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MPs pay back £500,000 in expenses MPs pay back £500,000 in expenses
(about 7 hours later)
MPs have now repaid nearly £500,000 in expenses money claimed since 2003, the Parliamentary Authorities have said. MPs have now repaid nearly £500,000 in expenses money claimed since 2003, the Parliamentary authorities have said.
Figures from the Commons Members Estimate Committee show 182 MPs from all parties have repaid a total of £478,616 since the crisis began in May. Figures show 182 MPs from all parties have repaid a total of £478,616 since the crisis began in May.
The figures reveal, for the first time, that Cabinet minister Douglas Alexander has repaid more than £12,000. Gordon Brown has repaid just over £800 while minister Barbara Follett repaid one of the largest sums - £32,976.
Eliot Morley, banned from standing as a Labour MP for claiming for a non-existent loan, has repaid £36,800. Elliot Morley, suspended by Labour for claiming £16,800 for a mortgage that had been paid off, has paid back an extra £20,000, it has emerged.
Varying sums The Scunthorpe MP and former minister, who has been barred from standing for the party at the next general election, said further examination by his own lawyers showed that taxpayers had paid for part of the capital sum of his mortgage.
Mr Morley had already agreed to repay £16,800 after admitting an error in claiming for interest on a mortgage on his second home that had already been paid off. I am confident that what has been found so far demonstrates that this was a genuine error Elliott Morley class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8106650.stm">What you've spotted on expenses... class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8108663.stm">NI MPs give back expenses money class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/wales/8108588.stm">Third of Welsh MPs repay expenses class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8107603.stm">Devine faces new expenses claims
The MP said it had since emerged that he had wrongly received a capital payment on his interest-only mortgage before the loan had been paid off. MPs are only allowed to claim for interest payments.
"There was a capital payment which, of course, is not allowed," he told the Press Association. But Mr Morley said his mortgage was supposed to have been interest only and not paid off until 2010.
"I repaid the capital element." "What has come to light is there is an anomaly between the instructions given to the insurance company, given in writing, and what was actually provided both in terms of speed and type of mortgage," he said.
Mr Morley, who has referred his case to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, said he still believed he had been the victim of a "genuine error" and wanted to prove there was no deliberate wrongdoing on his part. "I am confident that what has been found so far demonstrates that this was a genuine error."
A spokesman for Mr Alexander said he had repaid money, relating to the renting out of a building adjacent to his flat between 2001 and 2005, "for the avoidance of doubt". The Daily Telegraph had reported that the prime minister had effectively claimed for two properties at the same time in a year when he switched his designated second home from London to Fife.
What was permissible in 2003 is clearly not permissibly in 2009 Labour MP Paddy Tipping 'Inadvertent error'
Cabinet ministers have so far repaid £23,443 in total. He reportedly charged for some bills for his home in Fife covering a period when the London flat was still his second home and vice versa.
Gordon Brown has made four separate payments totalling about £800 either to correct "inadvertent errors" or for the "avoidance of doubt" on certain claims. His spokesman said all sums had been made either to rectify "inadvertent errors or for the avoidance of doubt".
Shadow Cabinet ministers have repaid £30,348. On Thursday Tory leader David Cameron said he would be repaying £947 following a "thorough review" of his claims by his office - he apologised for the "inadvertent error".
The latest information on repayments was published hours after all MPs expenses claims for 2004-8 were finally released by Parliament, albeit with crucial details such as MPs addresses blacked out. What was permissible in 2003 is clearly not permissibly in 2009 Labour MP Paddy Tipping class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8107702.stm">Cameron pays back more expenses class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8107922.stm">Row over blacked out MP expenses class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=6612">Send us your comments
Freedom of Information campaigners criticised the amount of information withheld but senior MPs said the move represented a step forward after weeks of anger over leaked disclosures published by the Daily Telegraph. The figures published by the Commons Members Estimate Committee on Thursday also reveal that Barbara Follett - the tourism minister - has repaid £32,976.
