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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Darling 'very sorry' over claim | Darling 'very sorry' over claim |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Alistair Darling has apologised "unreservedly" over an expenses claim he made on a flat he moved out of shortly afterwards. | Alistair Darling has apologised "unreservedly" over an expenses claim he made on a flat he moved out of shortly afterwards. |
| The chancellor said he was "very sorry" and wanted to make sure he "behaved properly" in his expenses claims. | The chancellor said he was "very sorry" and wanted to make sure he "behaved properly" in his expenses claims. |
| He says he will repay £700 claimed in advance service charges on a flat which he then moved out. | He says he will repay £700 claimed in advance service charges on a flat which he then moved out. |
| He also faced questions after changing his designated "second home" four times and claiming for tax advice. | He also faced questions after changing his designated "second home" four times and claiming for tax advice. |
| On the repeated changes to his "second home" designation, he told the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson he had only sought to make sure his claims accurately reflected where he was living. | |
| His circumstances had changed when he moved to Downing Street, when he designated his grace and favour flat as his "second home". | |
| In October 2007, when the Northern Rock crisis was at its height, he said it was obvious to him he was spending most of his time in London and so he changed his "second home" to his Edinburgh property. | |
| "If you look at how much I claimed in the last couple of years it is actually a lot less than it was in the past," he said. | |
| On the service charge, he said he had been entitled to claim for it at the time, when he was living in the flat. | |
| But he said it "ran ahead" six months - covering a period in which he had moved to Downing Street. | |
| He said he did not want to be "gaining from something I shouldn't have". | |
| "That's why I decided to repay that sum, I'm very sorry about it, I unreservedly apologise for it - it shouldn't have happened and that's why I've decided to repay that money." | |
| Asked if he would be remaining as chancellor, he said it was for the prime minister to decide who is in the cabinet. | |
| But he said it was "upsetting" when his personal integrity was "impugned". |