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Labour MP 'sorry' over expenses MPs' expenses auditor under fire
(about 2 hours later)
Labour MP Harry Cohen has apologised to voters and MPs for a "particularly serious breach" of expenses rules over a £70,000 second home allowance claim. MPs' expenses auditor Sir Thomas Legg has been criticised after several of his repayment demands were overturned.
He claimed on his constituency home in Leyton and Wanstead, east London, while letting his main home in Colchester. So far, six of the 80 MPs who appealed against the sums he ordered them to repay say they have been successful.
Mr Cohen told the House of Commons he had "no intention of wrongdoing". Meanwhile, Labour MP Harry Cohen has apologised for a "particularly serious breach" of expenses rules over a £70,000 second home allowance claim.
Meanwhile, Lib Dem MP Jeremy Browne, and Labour's Ann Cryer and Patrick Hall have had their appeals against demands to pay back expenses upheld. He said he had intended no wrongdoing claiming for a home in his constituency of Leyton and Wanstead, east London.
With some 80 MPs due to hear whether their appeals were successful Mr Hall, who represents Bedford and Kempston, successfully overturned a demand for him to repay around £260. Those who have successfully appealed against Sir Thomas' demands include Lib Dem MP Jeremy Browne, Labour's Ann Cryer, Patrick Hall and Martyn Jones and Conservative Roger Gale.
Taunton MP Mr Browne has been told he will not have to return nearly £18,000 after contesting auditor Sir Thomas Legg's ruling on claims for mortgage interest on his second home. Veteran Labour backbencher Dennis Skinner revealed Sir Thomas had offered him an "unreserved apology" after mistakenly asking him to repay about £5,000.
Mrs Cryer, who represents Keighley, West Yorkshire, also won her appeal against a "substantial demand" but will repay £1,600 for three household items. SUCCESSFUL EXPENSES APPEALS Jeremy Browne (Lib Dem, Taunton) - £17,894.24 in mortgage interestAnn Cryer (Labour, Keighley) - a "substantial demand". But will repay £1,600 for household itemsPatrick Hall (Labour, Bedford and Kempston) - £260 in parliamentary expensesMartyn Jones (Labour, Clwyd South) - £1,100 in rentRoger Hall (Tory, Thanet North) - £2,470 in rent and phone billsFrank Field (Labour, Birkenhead) - repayment reduced by £3,000
Grant forfeit Meanwhile, Labour's Frank Field, who branded the review "irrational, unfair and arbitrary" said the sum he was required to repay had been reduced from £7,040.49 to £4,042.50.
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards John Lyon found that Mr Cohen had consistently designated the Colchester house as his main home since 1998, so claiming various constituency properties as his second home. When the expenses scandal unfolded in May, Gordon Brown asked Sir Thomas to look for mistakes made in expenses claims approved by the Commons Fees Office during a five-year period.
Sir Thomas instructed about 200 MPs to return hundreds of thousands of pounds in "excessive" claims but angered many by applying retrospective limits on what he thought should have been claimed for gardening and cleaning.
When 80 MPs appealed, former appeal court judge Sir Paul Kennedy was appointed to examine their cases.
Mr Gale, MP for Thanet North in Kent, was ordered last October to hand back about £2,100 for mobile phone bills and £370 in rent for a London flat.
He said his argument the mobile claims were "permissible" at the time and the rent demand had been made under the mistaken impression he had double-claimed had been accepted.
"I'm gratified that Sir Paul Kennedy has done thoroughly and very carefully the job that I had hoped and expected that Sir Thomas Legg was going to do," he added.
'Unreserved apology'
Mr Skinner, MP for Bolsover in Derbyshire, disclosed the contents of a letter he received from Sir Thomas last year.
It read: "This should not have happened and I want to lose no time in offering an unreserved apology."
The auditor had asked him to return money towards a £9,280 kitchen, an £880 sofa bed - specially adapted because of the MP's illness - and cleaning costs.
Mr Skinner, 77, said Sir Thomas had relented after he had proved he had paid about 70% of the cost of the kitchen and half that of the sofa bed himself, and that the auditor had double-counted his claims for cleaning.
"Since I have been in the bottom three for expenses claims for six years and I have the best voting record, even at my age, naturally I was a bit upset when I saw what he was saying," he said.
Mr Cohen, however, accepted he must apologise to constituents and fellow MPs in the House of Commons.
I have the greatest respect for Parliament and would not intentionally have wanted to do anything to tarnish its reputation Harry Cohen MP
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards John Lyon found he had consistently designated a house in Colchester as his main property since 1998, so claiming various constituency properties as his second home.
