As virtually everyone in the UK and tens of millions abroad know, the last few weeks of seemingly incessant media stories, revelations, denials, apologies and resignations relating to MPs’ expenses have been deeply damaging to the reputation of both individual Members of Parliament and to the institution as a whole.
Clearly some MPs have trespassed well beyond what the rules laid down in the now famous or infamous “Green Book” and undoubtedly will suffer the consequences possibly in the form of prosecution. There are those who have been, to put it politely, “creative” in their claims then they too having been exposed will face the wrath of the public. However, there are those who have operated completely within the rules and the spirit of the rules but such is public opinion that all the different categories of claimants have been lumped into one - the guilty with the not guilty. I hope you will feel that I fall into this latter category and that I have acted at all times totally within both the rules and the spirit of the rules. These rules may be read on the House of Commons website under the heading, Department of Finance and Administration. The latest edition of the Green Book, published in March 2009, has already been rendered obsolete as a result of the current crisis and new rules are currently the subject of urgent and intense consideration. My claims for the last four years must be set against the respective Green Books that were in use for each of those years.
The claims made by Members of Parliament were acquired by the Daily Telegraph and have been published on a daily basis eagerly followed by the rest of the media who did not pay for the privilege of this leaked document. The rest of the media and, you, the members of the public will be able to access all MPs’ claims in the next few weeks. As I have always wished to be transparent, I invited the Walsall Advertiser and the Express and Star to visit my home and view all the claims I have submitted in the last fours years. This was an attempt to show I have nothing to hide. The journalists were able to question me over a long period if they had any queries.
For your information, I am attaching my detailed expenses and you will note that I am regularly in the low end of claims. My overall ranking for 2007/8 was 532nd out of 645 MPs; for 2006/07 I was 498th out of 645 MPs; and for 2004/05 I was 468th out of 659 MPs. (No rankings were done for 2005/06 since an election took place in 2005).
I accept full responsibility for the claims I have made. Because of the way the system works, my claim-related bills, as all other MPs’, are paid initially out of our personal accounts and then we seek reimbursement from the Fees Office. Regular large items of expenditure, such as my constituency office rent, are paid directly from the Fees Office. The leasing arrangements and the rent paid for my constituency office have been officially validated. Staff salaries are also paid directly from the Fees Office. Some newspapers when they publish MPs’ salaries add our staff salaries on top. This is grossly erroneous.
I have an accountant, as permissible in the rules, who helps to complete my annual tax return. I use him because he has specialist knowledge of Parliamentary allowances and expenses with regard to taxation. There has been a furore over certain members not paying tax on these charges. I wish to confirm that these accountancy charges are included in my tax returns as a “benefit-in-kind” and I pay the higher rate of tax on them.
In making my claims, I have at all times sought to be absolutely ethical. I believe a Member of Parliament should be full-time; I am certainly that - working 70+hours per week. I have no outside paid employment as many other Members of Parliament have. I employ no member of my family either in Walsall, London or anywhere else.
In making my claims, I apply the following principles:-
1. Is the entitlement laid down in the Green Book?
2. If allowable, is the claim fair and reasonable?
3. Having established that a claim is allowable, I also ask myself if it is ethical and right to make a claim.
4. If all of the above criteria have been met, though the cost nevertheless seems high, I pay what I consider to be the excess out of my own pocket. I have consistently claimed far less than the maximum permissible amounts as is evident from the attached document.
As you will note from the attached document, claims fall under a variety of headings.
Incidental Expenses Provision (IEP) - these are for the costs of running and servicing my constituency office in Bridge Street and my House of Commons office. These claims cover my constituency office rent (again paid direct from the House of Commons), constituency office telephone, fax and Internet connection, office supplies for both that office and my House of Commons office, my mobile phone and associated costs. I have not claimed for anything that could be construed in any way as superfluous or personal or for any of the items that have been highlighted in the press, such as digital cameras, office television sets, white goods and so forth. I have looked with amazement and some anger at what some of my colleagues have claimed but it should be remembered that some, but not all, of the worst excesses were rejected by the Fees Office.
In terms of the much derided Additional Costs or Second Home Allowance (ACA), I would make the following points. I have a second home in London, which in light of the 120 mile distance between Walsall and London, is absolutely essential. I paid for roughly two thirds of this house myself. My endowment mortgage matured in November 2007 and when I cleared the mortgage, I ceased to make any mortgage interest claims against my ACA. I would stress that far from seeking to maximise my mortgage interest claims, I sought to reduce them whenever possible. I have never “flipped”, i.e. changed the designation of my main and second homes, nor sought to move up the property ladder in London in order to maximise my claims.
