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Cameron's expenses revealed (From Oxford Mail)
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Cameron's expenses revealed
8:05am Monday 11th May 2009
Witney MP David Cameron has some of the most straighforward expenses claims of any member of the Shadow Cabinet, it emerged today.
For most of the past five years, the Conservative Party leader has claimed only for mortgage interest and utility bills on his Oxfordshire constituency cottage.
According to the Daily Telegraph investigation, his Parliamentary expense records are only 20 pages long, compared with claims of more than 90 pages for some of his colleagues.
Mr Cameron claimed a total of £141,820 on his second home allowance over five years.
The only exception to the mortgage interest and utility bills on the constituency home was a £680 bill for repairs to the property, which included clearing wisteria and vines from a chimney, replacing outside lights and resealing a conservatory roof.
Mr Cameron told The Daily Telegraph: “We have to acknowledge just how bad the situation is and just how angry the public are.
“We have to start by saying that the system we had and used was wrong and we are sorry for that.”
The latest revelations from the newspaper indicated that senior Tories had engaged in the tactic of "flipping" property designations to claim more allowances.
Mr Cameron said it was going to be "another bad day for Parliament and frankly another bad day for the the Conservative Party”.
He added: “We are sorry that this happened and it needs to change.”
A new independent audit unit — costing £600,000 a year to run — will take over scrutiny of MPs' expenses claims, the Commons authorities said.
The ruling Commons Commission is also due to discuss whether it can rush through the publication of more than a million edited claims receipts.
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Your Say YourOxford
erik256, oxford says...
12:23pm Mon 11 May 09
I wish i could claim mortgage interest and utility bills on my work expenses!! prehaps I could to afford on my meager wages then!
What the heck has those expenses got to do with him being able to do his job?
I say scrap all expenses apart from travel expenses to get to Parliment for MP's within 30 miles of LOndon and Only have hotel allowances for MP's outside this limit
it is disgusting!
brianbbleys, bbleys says...
1:45pm Mon 11 May 09
oxman, Oxford says...
1:59pm Mon 11 May 09
I don't really think I am in a position to cast the first stone.
This outpouring of moral correctiveness from the general public is quite nauseating. The very vast majority of us would have done exactly the same had we been in that situation and anyone who denies it is, quite frankly, guilty of some sad delusions of self moral grandeur.
LadyPenelope, Oxford says...
4:48pm Mon 11 May 09
Bogota Bob, Fish Street says...
7:04pm Mon 11 May 09
oxman wrote:Sorry but there is no moral link between filching the odd pen or printing the odd personal thing at work, compared to these overpaid leeches sucking every penny they can get out of us at a time when many people are struggling to stay above the water in the recession. Tell somebody who is being made redundant and has a mortgage to pay on a family home that some MP claiming £2,000 to fix a pipe under a tennis court is an essential claim for an MP on £60k a year to be making! Given Letwin’s claim, I’d have to steal 6856 29p Biro’s to pay for the pipe, let alone be given an allowance to cover it. That’s over 195 pens a year on a 35 year career.
As someone who has taken printer paper from work, had the odd pen or two, claimed more mileage than driven, asked for, and was given, receipts for meals that were not eaten, downloaded the odd song from the internet, copied the odd DVD and CD...... I don't really think I am in a position to cast the first stone. This outpouring of moral correctiveness from the general public is quite nauseating. The very vast majority of us would have done exactly the same had we been in that situation and anyone who denies it is, quite frankly, guilty of some sad delusions of self moral grandeur.
The 2nd home scheme should be abandoned; it would be far cheaper to have a system in place where MP’s who will need an overnight stop are provided accommodation in a hotel with wi-fi access and a cooked meal. This would need to be booked in advance and subject to certain criteria (i.e. the MP’s journey home would take more than 2 hours or 100+ miles) Train tickets or travel should be dished out on a pre-booked basis, if they need to attend the parliament, they book travel in advance and they pay like everybody else if they have to drive to the nearest station and park.
oxman, Oxford says...
7:16pm Mon 11 May 09
Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing in favour of them, I'm just amused that everyone's latched on to the story so quick. Only last week we were all going to die from Swine 'flu.
Zimmer, Oxon says...
8:11pm Mon 11 May 09
oxman wrote:I agree oxman it is the system that is in need of changing and screwing down tight. We'll see how many of the public leeches err I mean servants stay in power then. The best of it is they tried to deflect public eyes from their system by decrying the Bankers bonus system which you could argue that the Bankers actually worked for!!!!!!
If the system allows you to claim it, you would. As I said, I've had enough freebies to prevent from moralising. Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing in favour of them, I'm just amused that everyone's latched on to the story so quick. Only last week we were all going to die from Swine 'flu.
William Bonnie, Boot Hill says...
8:40pm Mon 11 May 09
rickenback, oxford says...
9:39pm Mon 11 May 09
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brianbbleys, bbleys says...
11:53am Mon 11 May 09