Tory MPs to pay back £125,000 more in expense claims
- 00:01:15
- ITN
Tory MPs to pay back £125,000 more in expense claims
Tory MPs are to pay back a further £125,000 in Commons expenses following a probe by the party's "scrutiny panel". Leader David Cameron - who set up the panel in light of the revelations by the Daily Telegraph newspaper - said it comes on top of the £125,000 already returned to Commons' authorities. No further resignations were announced after several Tory MPs - including Andrew Mackay, Christopher Fraser, Douglas Hogg and Julie Kirkbride - said they are stepping down at the next General Election over their excessive claims. Mr Cameron, who said his MPs have agreed to forgo future second home allowances totalling £100,000, continued: "Conservative MPs have overwhelmingly responded in a positive way and shown a real desire to take the lead on this damaging issue." He continued: "It is an effort - both collectively as a party and individually as Conservative MPs - to address the public's anger about what has happened. Today, we are publishing a very full update. "Already, Conservative MPs have paid back £125,000 - this adds another £125,000. This is not about MPs that broke the rules - we all know the rules weren't good enough." He added: "It's about understanding the level of public anger, about a system that was broken, and the part we played in it. It's not good enough just to sort out the rules for the future - we need to recognise the mistakes of the past. "And these payments are an important part of that. This is just one step - of many - that needs to be taken to restore both some trust and some faith in the political system." Mr Cameron said the agreement of a particular MP to make a repayment did not indicate guilt or a breach of the rules. "Many MPs need to be able to live in London and in their constituencies to do their job properly, and the vast majority of MPs do an excellent job. But we recognise public anger about expenses, and we have a duty to listen and respond to it. That is what this is about," he said. He acknowledged that the scrutiny panel process was not perfect and warned it may throw up some "inconsistencies". He added: "In some cases it may have been too tough. In others, some may feel it has not been tough enough. We had a small team. This was not a forensic accounting examination. The House of Commons examination may pick up issues which we have not." "This is just one step - of many - that needs to be taken to restore both some trust and some faith in the political system. Step by step, brick by brick, we can and we will fix our political system."
ITN | June 25, 2009
