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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Labour minister to repay £41,709 | Labour minister to repay £41,709 |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Health minister Phil Hope is to repay £41,709 in second home allowances following media revelations. | Health minister Phil Hope is to repay £41,709 in second home allowances following media revelations. |
| The Corby MP said he had kept to the rules but stories about his expenses had caused a "massive blow" to his integrity and standing with voters. | The Corby MP said he had kept to the rules but stories about his expenses had caused a "massive blow" to his integrity and standing with voters. |
| He said: "This issue has fundamentally changed the view people have of me and that is something I cannot bear." | He said: "This issue has fundamentally changed the view people have of me and that is something I cannot bear." |
| It is the biggest amount an MP has paid back as all parties attempt to repair the damage to their reputation. | It is the biggest amount an MP has paid back as all parties attempt to repair the damage to their reputation. |
| A string of Conservative frontbenchers, including leader David Cameron, have agreed to pay back excessive expenses claims following a series of revelations in The Daily Telegraph. | |
| Mr Hope's Labour colleague, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, is to pay £13,332 in respect of capital gains tax on the sale of her second home. | |
| 'Badly hurt' | |
| Labour MP for Luton, Margaret Moran, is to pay back £22,500 she spent on treating dry rot at a property in Southampton. | |
| Mr Hope, who has a majority of 1,517 in his Northamptonshire seat, said: "The anger of my constituents and the damage done to perceptions of my integrity concerning the money I have received to make my London accommodation habitable has been a massive blow to me that I cannot allow to continue. | |
| "I have worked very hard over the last twelve years to represent and fight for my constituents and their opinion of me as a person matters hugely to both myself and my wife Allison. | |
| "We feel very badly hurt by what has happened and although I kept to the rules laid down by Parliament I cannot allow this dreadful perception about what I claimed in allowances to continue. | |
| "Whatever the right and wrongs of the allowance system this issue has fundamentally changed the view people have of me and that is something I cannot bear." | |
| The 54-year-old former teacher entered Parliament in Labour's 1997 landslide in a previously Conservative seat and held a string of junior ministerial positions before becoming care services minister. He is also minister for the East Midlands. | |
| He added: "I have decided to try to restore the trust and relationships I have with my constituents. | |
| "I am returning all of the money that I have claimed for fittings, furniture and household items that I received over a five year period - the sum of £41,709. | |
| "This will be paid to the House authorities as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made." |