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Taxpayer forked out £4,000 for Prescott's food bill
THE taxpayer forked out £4,000 in a year to keep John Prescott fed, it was disclosed yesterday as more details were published of senior MPs' expenses.
A more detailed breakdown of claims, released after the Commons decided not to fight a freedom of information order, also disclosed that Tony Blair clawed back the 116 cost of his TV licence.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, while Chancellor, racked up a 2,380 cleaning bill while the public purse also paid 21,293 towards Tory leader David Cameron's mortgage in one year.
There is no suggestion that any of the claims were in breach of rules, but they will put the Westminster expenses scheme back under intense scrutiny.
Openness campaigners pledged to continue their fight to force Speaker Michael Martin to publish much fuller details, including individual receipts.
The Commons authorities are taking that battle to the High Court, arguing that revealing details such as MPs' addresses would breach their privacy and be a security risk.
Yesterday's publication covered claims in two separate years by 12 MPs, also including former Tory leader Michael Howard and ex-Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.
Similar details of all MPs' claims for the years 2004/05 to 2007/08 are due to be made public in the autumn. And in future the information will be released on a quarterly basis.
Freedom of information campaigner Heather Brooke, whose FOI request, alongside another from the BBC, secured the new data, welcomed the decision but said taxpayers deserved to know more.
Ms Brooke said: "I welcome the disclosure although the way it's been handled has been a complete farce and a waste of taxpayers' money.
"The fact that they are still fighting through the High Court to keep secret the detailed claims and receipts shows how much importance they place in that.
"It's only when you analyse the detailed claims that the truth can fully be seen."
She said MPs' addresses should be disclosed as some of the "second homes" the allowances were spent on were not lived in by the MPs but bought as investments.
The spending on food, cleaning, TV licence and mortgage payments was all reimbursed under the controversial Additional Costs Allowance (ACA).
Commons rules state that ACA is paid "to reimburse Members for necessary costs incurred when staying overnight away from their main home for the purpose of performing parliamentary duties".
Most MPs use it to pay for the cost of running a base near to Westminster while away from their constituency homes, and it cannot be claimed by those representing seats in central London.
There have been complaints that Ministers who enjoy the use of grace-and-favour accommodation – like the Prime Minister's 10 Downing Street – are nonetheless permitted to claim ACA to pay for their constituency homes.
The figures released to the BBC, which relate to 2003/4 and also detail travel and office costs, show Mr Blair's 15,489.78 ACA claim included 4,523 in mortgage payments.
He claimed 663.22 for telephone expenses in one month alone and 365.22 was claimed back for travel by his wife Cherie over the year.
Mr Brown, the biggest element of whose 14,304 ACA claim was 2,450 of mortgage payments, also got back 2,380 for cleaning but nothing for food.
Mr Prescott's 4,000 food bill was just over three times the 1,325 he recouped from the public purse for mortgage payments as part of a 20,057.44 ACA claim.
The annual highest mortgage claims came from Mr Cameron (21,293) and Conservative colleagues George Osborne (18,360) and William Hague (13,626).
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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