MPs not asked to repay expenses

OLDHAM MPs have not been asked to repay any cash by the independent auditor scrutinising every Parliamentary expense claim made over the past five years.

Sir Thomas, a former civil servant, has written to all MPs who have claimed expenses, giving them the all-clear, asking for more information or requesting money be paid back.

MPs now have about three weeks to respond or appeal against any judgements before his final report is published.

Oldham West and Royton MP Michael Meacher has been given a clean bill of health and said he is not required to make any repayments or clarifications.

Mr Meacher said: “If I really wanted to take advantage of the expenses system I would not have claimed one-third of my entitlement.”

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas has been asked to respond to Sir Thomas and clarify three items, but his letter contained no mention of paying any money back.

Mr Woolas was asked for clarification over a food bill, an apparent double claiming of a gas bill and over-claiming of mortgage interest payments.

Mr Woolas has written to Sir Thomas and said the amount he received was less than that of the total — and no cash was received for the non-food items.

In regard to the gas bill, Mr Woolas said it was due to “reconciling of a gas bill payment with a direct debit payment.”

And regarding alleged over-claiming of mortgage interest payments, the interest certificates related to a subsequent year, Mr Woolas stated.

He said: “I am confident that all payments were legitimate.

“I give my commitment that I will abide by the rulings of the inquiry on the submission.”

The move came after the expenses scandal rocked Westminster with some MPs from all parties breaching the rules and pushing boundaries to the limit.

Gordon Brown — who has repaid £12,415, largely from cleaning and gardening claims — vowed to remove the whip from any Labour MP refusing to comply with Sir Thomas’s findings.

Many MPs are angry and are refusing to pay back claims for some services, saying they were within the rules when the claims were made.

Commons leader Harriet Harman said: “This is an issue for the whole House of Commons to do what is necessary to restore public confidence.”

She said the money being requested was “another step on the important path to ensuring the public know once and for all that we’ve sorted this system out.”