MPs

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A millionaire top Tory has been secretly filmed whingeing that MPs have to live on "rations" and are treated like "shit". Shadow Commons leader Alan Duncan claimed conditions are so bad no-one with any talent will want to become an MP, even though the job pays £64,766 a year. Mr Duncan, one of the wealthiest men in the Commons, also defended his decision to claim £1,000 in gardening expenses.

He was secretly filmed making the comments by Heydon Prowse, editor of Don't Panic magazine, who he had invited for a drink in the Commons. As they sat on the terrace overlooking the Thames, Mr Duncan said, "No one who has done anything in the outside world, or is capable of doing such a thing, will ever come into this place ever again, the way we are going." Asked why, he replied, "Basically, it's being nationalised, you have to live on rations and you're treated like shit."

Turning to his garden expenses, he said, "I could claim the whole bloody lot but I don't." When asked how much he spent on his garden, he said, "About £2,000 a year and this was £1,000 a year on expenses. I'm afraid the world has gone mad." Another Tory MP, Nigel Evans, was filmed joking that he has to make sandwiches to boost his MPs' pay. He told Mr Prowse, "Got to have a second income mate, couldn't survive on 64."

Mr Evans also complained that he was having to pay for his own wine. Later, Mr Duncan rushed out a humiliating apology and insisted he had only been joking. He said, "The last thing people want to hear is an MP whingeing about his pay and conditions. It is a huge honour to be an MP and my remarks, although meant in jest, were completely uncalled for. I apologise for them unreservedly." (Source: The Sun, Aug/09)

MPs can spend up to £10,000 for a new kitchen and £6,335 to instal a new bathroom. They can choose beds costing up to £1,000, DVD players up to £270, TVs at £750 and £750 stereo systems. The items are allowed under a £22,000-a-year Additional Costs Allowance given to all MPs living outside central London, which is meant to furnish their second homes. In addition, they can claim £400 a month for food, without receipts, and get the taxpayer to foot their dry cleaning bills.

Other examples on the list of 38 items include dining tables for £600 and food blenders for £200. Members can also cover their floors in carpets costing £35 a square metre. MPs earn £61,820 a year, plus allowances for travel, staff and offices worth more than £100,000. The list of items was released under the Freedom of Information Act. Its existence was not even known to most MPs until recently.

Claims MPs can make on their parliamentary expenses to furnish their second homes:

Air conditioning unit: £299.99
Bed: £1,000
Bedside cabinet: £100
Book case/shelf: £200
Bookcase/cabinet: £500
Carpet: £35 per square metre
Carpet fitting: £6.50 per square metre
Coffee maker/machine: £100
Coffee table: £250
Dining armchairs: £150 each
Dining chairs: £90 each
Dining table: £600
Dishwasher: £375
Drawer chest (5): £500
Dressing table: £500
Food mixer: £200
Free-standing mirror: £300
Fridge/freezer: £550
Gas cooker: £650
Hi-fi/stereo: £750
Installation of new bathroom: £6,335
Installation of new kitchen: £10,000
Lamp table: £200
Nest of tables: £200
Recordable DVD player: £270
Rugs: £300
Shredder: £50
Sideboard: £795
Suite of furniture: £2,000
Television set: £750
Tumble dryer: £250
Underlay (basic): £6.99 per square metre
Wardrobe: £700
Washer-dryer: £500
Washing machine: £350
Wooden flooring/carpets: £35 per square metre
Workstation: £150

(Source: The Sun, Mar/08)

MPs are demanding a rise in their salaries, up to £100,000, in exchange for sacrificing lucrative allowances. Calls for the bumper pay rise come after it was revealed they are allotted £22,110-a-year to spend on kitting out their second homes. MPs have admitted they may have to forego such luxuries but instead of losing the entitlement altogether, they are demanding a rise in their basic salary of £61,820, with some calling for a £40,000 pay rise.

Martin Salter, a backbench MP for Reading West, said, "I think there is a case for MPs to be paid more and then having to fund their London allowances out of their income. You'll be hard pressed to find a chief executive who's on less than £100,000. We're certainly paid less than head teachers and any deputy head teachers." Other MPs argue that they need a £38,000 pay rise, as £15,000 of the increase will go in taxes, leaving them with £23,000. (Source: Daily Mail, Mar/08)

MPs have awarded themselves an extra £6.5 million of taxpayers' money to claim an extra £10,000 a year in expenses in order to enable them to 'communicate' with their constituents. They already cost the taxpayer a massive £86.7 million a year in expenses and office allowances, or £134,000 each, including £5 million on travel. Their £60,000 annual salaries cost taxpayers a further £39 million. The extra costs bring the total cost of MPs to the public purse to £132.2 million.

The new allowance will cover 'proactive communications with constituents and others, newsletters, leaflets, annual reports and the postage for them'. It will enable MPs to produce glossy brochures and self-promoting websites. Paying activists to post election leaflets will also be covered by the new costs. Commons leader Jack Straw said the £6.5 million cost was a 'reasonable and relatively modest sum' for MPs to communicate with their constituents. Official figures show that several MPs already claim more than £20,000 per year in stationery and postage costs alone. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Mar/07)

David Cameron, who, a week previously, unveiled proposals to tax unnecessary flights, used a private jet to make a 90-mile journey from Oxford to a meeting near Hereford. The trip would have taken around two hours and 20 minutes by car. The return flight is listed in Mr Cameron's latest entry in the Commons Register of Interests under "gifts, benefits and hospitality". A spokesman said, "All the flights that David takes are offset for carbon emissions, as are the road and rail trips."

Treasury minister John Healy said, "What David Cameron has shown is that even while he's proposing massive tax hikes on ordinary air travellers he's using planes to travel the 90 miles between Oxford and Hereford, a simple two hour journey by train. It just shows that Cameron believes there's one rule for him and his Tory friends, and another for the rest of us. Just like when we discovered his chauffeur was following behind his bicycle carrying his shoes, we all know his commitment to the environment is all for the cameras." (Source: Mail on Sunday, Mar/07)

MPs are demanding a pay increase to push their salaries to as much as £100,000 a year, a 66% rise. A number of backbench MPs have privately written to the independent body that sets salaries seeking a rise from the current £60,277. The MPs claim that the rise is needed to put them on a par with other senior public sector workers such as GPs and council chief executives. Since 1997, MPs' pay has risen by 37%, way above inflation at 26%, but below average earnings at 47%. The politicians also enjoy perks such as a final salary pensions, expenses, travel costs and a second home allowance.

Tory Sir John Butterfill, a former chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, said, "The main issue is the degree to which MPs' salaries have fallen behind other public servants. Over the years, we have been downgraded and compared to junior directors of middle-sized companies at the last review. But, even so, we have failed to keep up. There is no point in having a review body that chooses comparators then doesn't keep us up with them. Not that many years ago, we were on a par with GPs and heads of comprehensive schools. They are now on £100,000."

James Frayne, campaign director of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said, "At a time when people have become totally disillusioned with the performance and behaviour of politicians, it is extraordinary they should now be demanding that taxpayers pay them a six figure salary. It reflects how out of touch modern politicians have become." Sir Alistair Graham, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, recently revealed that seven out of ten voters believe MPs habitually lie, and that ministers are now seen as less trustworthy than estate agents. (Source: Daily Mail, Dec/06)