MPs' Expenses
Posted by Tom Levitt, MP for High Peak, at 15:07, Sun 17 May 2009:
This is an extended version of my weekly column for 18 May 2009. You can find more about my work at www.tomlevitt.org.uk or by emailing me directly at tomlevittmp@parliament.uk, where priority is always given to emails from High Peak constituents.
I wanted to celebrate ten years of the minimum wage this week but events have clearly overtaken me. The MP expenses row raises three questions: are the rules adequate? Were they properly enforced? Did MPs abide by those rules?
The answer to all three is clearly ‘no.’
The rules have been tightened twice since the years to which current revelations refer. They are already being reviewed again by the independent Committee on Standards in Public Life.
The enforcement of the rules has clearly been pathetic. And adherence to them was in some cases poor. As a former member of the Standards committee, I know that we punished MPs for less than some of the offences that have been described. In other cases there is more smoke than fire.
Let me set out my own situation.
I have not received a penny of expenses in respect of my Buxton home. My salary is £64,766, about the same as a deputy head teacher in a medium sized comprehensive school. I have a 40-year old flat in Lambeth on which the rules entitle me to claim legitimate and necessary second home expenses. This includes the interest paid on my mortgage (but not capital repayments). My current mortgage interest claim has fallen to under £400 per month due to the falling interest rates. My other expenditure has been proportionate and legitimate: I have no moat, chandelier, garden or sauna. Some of my furniture is second hand and I have never ‘flipped’ the designation of my first and second homes.
Whilst I have been diligent I have not been perfect. A few years ago I claimed more on my mortgage than I was entitled to. This was because I had calculated that more of my mortgage payment was made up of interest than it was. I immediately made arrangements to pay back the excess over six months and this was done.
You may have seen a Sunday Times graphic on 17 May featuring the ‘20 most expensive MPs over the last four years’. I appear on this list at 8, though several of the colleagues listed below me differ from my total by less than 1%. There is no suggestion in the paper that this spending is illegitimate and it is all within the budget theoretically allowed. Had I not had a member of staff take maternity leave in 2008 I might not have appeared on the list at all, as maternity cover is paid for by the Commons and not from my staffing budget. You can see a breakdown of these expenses at www.theywork4you.com.
I want to see full disclosure of our detailed expenses and Parliament will do this in June. But that is not good enough. I will be posting details of the claims I made in the period covered by the recent disclosures, month by month, on my web site www.tomlevitt.org.uk. This will happen in the next ten days.
MPs generally are neither criminals nor fools; but we are all human and therefore fallible. Parliament has lost people’s trust and we need to win it back. We must not return to only having rich people willing to serve in politics. My job is to try to make the lives of ordinary people better and that’s all. I am proud to be working over 60 hours each week to serve the needs of my High Peak constituents.
Tom Levitt MP May 2009
Comments
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Posted by Bill Lionheart, 15:41, Sun 17 May 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
I think the interest on a small flat seems reasonable, but the system has to change in the light of public opinion. At the least so MPs cannot profit from selling their second home. Maybe renting would be the sensible option as MPs would be more in tune with tenants.
The link theywork4you is broken. Do you mean http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/tom_levitt/high_peak ?
Posted by Martin Bottomley, 17:31, Sun 17 May 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
When exactly did you claim more mortgage interest than you were really paying?
When exactly did you start paying this money back?
As we the tax payer are paying the interest on this loan will you give an undertaking to re-pay any capital gian on the property we are funding back into the public purse or do you intend to pocket the profit personally?
Why are you so high on the list of MP's expenditure, speicifcally why do you spend more than other MP's in the North West?
When you were on the standards Committee why did you not take action about this historical abuse of public funds?
Posted by Ambrose Gillick, 18:36, Sun 17 May 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
Levitt's attempt to make it sound like he is lowly paid and over-worked is disingenuous. £64,766 is actually a very decent wage. I survive on less than a quarter of that, with a young family to look after. I pay proportionately more tax than you too. I am sure you can pay claim your council tax as an expense too. Under Labour council tax rises have been phenomenal, although services, education, and crime have actually become worse.
All in, I cannot in any way fathom how parliamentarians justify owning anthing they buy on expenses. It should be the property of the constituency, and be transferred to the person who wins the seat. It is not complex. Indeed it is a very obvious solution, and the fact that no MP has raised it as a possibility actually encapsulates the problem: MPs see parliament as a place to enrich themselves, a situation they are loathe to change. When they are de-elected they know they will have a very substantial nest-egg to fall back on.
To keep MPs straight they should be paid a wage. If they serve their constituency well they will be re-elected. If they don’t, they’ll be de-elected and have to get a normal job. The pressure then would be on the MP to be good and useful to their constituency.
Levitt has a majority of less than 800. He will lose his seat in 2010. He has been a greedy man.
Posted by stone elworthy, 08:17, Mon 18 May 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
Part of what upsets me about all of this is the massive admin phaff involved and the cost of all that admin. Why can't MPs just be given a reasonable wage/budget that covers both their pay and any expenses involved including staff/second homes with it being down to them what they spend it on. MPs could get a modest extra in the budget if they live very far away such as in Scotland. The overall cost will then be less because MPs will economize and so be able to make do with a more modest budget. My mother used to work three days a week in Aberdeen but lived in Leamington Spa. She got EasyJet flights at lowest price and had a shared flat in Aberdeen and so manage to make the costs very modest.
Posted by JOHN WRIGHT, 15:13, Mon 18 May 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
This rip off of expenses was encouraged by the Labour Party, I would advise Mr Levitt to Read A book by Vernon Coleman entitled Gordon is a Moron,this is a serious Tome of how the Labour Party have ruined the country.particullarly Gordon Brown,