My ACA claims will show that I have claimed for the running costs of my second home, mortgage interest up to November 2007, council tax, utilities, cleaning, insurance, telephone, security, service, maintenance and repairs, some carpets and food. I have considered that maintenance costs were the most necessary and ethical costs of all. Some of these maintenance costs have been expensive. For example, pipe work and radiator costs following a major leak, boiler and some redecoration. These types of costs are considerably higher in London than in Walsall or elsewhere in the country. I have always sought advice from the Fees Office in making these claims. When my second home was redecorated in 2007, I took the view that I should only claim for the cost of the space of a one bedroom flat on the basis that this is all the space an MP needs in London. This is evidenced on the invoice for this work. I only claimed for a portion of the wallpaper, paying the majority of it myself, even though I could have claimed for all of it and I paid personally for the associated costs of this decoration, such as new blinds. I did claim for an office chair, costing £97, which I use to do Parliamentary and constituency work. It will be noted that I have not claimed for furniture, televisions or appliances. I have also not claimed for anything that I feel could be construed as an “improvement” to our home. For instance, when we had a wooden floor installed some years ago, I paid for it personally. I do not have a gardener in London.
Other allowances are less in the spotlight in this current furore but they are nevertheless important to highlight since they, like all other allowances, are being paid for out of the public purse. One such allowance is the “Communications Allowance” which most Members use to produce a glossy leaflet advertising the work that they do. Frankly, I feel that my record and work can be expressed through the usual media and other channels, such as talking to people around town, in my weekly surgeries and through regular communication with my constituents. Therefore, the only use I make of this allowance is a small amount spent on advertising my weekly surgeries and contact details in certain local newspapers such as the Walsall Advertiser, the Express and Star, the Chronicle and the Great Barr Observer. I am not criticising other Members of Parliament for using this allowance to the full. Each MP has her/his method of working.
Another allowance is the travel allowance between Walsall and London and journeys around Walsall. My main home has always been in the constituency I am proud to represent and I travel home almost every week except when I am abroad on official Parliamentary business. My wife also travels almost every week between Walsall and London. She is allowed 15 return journeys each year when she travels separately from me, but she probably makes more like 45 return journeys. We therefore claim for her 15 allowable journeys and we pay personally for the other 30 or so. There is also an allowance for a Member of Parliament to make up to three visits per year to other European Parliaments, Governments and institutions if it is consistent with the Member’s parliamentary work and I normally make one such journey each year. However, most years I have not utilised this provision.
I am more than prepared to discuss these or other issues with any constituent who seeks further elaboration. I hope you do not think I am being overly defensive, but I despair of having my full defence against any accusations being subject to how certain media outlets seek to portray them, especially in this current near-frenzied atmosphere of hostility to Members of Parliament. Some MPs clearly deserve the hugely negative publicity they are receiving which has led to many announcing their premature retirements. Some may well end up in court. However, I hope that I have shown to the press and written here will assure my constituents that I have at all times behaved honourably, ethically and acted not only within the rules but also within the full spirit of the rules.
This public outcry cannot go on indefinitely. I am not aware of the measures that either the Conservative or Liberal Democrat parties are undertaking to independently reform the system but my own party has already embarked on reforms to help restore faith in the body politic. Set out below is a brief summary of some of the measures the Labour Party and the Government has taken and implemented to help restore public confidence. I hope there can be cross Party agreement and that the public will accept that wrongs are being righted. If we are not successful in this I fear for the future of our Parliamentary democracy which, with all its faults, remains one of the best in the world but reform there will be and it will go far beyond simply resolving the problem of MPs’ expenses.
The Labour Party has established an internal party committee to investigate any Labour MP where serious allegations have been made. I must point out however, that although the public is demanding heads, punishment has to follow “due process” by which I mean people having the right to defend their actions even though evidence appears that they may have no defence whatsoever. This committee has already announced that four sitting Labour MPs’ will be barred from standing at the next election. To rebuild public trust we need to reassure the electorate that we are acting properly in the present and renewal of people’s faith in politics for the future.
To rebuild public trust in Parliament and MPs the allowance system has to be thoroughly reformed. The Government has asked Parliament to stop claims for furniture and fittings and has banned outer London MPs from claiming the second home allowance. For the future, we need more fundamental change. This is why the Government has asked the Committee for Standards in Public Life to conduct an inquiry into Parliamentary Expenses and to suggest a programme of substantial reform. The Government has moved quickly to reform the system immediately and the committee will consider a sustainable long term solution that the public can have trust in.
The following article was published regarding my expenses by the Walsall Advertiser and with their kind permission it is reproduced below. (click image to enlarge)
