Greedy MPs STILL milking the system with expenses soaring 40% in just five years
THEY promised a complete reform after the expenses scandal but new figures show politicians claims have soared by more than 40% in just five years.
MPs are no longer allowed to claim money for things like birdhouses and having their moats cleaned out.
But many want the transparency of the reformed system to end so they can spend taxpayers money on travelling in first class and taking taxis without the voters finding out.
In a new book entitled Parliament Ltd, author Martin Williams reports they are still cashing in.
Mr Williams reports that since David Cameron became Prime Minister the amount MPs claim each year has risen by 43%.
He found flight expenses have gone up 50%, now topping more than £1million a year.
Expenses for renting second homes have risen from £6.2m before, to £9.3m in 2014/15.
And total business costs and expenses rose from £79m in 2010/11, to £113m in 2014/15.
Since the expenses scandal in 2009 the Independent Standards Parliamentary Authority was set up to regulate MPs pay and expenses.
But many greedy MPs hate the new system and have ranted at IPSA staff about the publication of their embarrassing expenses claims.
One MP even wanted to get rid of the expenses system entirely and replace it with an allowance of up to £12,000 a month – giving MPs a bumper pay packet of more than £200k.
A Tory MP told Mr Williams: “They get very touchy about things called taxis.
“MPs aren’t allowed taxis because it’s emotive.
“Ipsa aren’t interested in what’s fair – they’re only interested in the rules. MPs call it ‘I’m Paid Sod All’.”
And an anonymous survey of MPs conducted by Ipsa in 2014 revealed many wanted to end the transparent system, including one who complained about not being able to travel first class.
She said: “It’s very difficult to work in standard class.
“But if you go first Ipsa still publishes it as first-class travel and the papers love ‘greedy MP’ stories. It really annoys me.”
As reported in , hotels are one of the few things MPs can still get away with on expenses.
It comes after it emerged that SNP politician Angus MacNeil is facing a parliamentary probe over his affair with journalist Serena Cowdy.
The MP is said to have met her in London’s Park Plaza Hotel – and his expenses show he claimed for 11 visits there.
Other MPs to have claimed hotel stays on expenses include Tory MP Andrew Bridgen who reportedly ditched his flat in Westminster when his marriage broke down a few years ago and stayed at a central London hotel for 165 nights in one year.
This came at a cost of nearly £25,000 and he claimed it back on expenses.
When Mr Williams asked the North West Leicestershire MP whether it was acceptable for MPs to claim £150 a night for hotels, he replied: “I mean, what do you want?
“We could get some cardboard boxes and kip out on the bridge at Waterloo station.
“That would be handy, although we might look a bit of a mess when we arrive to work the next morning. "Where do you want us to go?”
In Parliament Ltd Mr Williams said guests at the hotel can use a swimming pool, sauna, steam room and gym, and there’s also a spa for beauty treatments.
Mr Bridgen said it’s cheaper than having a flat and added: “I stay at the [hotel] because it’s a quick walk. "When we finish late at night – [I can] just walk home.”
MPs are allowed to claim up to £150 a night for hotels in London when they are in the capital on parliamentary business.
Ipsa’s files reveal MPs claimed more than £156,000 on hotels in the first two months after the 2015 general election.
Under the new rules they are also allowed to claim for designer glasses for their staff members.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is one of the MPs to have done this – claiming £275 for a pair of glasses for one member of staff and a £25 eye test and a £180 pair of glasses for another.
He told The Guardian Ipsa had approved this claim in advance.
Housing contracts signed by MPs reveal some of them are spending far more than the average London monthly rent of £1,500.
Disgraced MP Simon Danczuk has claimed £2,142 a month while the DUP’s Ian Paisley Jr has signed a contract to pay £2,925 a month.
MPs can claim a maximum of £20,160 on rent this year but they can push it up much further if they regularly have their children staying with them.
Danczuk, who is currently suspended by the Labour Party, is having to pay back £11k in accommodation expenses he claimed for two children who did not ‘routinely’ live with him.
An Ipsa spokeswoman said the increase in expenses is largely down to a 25 per cent increase in staffing budgets, which make up 80% of all costs, plus inflation.
The watchdog said: “Ipsa has introduced a robust set of rules for MPs’ business costs and expenses and strict budgets to make sure that MPs’ spending is effectively regulated and they have regard for value for money, while ensuring that they receive the appropriate support to carry out their jobs.”