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Short mortgage claim 'excessive' Short's anger over expenses story
(30 minutes later)
Former Labour Cabinet minister Clare Short was paid more than £8,000 of taxpayers' money to which she was not entitled, the Daily Telegraph has said. Ex-Labour minister Clare Short has said she made an "honest mistake" in over-claiming expenses for her second home.
She is said to have been paid the cost of a mortgage between late 2003 and 2006 when only entitled to interest. The MP was paid £8,000 too much after she claimed for her full mortgage payments when she was only entitled to the interest, the Daily Telegraph said.
The MP told the BBC she made an "honest mistake" and had paid the money back in 2006 as soon as it was brought up. She said she had repaid in full in 2006 when it was pointed out adding:"They are trying to pretend that everyone is cheating and it's just not true."
It comes as the revelations about expenses saw former Labour minister Elliot Morley suspended from the party. Earlier a Labour MP was suspended and a Tory aide quit over their expenses.
Conservative MP Andrew MacKay also resigned as aide to David Cameron over an "unacceptable" expenses claim. Ms Short, who now sits as an independent MP for Birmingham Ladywood after quitting the cabinet over the Iraq war, is among MPs whose claims are scrutinised in Friday's Telegraph.
The Telegraph also says Justice Minister Shahid Malik claimed the maximum amount for second homes over three years. 'No fiddle'
Minister suspended The newspaper reported she was asked to pay back more than £8,000 and wrote to the fees office at the time to say "I was not clear about the rules on capital and interest and always sent in documentation and am surprised your office did not pick up the problem".
Ms Short, MP for Birmingham Ladywood resigned from her Cabinet role as international development secretary over the Iraq War and now sits as an independent. Ms Short said the money had been repaid in 2006, long before the row over MPs' expenses receipts began.
She is said to have paid back £8,436.36 when the error on mortgage payments on the property designated as her second home in Birmingham, was pointed out by the Commons Fees Office in 2006. She told the BBC she had switched from an interest-only to a repayment mortgage and had continued to send bills to the fees office - but had repaid the money when the error was pointed out in 2006.
Ms Short told the BBC: "I think they [Daily Telegraph] are just trying to smear everybody, it was an honest mistake, the fees office picked it up. She said: "This was years ago - the system worked, I made a mistake - the money was repaid, there was no fiddle of any kind, no milking the system and now they are try to pretend that everyone is cheating and it's just not true."
"Now they're just trying to smear everybody and make out everybody's cheating, but this thing happened years ago." She added: "I think they [Daily Telegraph] are just trying to smear everybody, it was an honest mistake."
She added that the stories "may increase the vote for the BNP, make people cynical about perfectly good people who have worked in their communities to help people".She added that the stories "may increase the vote for the BNP, make people cynical about perfectly good people who have worked in their communities to help people".
In the paper, Ms Short is quoted as saying: "When I found out that I had been making a mistake, I was embarrassed and irritated that it took the fees office so long to pick this up. Angry audience
In other revelations the Telegraph reports that Justice Minister Shahid Malik - who claimed the most expenses of all 646 MPs in 2007 - claimed thousands of pounds in expenses on his second home while renting his main home.
The report on Mr Malik suggest he claimed a total of £66,827 in second homes allowances over three years.
It also reports he claimed £2,500 for a cinema system, which was later reduced by half by fees office, and £65 for court summons for non payment of council tax.
Mr Malik said the report's suggestion he paid only £100 a week in rent on his "main home" in his Dewsbury constituency was a "fabrication".
He said the house was where he spent most of his time so it was legitimate to claim for the second home in London and said he had repaid the £65 on Thursday.
Mr Malik denies any wrongdoingMr Malik denies any wrongdoing
"I paid what was due and corrected future claims. I think this is an example of the fees office working as it should, if a little belatedly." Meanwhile on BBC One's Question Time, housing minister Margaret Beckett, former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell and Tory frontbencher Theresa May were barracked by the audience over the expenses stories.
The report on Mr Malik suggest he claimed a total of £66,827 in second homes allowances. Mrs Beckett and Sir Menzies both found their claims scrutinised in the Daily Telegraph and sought to defend them on the programme and there were calls of "too late" when the MPs referred to plans to independently scrutinise all claims made.
According to the Telegraph he pays a below market rent of less than £100 per week for a main home in his Dewsbury constituency while billing taxpayers for a second home in London. Days of revelations about expenses claims made by MPs from all the main parties have led to many members saying they will pay back claims.
He has not yet been contacted by the BBC but the Telegraph says he denied any wrongdoing. 'Sloppy accounting'
Mr Malik's second home claims are said to have included £2,500 for a cinema system, which was later reduced by half by fees office, and £65 for court summons for non payment of council tax. On Thursday the Labour MP and former minister Elliot Morley was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party after it emerged he had claimed £16,000 in mortgage payments, for 18 months after the mortgage had ended.
He told the paper: "With hindsight of course I would have acted differently on these items..." He blamed it on "sloppy accounting", apologised and has paid the money back.
He added that faced with "subjective rules and a guidance team that knew the limits for items, but chose not to share them... it was inevitable that almost every MP would have items questioned at some point".
Earlier on Thursday, former minister Mr Morley was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party after claiming £16,000 expenses for a mortgage he had already paid off.
Mr Morley said the claim had been a "mistake" due to "sloppy accounting" and said he had paid the money back.
The MP for Scunthorpe, has referred himself to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon in an effort to clear his name.The MP for Scunthorpe, has referred himself to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon in an effort to clear his name.
Mr Morley has not had the whip withdrawn, which would effectively expel him from the Parliamentary party - but Labour chief whip Nick Brown made it clear that he faced expulsion if he failed to clear his name. Conservative MP Andrew MacKay also resigned as aide to David Cameron over an "unacceptable" expenses claim.
Conservative MP Andrew MacKay meanwhile resigned as aide to Mr Cameron after he claimed the second home allowance on his London address, while his wife, Tory MP Julie Kirkbride, claimed it for another home. He claimed the second home allowance on his London address, while his wife, Tory MP Julie Kirkbride, claimed it for another home.
Between them they claimed 98.5% of the total allowance available to them since 2004.Between them they claimed 98.5% of the total allowance available to them since 2004.
He has said he will pay back an amount decided by the Tory panel, adding: "Due to an error of judgement in accepting advice from the fees office I have let a lot of people down."He has said he will pay back an amount decided by the Tory panel, adding: "Due to an error of judgement in accepting advice from the fees office I have let a lot of people down."