The re-payment figures range in size from the £40,000 repaid by Care Services Minister Phil Hope and the £32,976 repaid by Tourism Minister Barbara Follett, to a £1 sum reimbursed by Labour backbencher Madeleine Moon. It is one of the largest single sums repaid by any MP - the largest is £41,709 by care services minister Phil Hope, who had already publicised the fact he was repaying it in the light of constituents' anger.
Some of the details are coming to light for the first time, such as the £14,320 repaid by Labour MP Paddy Tipping. Ms Follett, married to best selling author Ken Follett, had defended claiming £25, 411 for security patrols at her London home after she was mugged, saying it was within the rules.
Mr Tipping has repaid all the mortgage interest payments claimed on his London flat since 2003, when he took out a larger mortgage to improve and redecorate the property. The figures also show for the first time, that cabinet minister Douglas Alexander has repaid more than £12,000.
'Bad judgement'
A spokesman said he had repaid money, relating to the renting out of a building next to his flat between 2001 and 2005, "for the avoidance of doubt".
It also emerged that Labour MP Paddy Tipping repaid £14,320 - all the mortgage interest payments claimed on his London flat since 2003, when he took out a larger mortgage to improve and redecorate the property.
He said he regretted the decision to re-mortgage at the taxpayer's expense, describing it as a "bad judgement", while stressing that he had acted entirely within the rules.He said he regretted the decision to re-mortgage at the taxpayer's expense, describing it as a "bad judgement", while stressing that he had acted entirely within the rules.
Yet again we shoot ourselves in the foot John MannLabour MP
He told the BBC: "What was permissible in 2003 is clearly not permissibly in 2009."He told the BBC: "What was permissible in 2003 is clearly not permissibly in 2009."
Among those making fresh repayments is Tory leader David Cameron who said on Thursday that some previous claims contained "inadvertent" errors and he was returning an extra £267 on top of £680 already repaid - although the sums are not included in Thursday's list. Cabinet ministers have so far repaid £23,443 in total while shadow cabinet ministers have repaid £30,348.
Omissions The latest details of repayments was published hours after all MPs' expenses claims for 2004-8 were finally released by Parliament, with crucial details such as MPs' addresses blacked out.
However, the latest list contains some significant omissions. Freedom of Information campaigners criticised the amount of information withheld and some MPs have expressed doubts about the way details have been removed.
David Chaytor, who stood down as a Labour MP after claiming £13,000 for a mortgage which had already been paid off, has only repaid £4,812.46 of that sum so far. Labour backbencher John Mann told the BBC the amount of information removed was "absurd".
He said: "We've ducked, we've dived, we've delayed.
"MPs have done everything to stop this information getting out there somehow thinking the public doesn't have a right to know. Yet again we shoot ourselves in the foot."
The list suggests that David Chaytor, who stood down as a Labour MP after claiming £13,000 for a mortgage which had already been paid off, has only repaid £4,812.46 of that sum so far.
And the £22,500 which Labour MP Margaret Moran claimed to pay for dry rot treatment on her second home, which prompted her resignation, has yet to be repaid.And the £22,500 which Labour MP Margaret Moran claimed to pay for dry rot treatment on her second home, which prompted her resignation, has yet to be repaid.
The Labour and Tory leadership have urged all MPs who have made unjustifiable claims to repay them.The Labour and Tory leadership have urged all MPs who have made unjustifiable claims to repay them.
It has also emerged that 47 MPs have repaid money claimed since April, details of which have yet to be published by the authorities. It has also emerged that 47 MPs have repaid money claimed since April this year - claims which have not yet been published.
The BBC's Political Correspondent Iain Watson said this suggested many MPs were acting before claims for the current parliamentary year - made before the scandal began in May - became public in order to pre-empt questions about their actions.The BBC's Political Correspondent Iain Watson said this suggested many MPs were acting before claims for the current parliamentary year - made before the scandal began in May - became public in order to pre-empt questions about their actions.