MPs’ expenses claims rise by a quarter in a year
The Telegraph -
The bill for politician spending was almost as much this year as it was before the MPs’ expenses scandal, official figures have shown.
The bill went up by a quarter to nearly £90 million last year.
Politicians spent the money on second homes, staff, travel and office costs – including dozens of iPads.
The figure is now only slightly lower than in the run-up to the scandal that rocked Westminster in 2009 after it was exposed by the Daily Telegraph.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) insisted that the rate of claims had remained “stable”.
The total outlay for 2010-11 had been £71 million, and IPSA pointed out this was lower because of the impact of the general election.
In 2008-09, before the expenses crises, MPs claimed £95.6million, while immediately after the scandal, the claims fell to £90.7 million.
Only seven claims of the 35,315 submitted by MPs were not paid by IPSA, of which six were made by the former Environment Secretary Chris Huhne. The claims – for car mileage – totalled only £4.95 together.
Read More: telegraph.co.uk
2012-10-19 10:21:15
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