Tory MP defends his expenses claims

Conservative MP Bill Cash appears determined he will not become the latest MP to step down over the expenses scandal after defending a £15,000 claim to pay the rent on his daughter's flat. David Cameron warned he had "very serious questions" to answer after it was revealed he chose a flat owned by his daughter as his "second home" during 2004 and 2005 - when he owned a mortgaged home closer to Westminster which was occupied by his son at the time. The Daily Telegraph reported that Miss Cash, who is hoping to become a Conservative MP, sold her flat for a £48,000 profit soon after her father stopped claiming money for it. The MP for Stone in Staffordshire, whose main home is a country house in Shropshire, said he would repay money if he was found to have "transgressed", but insisted his arrangement actually saved the taxpayer money. He said: "I don't believe there was any financial advantage to be gained because I would have had to have had rented accommodation in some other place where I would have paid, possibly, an even higher rate." And former environment minister Elliot Morley is also widely expected to quit in the wake of expenses revelations after it emerged he is arranging a meeting with his local party association. Mr Morley, who claimed £16,000 over 18 months for a mortgage that did not exist, has already been suspended by the Labour Party and Scotland Yard is also considering whether to launch a criminal probe. Meanwhile, it has been revealed the MPs who are standing down following the expenses scandal will cost the taxpayer more than £1 million before the next election. A dozen MPs are stepping down at the next election following the revelations in the Daily Telegraph - the latest being Conservative Julie Kirkbride and Labour's Margaret Moran. It has emerged they will each receive salaries and gold-plated pensions as well as generous "redundancy" pay-outs of between £32,000 and £65,000 when they leave office. The resettlement grant is calculated on a sliding scale according to an MP's age and their length of service; the first £30,000 is tax-free. Ms Moran is in line for £54,000 and Ms Kirkbride £32,000. Among more of the Telegraph's latest claims, it also emerged that Labour MP Nigel Griffiths successfully claimed some £9,500 to redecorate his flat in 2004 - and was able to claim a further £5,000 six months later for the same purpose. His £3,600 claim for electronic equipment in his London home was turned down. He tried to defend it by saying he had to listen to "Scottish radio" and watch "Scottish TV" and that a flat-screen television was the "sensible option" in a small flat. The MPs who have announced their intention to stand down at the next election following expenses revelations are Michael Martin, Sir Peter Viggers, Douglas Hogg, Anthony Steen, Ben Chapman, Ian McCartney, Andrew MacKay, Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton, Margaret Moran, Julie Kirkbride and Christopher Fraser.

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ITN | May 29, 2009

Tags:. .shropshire. .transgressed. .repay. .staffordshire. .morley