added the Hendon flat was "cheaper to run" than the west London one. It was the right thing to do to designate the Hendon property as the second home Andrew Dismore class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8369610.stm">Standards MP faces expenses row
The Daily Telegraph says he owned the Notting Hill flat with his partner, who ran her homeopathy surgery from the property, and designated it with the Commons fees office as his second home, on which he was allowed to claim expenses.
It says he claimed £34,000 between 2001-2003 on that flat, then told the fees office he wanted to start claiming on his Hendon flat, which he reportedly bought without a mortgage, instead.
The newspaper says he went on to claim £31,000 in bills for that property. He stopped all second homes claims in April - at that stage MPs voted through temporary changes to stop outer London MPs claiming the allowance.
'Cheaper to run'
Mr Dismore said the Notting Hill flat was "not a homeopathic surgery".
He said he bought the Hendon property intending it to be his main home but realised he was spending more time at the Notting Hill flat due to "increasing parliamentary demands on my time".
The guidance at the time to MPs was that their "main home" should be the property where they spent most nights, so Mr Dismore said he then started claiming for the Hendon flat as his second home instead.
He said: "It was the right thing to do to designate the Hendon property as the second home and the London property as the main home."
Committee chairman Mr Curry stepped down on Friday
He added: "The Hendon property was cheaper to run, which was also an important consideration to me, and my claims progressively and rapidly reduced year on year since then.
"Although I could have claimed more I did not do so. Although not yet published, for my last year of claim 08/09 the total amount was just under £3,000.
"This is less than London weighting allowance for that year [the allowance open to inner London MPs rather than the more generous second homes allowance], which I could have claimed as an alternative. Neither property has been sold at any stage."
MPs within commuting distance of Westminster are unlikely to be able to claim for a second home in future - the practice has already been stopped under interim changes and was also included in reform proposals outlined last month.
BBC political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said the claims relating to Mr Dismore "focus more unwelcome attention on the group of MPs meant to safeguard the reputation of the Commons".BBC political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said the claims relating to Mr Dismore "focus more unwelcome attention on the group of MPs meant to safeguard the reputation of the Commons".
They come after the Daily Telegraph alleged that Mr Curry, Tory MP for Skipton and Ripon, in North Yorkshire, claimed nearly £30,000 for a second home that his wife had barred him from using after he had had an affair. They come after the Daily Telegraph alleged that Mr Curry, MP for Skipton and Ripon in North Yorkshire, claimed nearly £30,000 for a second home that his wife had barred him from using after he had had an affair.
Mr Curry admitted having had the affair but said reports his wife had banned him from the home were "akin to Harry Potter".Mr Curry admitted having had the affair but said reports his wife had banned him from the home were "akin to Harry Potter".