Question Feedback

Answered by Steve McCabe

Hi Kerry, I'm quite happy to talk about my expenses and have already given them all to the Evening Mail's John Walker. In 2004/5 I claimed too much in mortgage interest relief (2300 pounds)  I paid the... Show more »Hi Kerry,
I'm quite happy to talk about my expenses and have already given them all to the Evening Mail's John Walker. In 2004/5 I claimed too much in mortgage interest relief (2300 pounds)  I paid the money back a few months later, as soon as the fees office discovered it. This wasn't too hard for them as I submitted my mortgage interest certificate along with the claim. Not the action one would normally associate with an attempt to commit fraud but this hasn't stopped a local Conservative councillor trying to brand me as some kind of crook. Incidentally in the same year, I was the lowest claiming MP in the entire country.
Obviously, many of us have not paid enough attention to our expenses claims. Had I realised that they would be the subject of such scrutiny I'd have taken a week off work to ensure that I had everything perfect. The reality is that I often found myself rushing to fill them in after midnight on the day before the deadline.
There are a number of problems with parliamentary expenses and allowances. Firstly I believe there should be an allowance for staying away from home. My home is in Birmingham, my partner and I share the costs at our home like most other couples and i don't claim a penny expenses for my Birmingham home. I'm happy to be reimbursed in any way for the costs of having to stay away from home. I don't agree with David Cameron's solution that it should be soley an accommodation budget as I think this would turn the clock back to an era when only rich people could become MP's. It can be no accident that Mr. Cameron has claimed the maximum allowance - virtually double what I have claimed in most years but he has claimed it as mortgage interest on a very big mortgage.
I also think that issues like staff wages, office accommodation, heating and light should be paid directly by the House of Commons. Instead, I am expected to manage this like a small business while the newspapers describe it as an allowance as if its money that goes into my pocket.
I want a simple set of rules. A decent salary determined by an external body which is entirely free of parliamentary influence. I want the minimum expenses necessary to do my job so that I am not out of pocket as an MP and i want the fees office to check all fees before any payments are made and to query anything that doesn't seem to make sense  rather than pay expenses which frankly look ludicrous and leave us all gasping at stories about duck ponds, gardening and tennis courts.
You may be interested to know that I have not taken any pay rise this year either as an MP or as a Government whip.
Finally, I have already voted for a set of interim measures to restrict the amount of mortgage interest that can be claimed and to restrict the number of items which can be claimed as expenses. I've also voted for a register so that all MP's have to disclose any second jobs they may have and how much they earn from that activity. I will be more than happy to accept whatever recommendations are made by the independent Kelly Committee on salaries and allowances for parliament. Hope this answers your question,
Best Wishes,
Steve McCabe Show less »