'John Lewis list' claim rejected

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A disabled man who tried to obtain furniture from the state by asking for the same funding MPs were entitled to, has lost a court case on the issue.

Joseph Lee asked the government to give him items as they appeared on the "John Lewis list", used to decide MPs' and MEPs' expenses, the High Court heard.

But his request for a judicial review against the government was rejected.

The judge said he had "anticipated with remarkable foresight" the expenses row, but the court could not get involved.

After the hearing Mr Lee said he would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

Mr Lee told the High Court he had applied for disability awards for several household items, using the so-called John Lewis list, which parliament officials formerly used when considering whether to authorise MPs' expenses claims.

Why am I and the rest of the 59m citizens of this country treated differently from the 646 persons elected as MPs, where help from the public purse is concerned? Joseph Lee

The list contains commonly claimed items such as televisions, beds, or carpets, and costs considered reasonable are measured against the prices at John Lewis department stores.

When Mr Lee, 64, from East Ham, east London, applied for a bed using the same guidelines he was told the cost was "a bit high" and the list was not for him, the court heard.

Mr Lee - who suffered spinal injuries while working in the building trade - was seeking to challenge the limits on state assistance he was entitled to as a disabled person, compared with that given to MPs and MEPs to fund and furnish second homes.

He said: "The question I ask and want answered is why am I and the rest of the 59 million citizens of this country treated differently from the 646 persons elected as MPs, where help from the public purse is concerned?"

Mr Lee said he had applied for disability awards for several household items, relying on information in the John Lewis list.

The list of the maximum amounts MPs can claim for certain items, including £750 for a television and £1,000 for a new bed, was revealed to the public for the first time in March last year.

'Morally indefensible'

Mr Lee, who is registered disabled and uses a walking stick, said he was told by government officials the cost of a bed for him on the John Lewis list was "a bit high" and he was only entitled to £200.

He said: "I apply to the public purse for a bed and am awarded £200. When one of the favoured 646 MPs apply they are awarded £1,000 for the same article. Why?"

Mr Lee told Mr Justice Holman, sitting at London's High Court, he was refused funding for other items of furniture available to MPs.

He described it as "discrimination at its worst" and asked for permission to seek judicial review against the Department for Work and Pensions.

He said giving favourable treatment to MPs was "morally indefensible."

Rejecting Mr Lee's application - first launched at the beginning of the year - the judge ruled the issues raised by him were matters for parliament and not for the courts.