MP mortgage claims could be 'banned'

A major review of Westminster expenses is expected to propose banning MPs from employing family members and from claiming for the mortgages on their second homes. The details of the inquiry by Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, have been leaked one week ahead of their publication. Reports suggest it will also demand that MPs who live within a "reasonable commuting distance" of Westminster will have to do so, or meet the cost of their own accommodation in London. The proposals - some of which were widely expected and which would probably be phased in over a period of five years - have met with an angry response from some MPs. Conservative MP Roger Gale accused Sir Christopher of not living in the real world and of not fully understanding the pressures MPs face. He said: "I've heard one comment, which I think is absolutely ludicrous, to the effect that apparently somebody living an hour's train ride from London will not be allowed to have a base in London. "Now, that doesn't affect me, but it will affect quite a lot of people, and I just don't believe that Kelly lives in the real world, I don't think he knows what kind of hours we work or what kind of job we do. We've tried to tell him, but he doesn't appear to have listened." Mr Gale, whose wife Suzy has worked for him for 27 years, added: "She took a 50 per cent cut in income to come and work for me. "She is normally in her office at 6.45 in the morning and she works over a 60-hour week, she's very good value for money." Party leaders have indicated that they will accept the Kelly report's recommendations, barring any exceptional circumstances.

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ITN | October 28, 2009

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