LAWS IS AGAIN FIRST MP TO RELEASE NEW EXPENSES FIGURES, AS OVER HALF OF ALL MPs TOLD TO MAKE REPAYMENTS
David Laws, MP for Yeovil Constituency, has today become the first MP to publish all of his expense claims up to 31st December 2009, on the day that Parliament publishes expense data for all MPs – but Parliament has only today published figures up to 30th June 2009. David’s figures show that he continues to claim way below the limits for his personal expenses, including renting a flat in Westminster when Parliament is sitting.
The Report by Sir Thomas Legg into MPs expenses has also been published today, and this confirms that David Laws has not been asked to repay any of his expenses, as Sir Thomas found all his claims for London living costs to be in order. However, over half of MPs (390 out of 650) have been ordered to repay expenses, including many from the Somerset and Dorset area.
The amounts which have been repaid already by MPs or which Sir Thomas has requested include:
David Laws MP (Yeovil): ZERO.
David Heath MP (Somerton and Frome): ZERO
Jeremy Browne MP (Taunton): ZERO
Iain Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater): £350.00
David Heathcote-Amory (Wells): £29,691.93
Oliver Letwin MP (West Dorset): £3,883.70
Robert Walter MP (North Dorset): £1,228.32
Jim Knight MP (South Dorset): £3,451.67
David Laws MP said:
“I am pleased that Sir Thomas Legg’s Inquiry into MPs expenses has indicated that all my claims for London living costs are in order. The crisis over MPs expenses has been hugely damaging to confidence in British politics and politicians, and Parliament needs to act swiftly to introduce all of the recommendations of the Kelly Review. These must not be watered down in any way.
“I am today publishing all of my expenses up to 31st December 2009, 6 months before these will be published by Parliament. I believe in giving constituents as much information as possible about how their money is being spent. As my office in Yeovil is one of the busiest of any MP in the country, I will need to use my allowances to pay staff and to fund office costs such as rent, equipment and postage. But I will continue to be as prudent as I can with my own personal expenses, and this is what local residents expect from all MPs.”
Attached: David’s expenses figures for 2009/10, up to 31st December 2010.
ENDS.
Category: MP Press Releases