Blackout adds fuel to public fury over Northwich, Winsford and Middlewich MP's expenses (From Middlewich Guardian)

Blackout adds fuel to public fury over Northwich, Winsford and Middlewich MP's expenses

9:16am Thursday 25th June 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

THE publication of all MPs expenses has done nothing to calm the furore thanks to the ‘blacking out’ of large chunks of information.

Details including second home addresses, correspondence addresses, travel patterns, payment details and staff details have been witheld on privacy and security ground.

This makes it impossible to see if MPs ‘flipped’ second homes or claimed for extravagant purchases – a practice that was supposedly discouraged by Parliament.

Reader Frank Fallows, of Northwich, contacted the Guardian to express his disgust.

He said: “Having read Saturday’s Daily Telegraph and the non blacked out record of MPs’ expense claims, one wonders whether Parliament will ever again be able to claim that it is the ‘Mother of Parliaments’.

“To see the claims made and to see the numbers of alleged ‘errors’, ‘bad accounting’, and so on, is there any wonder that we are second only to the United States as the world largest debtors?”

The published forms did however reveal Eddisbury MP Stephen O’Brien claimed £3,390.44 for cleaning over two years, along with £578 for replacement bed and bathroom furniture in 2006, including a £495 bed and £45 mirror.

A receipt was submitted for £600 but the details of the claim were obscured by an all-too common black box.

The Winsford MP said the details had to be removed in order to honour data protection laws but said he would be happy to speak directly to any reader about his claims.

Middlewich MP Ann Winterton’s cleaning bills cost taxpayers more than £6,700 over four years.

The MP claimed £90 a month for the cleaning of her London home and £50 a month for the cleaning of her office.

She also claimed for £380 of bathroom accessories, two £85 pillows and a £67 towel rail over the four years.

Over the same period, she claimed £61,390 on her second home and £56,257 on office costs.

Sir Nicholas, 71, and Lady Winterton, 68, announced that they will not be standing for re-election in May.

They said that they can no longer maintain the hectic pace of politics and wanted to spend more time with their family.

It is not known whether the expenses row played any part in their decision and they declined to comment when approached by the Guardian.

Conservative leader David Cameron has since banned all his party’s MPs from claiming for furniture, household goods or food. Only rent, mortgage interest, overnight bills, utility bills and council tax can be now claimed.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)