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| Wintertons defend flat expenses | Wintertons defend flat expenses |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A husband-and-wife MP couple have defended their use of Commons expenses for a London flat, even though they paid off the mortgage six years ago. | A husband-and-wife MP couple have defended their use of Commons expenses for a London flat, even though they paid off the mortgage six years ago. |
| Tories Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton transferred their second home to a trust, to which they said they paid rent of £21,600 per year. | Tories Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton transferred their second home to a trust, to which they said they paid rent of £21,600 per year. |
| The couple said they had agreed the arrangement with the Commons Fees Office at the time it was set up. | The couple said they had agreed the arrangement with the Commons Fees Office at the time it was set up. |
| They said they would not have gone ahead unless this had been the case. | They said they would not have gone ahead unless this had been the case. |
| The pair issued a statement defending their actions, following articles about them in the Mail on Sunday. | The pair issued a statement defending their actions, following articles about them in the Mail on Sunday. |
| 'On-the-spot' checks | |
| It also comes in the wake of the furore over Tory MP Derek Conway employing his sons at taxpayers' expense. | It also comes in the wake of the furore over Tory MP Derek Conway employing his sons at taxpayers' expense. |
| Senior MPs from all parties are meeting on Monday to discuss calls for spending watchdogs to carry out random spot checks of their expenses. | |
| Before we proceeded, the arrangement was agreed by the Fees Office and we clearly would not have gone ahead unless this had been the case Sir Nicholas and Lady Winterton | |
| The Wintertons, who both represent constituencies in Cheshire, say the arrangement they made on their London flat came about following advice from their solicitor and accountants about their likely inheritance tax liability. | |
| "As a result of the advice given to us, we paid off the mortgage on the flat with the proceeds of a small legacy and an insurance policy which had just matured," their statement said. | |
| They were then advised to put the flat into a trust, administered by their solicitor and themselves, on behalf of "the beneficiaries". | |
| "We no longer own the flat and in order to meet the objectives and terms of the trust, we are obliged to pay the full market rent which is recommended by an independent valuer/estate agent," they said. | |
| "The current rent is not £30,000 per annum as stated in the press articles, but is in fact £21,600 per annum. | |
| "Before we proceeded, the arrangement was agreed by the Fees Office and we clearly would not have gone ahead unless this had been the case. | |
| "If we did not use our present accommodation, we would have to rent or buy other accommodation, for which legitimate expenses could be claimed as now, and there is, therefore, no additional cost to the taxpayer from the present arrangement." | |
| The couple said they often travel together by car off peak "saving both on mileage allowance and very substantially on the high cost of rail travel". | |
| "It is also a fact that we are both in the lowest quartile as far as parliamentary expenses are concerned and we seek to use the allowances available as prudently and responsibly as possible." |