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Senior Tory MPs agree to repay “excessive” expenses

MP Cameron: no more taxpayer’s money for pools, gardens, manure, taxis…

Britain’s opposition leader David Cameron says he will lead senior Conservatives in repaying “excessive” expenses - warning that he will boot any MPs who refuse out of the party.

The Tory leader apologised to the public, saying he was “appalled” by the expenses that have come to light via leaks to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

He is repaying £680 claimed for repairs which included the removal of wisteria from the chimney of his second home. And he said a number of his shadow ministers were writing out cheques.

Three Tory MPs have already agreed to pay back Commons expenses claimed for swimming pool maintenance after details were revealed in the Daily Telegraph.

The paper also revealed other backbench Conservative MPs claimed for the cost of clearing a moat, buying horse manure and mowing paddocks.

The Telegraph has already published expenses claims made by Labour and Tory frontbenchers, including those for a lawnmower, dog food and changing light bulbs.

Among shadow ministers who have agreed to pay back some of the expenses claims they made are Michael Gove, Alan Duncan, Oliver Letwin and Andrew Lansley. Others have agreed to stop claiming allowances for second homes.

“We need money paid back now,” Mr Cameron said as he outlined an overhaul of the rules his MPs would abide by in claiming expenses.

In future, Tory MPs will only be allowed to claim for basic costs on second homes such as rent and utility bills and not, as at the moment, for furniture or food.

In addition, he will bring in regulations on the designation of second homes, to prevent the practice known as “flipping” -which has allowed some MPs to maximise allowance claims, subsidise home improvements or avoid tax on home sales.

A new panel will also be created to scrutinise MPs' claims and to ensure they comply with the new standards, while all Tory MPs will be required to publish details of all future claims online.

If MPs who have made excessive claims refuse to pay back the money, Mr Cameron said they would lose the party whip.

“I don't care if they were within the rules,” he said of claims made in the past. “They were wrong.”

“I want to say sorry that it has come to this and sorry for the actions of some Tory MPs,” he added.

Mr Cameron defended his “robust” reaction to the expenses scandal, saying his reforms would ensure there would be no more “unreasonable” claims in the future and were designed to show his party “understood the public anger” about the issue.

But he said the Commons was “deeply mired” in scandal and that its reputation would have to be rebuilt “brick by brick”.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne has agreed to pay back the £440.62 cost of a taxi journey between London and his Cheshire constituency after he missed the last train.

Mr Osborne said he wanted to make sure there were no “question marks” about his expenses but acknowledged the Conservatives were not “whiter than white”.

It comes as Commons leader Harriet Harman asked the cross-party committee in charge of MPs allowances to consider reviewing past claims with a view to ordering any deemed “excessive” to be paid back.

She also urged a “moratorium” on new claims until the system is sorted out to restore confidence in the Commons.

The latest batch of expenses details revealed by the Telegraph included the fact that Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson had made a claim of £304.10 for the upkeep of a swimming pool.

He said “the pool came with the house and I needed to know how to run it” and he had agreed to pay back the money.

Former shadow defence secretary Michael Ancram claimed almost £100 for the repair of a swimming pool boiler but said he had made a “genuine mistake” and would repay the money.

The newspaper also said North East Hampshire MP James Arbuthnot, chairman of the Commons defence select committee, had claimed £1,471 for garden and swimming pool costs. He has agreed to repay the swimming pool expenses.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph says former cabinet minister Douglas Hogg, MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham, submitted claims for more than £2,000 to clear a moat around his estate and £14,500 for a housekeeper.

But he told the BBC that, while he had claimed for a housekeeper, he had never asked to be reimbursed for the cost of cleaning the moat - it had simply been mentioned in details of expenditure on his house.

Mr Hogg said all of his claims had been made with the prior agreement of the Commons fees office.

Deputy Commons Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst, Tory MP for Saffron Walden, is reported to have claimed £142,000 on his country house, and £12,000 for gardening bills over five years.

He told the BBC he had claimed for £142,000 and had moved his second home allowance from London to his constituency when he became deputy speaker and believed the claim was within the rules.

The Telegraph says senior backbencher Sir Michael Spicer claimed more than £7,000 for his garden, including hedge-cutting for a “helipad”. He told the newspaper that was a family joke.

The Telegraph reports that David Heathcoat-Amory, Tory MP for Wells, claimed more than £380 for horse manure for his garden.

It adds that former shadow home secretary David Davis claimed more than £2,000 on mowing and rolling his paddocks and £5,700 for a portico for his house in Yorkshire.

Mr Davis said he had not done anything wrong, but agreed the rules needed to be changed.

Meanwhile, Labour MP for Luton South Margaret Moran has issued a statement saying she will repay £22,500 used to treat dry rot at a property 100 miles from her constituency.

She previously said the Southampton house was necessary for a “proper family life” because her partner had worked there for 20 years.

On Monday Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised on behalf of all political parties for MPs' expenses revelations over recent days, while Mr Cameron urged MPs to say “sorry” for the expenses system.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said it must not be a “hollow apology” and must be followed by real change.

In other developments at Westminster the Tory MP Douglas Carswell is seeking support for a motion of no confidence in the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, over the way he has handled the expenses furore.

And former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit urged voters to show their anger about the expenses scandal by not backing any of the major political parties in next month's European elections, a move which resulted in a public reprimand from Mr Cameron.