MP 'Claimed ?16k For Non-Existent Mortgage'
Former minister Elliot Morley claimed ?16,000 for a mortgage that did not exist, according to the Telegraph.
In the latest in a string of revelations about MPs' expenses, the paper said the Labour MP for S****horpe had continued to claim mortgage interest for 18 months after the loan had been repaid.
Mr Morley apologised for the "mistake" and said that he had informed the Chief Whip and the parliamentary fees office.
In a statement, he said: "I do not believe any offence has been committed. I have reported this to the finance department and chief whip.
"I have made a mistake, I apologise for that and I take full responsibility. My priority was to repay and if I suffer financially as a result of that, I have only myself to blame."
The Telegraph's political editor Andrew Porter said Mr Morley refused to say whether or not he had repaid the full amount that he "misclaimed".
Mr Morley told his local paper on Monday that the system of MPs' expenses needed an overhaul.
"I don't necessarily think people have abused the system, but the system itself is absolutely antiquated and Byzantine," he told The S****horpe Telegraph.
"It's guaranteed to annoy the public and I think it can damage their view of parliament."
Sky's chief political correspondent Jon Craig said: "Most people regard Elliot Morley as a most unlikely MP to get caught up in a sleaze scandal.
"He is a big bear of a man, a cuddly figure, well-known for his love of bird watching."
In other revelations, John Maples, Tory deputy chairman with responsibility for candidates, declared his private members' club as his main home, allowing him to spend money on his second home.
But Mr Maples told Sky News that he only stayed at the club for a month after selling his London home and that the Fees Office had told him it was acceptable.
And the Telegraph reports another Tory, Stephen Crabbe, designated a rented room in a flat rented by another MP as his main home after buying a new house and claiming ?9,300 in stamp duty.
It alleges he previously flipped his second home, sold his flat for a profit and claimed ?8,000 in taxpayer funded refurbishment.
And the paper also reports another Labour MP, Fabian Hamilton, overclaimed for his mortgage while living with his mother.
The MP for Leeds North East designated his mother's London house as his main residence while claiming thousands of pounds for a mortgage on his family home in Leeds, according to the paper.
Mr Hamilton said he spent the majority of his time in the house owned by his mother, a retired judge, until her death in 2005.
He spent thousands of pounds decorating and furnishing the "second home" where his wife and children lived in Leeds, before "flipping" his designation to a new London flat, which he then also did up at the taxpayer's expense.
Asked to explain his claims, Mr Hamilton said: "I spent the majority of my time in London with my mother before her death, paying a substantial sum of money from my own pocket for the upkeep of the house.
"After her death, I moved my main home to Yorkshire because that is where my wife and children were.
"I used local firms to buy the cheapest bathroom and kitchen installation.
"The mortgage claims were quite an accident. I didn't realise I was claiming until the fees office pointed it out. It was an oversight on my part and I offered to pay it back."
Downing Street announced tonight that government chief whip Nick Brown will meet the Labour MPs "named and shamed" tomorrow to give them "a chance to explain".
A Tory spokeswoman said the Conservative MPs would have to explain themselves to the party's new scrutiny panel, which will be up and running in the next few days.
It came as the Labour Party's most senior backbencher urged its MPs to publish their expenses before the House of Commons authorities release them.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Tony Lloyd, said that he would publish details of his own expense claims in his local newspaper on Monday.
Mr Lloyd said that it was "very important" that MPs act on their own initiative to put their expenses into the public domain as a matter of urgency "as a first step to meeting our constituents' anger".
Former minister Elliot Morley claimed ?16,000 for a mortgage that did not exist, according to the Telegraph.
In the latest in a string of revelations about MPs' expenses, the paper said the Labour MP for S****horpe had continued to claim mortgage interest for 18 months after the loan had been repaid.
Mr Morley apologised for the "mistake" and said that he had informed the Chief Whip and the parliamentary fees office.
In a statement, he said: "I do not believe any offence has been committed. I have reported this to the finance department and chief whip.
"I have made a mistake, I apologise for that and I take full responsibility. My priority was to repay and if I suffer financially as a result of that, I have only myself to blame."
The Telegraph's political editor Andrew Porter said Mr Morley refused to say whether or not he had repaid the full amount that he "misclaimed".
Mr Morley told his local paper on Monday that the system of MPs' expenses needed an overhaul.
"I don't necessarily think people have abused the system, but the system itself is absolutely antiquated and Byzantine," he told The S****horpe Telegraph.
"It's guaranteed to annoy the public and I think it can damage their view of parliament."
Sky's chief political correspondent Jon Craig said: "Most people regard Elliot Morley as a most unlikely MP to get caught up in a sleaze scandal.
"He is a big bear of a man, a cuddly figure, well-known for his love of bird watching."
In other revelations, John Maples, Tory deputy chairman with responsibility for candidates, declared his private members' club as his main home, allowing him to spend money on his second home.
But Mr Maples told Sky News that he only stayed at the club for a month after selling his London home and that the Fees Office had told him it was acceptable.
And the Telegraph reports another Tory, Stephen Crabbe, designated a rented room in a flat rented by another MP as his main home after buying a new house and claiming ?9,300 in stamp duty.
It alleges he previously flipped his second home, sold his flat for a profit and claimed ?8,000 in taxpayer funded refurbishment.
And the paper also reports another Labour MP, Fabian Hamilton, overclaimed for his mortgage while living with his mother.
The MP for Leeds North East designated his mother's London house as his main residence while claiming thousands of pounds for a mortgage on his family home in Leeds, according to the paper.
Mr Hamilton said he spent the majority of his time in the house owned by his mother, a retired judge, until her death in 2005.
He spent thousands of pounds decorating and furnishing the "second home" where his wife and children lived in Leeds, before "flipping" his designation to a new London flat, which he then also did up at the taxpayer's expense.
Asked to explain his claims, Mr Hamilton said: "I spent the majority of my time in London with my mother before her death, paying a substantial sum of money from my own pocket for the upkeep of the house.
"After her death, I moved my main home to Yorkshire because that is where my wife and children were.
"I used local firms to buy the cheapest bathroom and kitchen installation.
"The mortgage claims were quite an accident. I didn't realise I was claiming until the fees office pointed it out. It was an oversight on my part and I offered to pay it back."
Downing Street announced tonight that government chief whip Nick Brown will meet the Labour MPs "named and shamed" tomorrow to give them "a chance to explain".
A Tory spokeswoman said the Conservative MPs would have to explain themselves to the party's new scrutiny panel, which will be up and running in the next few days.
It came as the Labour Party's most senior backbencher urged its MPs to publish their expenses before the House of Commons authorities release them.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Tony Lloyd, said that he would publish details of his own expense claims in his local newspaper on Monday.
Mr Lloyd said that it was "very important" that MPs act on their own initiative to put their expenses into the public domain as a matter of urgency "as a first step to meeting our constituents' anger".
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