However, between 2004 and 2008, Mr Cohen lived mostly in the constituency, while periodically letting out the Colchester house to tenants on six-month leases.However, between 2004 and 2008, Mr Cohen lived mostly in the constituency, while periodically letting out the Colchester house to tenants on six-month leases.
He received more than £70,000 in second homes allowances, when an outer London MP with just one home would have been entitled to claim just £9,000 in the London supplement over the same period.He received more than £70,000 in second homes allowances, when an outer London MP with just one home would have been entitled to claim just £9,000 in the London supplement over the same period.
Mr Cohen told MPs: "I am sorry for my assumption that I was eligible to claim as I did, which was wrong." Mr Cohen told MPs he was sorry for wrongly assuming he was eligible to claim.
My name has been cleared and my reputation restored Lib Dem Jeremy Browne
"I have the greatest respect for Parliament and would not intentionally have wanted to do anything to tarnish its reputation. I am sorry if I have done so.""I have the greatest respect for Parliament and would not intentionally have wanted to do anything to tarnish its reputation. I am sorry if I have done so."
The Commons Standards and Privileges Committee, which ordered Mr Cohen to apologise, ruled he must now forfeit a £65,000 resettlement grant due when he stands down at the forthcoming general election.The Commons Standards and Privileges Committee, which ordered Mr Cohen to apologise, ruled he must now forfeit a £65,000 resettlement grant due when he stands down at the forthcoming general election.
The committee accepted that the couple had moved from Colchester in 2004 while Mr Cohen's wife Ellen underwent treatment for a stroke at a north London hospital. The committee accepted the couple had moved from Colchester while Mr Cohen's wife, Ellen, underwent treatment for a stroke at a north London hospital and had intended to return.
But while it acknowledged that the couple had always intended to retire to the Colchester house, it said it should have been clear that would not happen in the short term. However, its members said it should have been clear they would not be moving back in the short term.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Browne was the first of the 80 MPs who challenged Sir Thomas's repayment requests to make the results of his appeal public. 'Vindicated'
Sir Paul Kennedy, who was appointed to hear appeals, said Mr Browne had acted "openly and honestly". The first MP to reveal his appeal against Sir Thomas's repayment demands had been successful was Liberal Democrat for Taunton in Somerset, Jeremy Browne.
The MP said: "Although I feel vindicated I do not feel elated. The expenses revelations have severely damaged public trust in politics." He said he felt "vindicated" but not elated after Sir Paul judged he had acted "openly and honestly".
Claims 'justified' After being elected in 2005, Mr Browne raised the deposit to buy a constituency home by remortgaging a London flat he had owned for several years. He designated the flat his second home and claimed the interest on the increased mortgage as expenses.
Mr Browne, a Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, was elected in 2005 and raised the deposit to buy a constituency home by remortgaging a London flat he had owned for several years. Sir Thomas said he should only have claimed for interest on the original mortgage and asked him to repay the difference of £17,894.24.
It meant the mortgage on his London flat increased from £130,000 to £190,000, he designated the flat as his "second home" and went on to claim expenses on the interest of the £190,000 mortgage. However, Sir Paul ruled the MP's claims were justified and for "the very purpose" the second home allowance had been designed.
Sir Thomas said he should only have claimed interest on the £130,000 mortgage and asked Mr Browne to repay the difference - £17,894.24. Meanwhile, government sources say International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander will not have to repay a claim of £420 for garage doors.
But former judge Sir Paul has ruled that the MP's claims were justified and for "the very purpose" the second home allowance was designed. Sir Thomas had believed the claim duplicated but had been satisfied by correspondence, they said.
In a letter to Mr Browne, Sir Paul wrote: "My terms of reference require me to consider whether in your case there are special reasons showing that it would not be fair and equitable to require repayment either at all, or at the level recommended.
Ann Cryer said the repayment demand was a slur against her
"Such reasons do exist."
Mr Browne said he had acted as he did to save the taxpayer money.
"My name has been cleared and my reputation restored," he added.
Mrs Cryer said she was "pleased" her matter had been "clarified".
"It wasn't just a question of the amount, it was a question of a slur made against me."
When the expenses scandal broke in May, Gordon Brown asked Sir Thomas to look for mistakes made in expenses claims approved by the Commons Fees Office over five years.
But Sir Thomas angered many MPs by applying his own retrospective limits on what he thought should have been claimed for gardening and cleaning.
Meanwhile, government sources have confirmed to the BBC that International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander did not have to repay any money for his expenses claims.
Sir Thomas had originally queried a payment of £420 for garage doors which he said was duplicate, but following an exchange of correspondence, the claim was dropped and Mr Alexander was not among those appealing.
Labour's Frank Cook and Frank Field, and Tory Bernard Jenkin, are also among those known to have appealed since the orders were made in October.