MPs' expenses dominate Prime Minister's Questions
- 00:03:46
- ITN
MPs' expenses dominate Prime Minister's Questions
MPs must prove themselves "worthy of the public's trust" in the wake of the expenses scandal, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has declared. He said MPs should apologise for any errors made and put them right and set about creating a new system that would be seen as "wholly fair". Mr Brown, speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, said: "Our responsibility is to create a system of MPs' allowances that's transparent and will be seen by the country as wholly fair. "And we must prove ourselves worthy of the public's trust. We must apologise for the mistakes that have been made, we must rectify the errors that have happened." He said the decision to have independent scrutiny of the last four years of MPs' expenses was a first step. In an earlier move, Health minister Phil Hope announced he was handing back £41,709 in taxpayer-funded expenses. The money was claimed for furniture, fittings and other items for his second home. He said: "The anger of my constituents and the damage done to perceptions of my integrity concerning the money I have received to make my London accommodation habitable has been a massive blow to me that I cannot allow to continue." His decision came after it was announced that more than a million expenses claims by MPs over the past four years are to be scrutinised independently in a desperate bid to restore public trust in politics. Mr Hope, the Labour MP for Corby and East Northants, insisted that all his claims were within Commons rules but that he needed to repay the money "to try to restore the trust and relationships I have with my constituents". In a statement, he said: "I have worked very hard over the last 12 years to represent and fight for my constituents, and their opinion of me as a person matters hugely to both myself and my wife Allison." He continued: "We feel very badly hurt by what has happened and although I kept to the rules laid down by Parliament I cannot allow this dreadful perception about what I claimed in allowances to continue. "Whatever the right and wrongs of the allowance system, this issue has fundamentally changed the view people have of me and that is something I cannot bear. "I have decided to try to restore the trust and relationships I have with my constituents. I am returning all of the money that I have claimed for fittings, furniture and household items that I received over a five year period - the sum of £41,709. "This will be paid to the House authorities as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made." One constituent, Joanne Smith, 39, from Corby, said: "He shouldn't have taken it in the first place. He must be feeling guilty to be giving it back. It's too little too late." Prime Minister Gordon Brown backed the "extreme but necessary" measure as senior Labour figures started following in the footsteps of Tory frontbenchers by handing over money that they were seen to have "milked" out of the system. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said she was responding to public "outrage and the anger" by paying £13,332 in capital gains tax. Labour backbencher Mark Lazarowicz said he was going to repay £2,675 of his expenses claims for legal and professional fees because they were "much higher than many of the public would be prepared to accept". The sum is half of what he claimed for the fees in connection with his London flat. Several Tory frontbenchers have already been ordered by David Cameron to reimburse the taxpayer for what he called "excessive" claims. The Conservative leader himself repaid a £680 bill for maintenance such as removing wisteria, while shadow schools secretary Michael Gove will return £7,000 spent on furniture. Shadow leader of the House Alan Duncan is handing back more than £4,000 for gardening and Tory policy chief Oliver Letwin £2,000 for getting pipes repaired under his tennis court. The latest set of revelations focuses on the Liberal Democrats. One backbencher, Andrew George, reportedly claimed £847 a month in mortgage interest payments for a second home used by his student daughter. The St Ives MP insisted the London flat was "used as the base for my parliamentary work", although the home insurance policy was listed in the name of his 21-year-old daughter, Morvah George. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg was forced to apologise and repay £80-worth of international phone calls made from his Sheffield constituency home. His predecessor as leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, also apparently claimed nearly £10,000 in expenses for a top designer to redecorate his London flat. Mr Clegg also signalled a tough move to stop his MPs profiting from selling taxpayer-funded properties. Under new rules, Lib Dems will only be allowed to keep capital gains based on the amount of their own money that has gone on improvements and servicing mortgages.
ITN | May 13, 2009
