David Clelland MP furious at continued expenses row

Oct 15 2009 by William Green, The Journal

Mr Clelland said: “He is saying this is a conflicted transaction. I am not going to go into how much he has asked me to pay. It is a catch-22. I recognised at some stage this would happen and so got my flat in my sole name. It is an outrage. It is not a defence to say that the fees office agreed at the time, but where else would we go to at the time?”

He said it was not wrong for MPs to repay cash if claims were unacceptable under the rules of the time, but added: “That does not apply to my case because it was allowed at the time.

“All of the leaders are jockeying for position who can throw themselves on the broken glass first. It is outrageous. They are playing politics with this.”

MP's letter

BERWICK MP Sir Alan Beith yesterday said questions about his expense claims raised by an independent inquiry are based on “inaccurate” information.

The senior Liberal Democrat said: “The letter I have received from Sir Thomas Legg refers to a mortgage I have never had, and raises questions based on very inaccurate information about the rent of my London flat and the proportion of that rent which I claimed back from the allowance, roughly 55%.

“He has also asked for documentation which the Fees Office already holds. I am providing him with all the documents and details he needs and am ready to abide by whatever conclusion is reached when he has had the opportunity to consider the matter on the basis of accurate information.”

Fraser Kemp, Labour MP for Houghton and Washington East said: “I have one query raised by the inquiry and I am in the process of responding.”

But other MPs have not responded to The Journal’s queries including North Tyneside MP Stephen Byers, Jarrow’s Stephen Hepburn, Sunderland South’s Chris Mullin and Wansbeck MP Denis Murphy.