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MPs claims pay for mortgages




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Two local MPs have said they do not use taxpayers’ money to buy furniture, after news emerged this week of the so-called John Lewis list for MPs’ expenses.

MPs can claim up to £22,110 a year towards the cost of living away from their constituency, and this includes household items and furniture.

After a Press Association request, under the Freedom of Information Act, it was revealed that Commons’ validations clerks used the John Lewis store’s website, to set maximum prices for items that MPs could charge the taxpayer for.

This includes televisions, washing machines and beds, although the allowance is also used for rent and mortgage payments.

The MP for Newark, Mr Patrick Mercer, uses his entire allowance to pay the mortgage on a flat in London, and said he had never benefited from use of the John Lewis list.

Mr Mercer claimed the maximum amount last year and said this was spent on covering the mortgage on his two-bedroom flat in Vincent Square. He said he used about £2,000 of his own money to cover the shortfall.

“When I bought the flat in January 2002 I put down a small deposit and the mortgage was comfortably covered by my member’s allowance, but since then the mortgage has gone up considerably and it can no longer cover it,” Mr Mercer said.

“I’m out of pocket, but that’s London property for you. I have lived in London before and I understand how these things go. I accept that entirely.”

Mr Mercer said that when working in the capital he usually spent four nights a week at his flat, which has a living room, a kitchen, a double and a single bedroom, and a bathroom.

According to the list, MPs can claim up to £700 for a wardrobe, up to £50 for a paper shredder, up to £200 for a food mixer, and up to £500 for a dressing table.

Members can also claim up to £10,000 for a new kitchen and £2,000 for furniture.

Mr Mercer said most of the furniture in his flat was taken from his home in Skegby.

“I buy everything I can from Newark or from within my constituency. I am not putting money into other people’s pockets,” he said.

Mr Mercer said despite having to cover part of the cost of his living expenses, he thought the maximum amount he could claim was fair.

“I regard it as an enormous perk. I am certainly not complaining about having to find the extra money. I am prepared to accept the risk of the mortgage rate going up or down,” he said.

The MP for Sherwood, Mr Paddy Tipping, said he also had not used taxpayers’ money to pay for furniture in his London flat.

Mr Tipping last year claimed only £12,945 and he used this to pay interest on his mortgage, pay council tax, buy food and pay towards general costs of running a second home.

“I have never seen the John Lewis list. The first time I became aware of it was when it was reported in the newspapers,” Mr Tipping said.

“My flat in London is modest if not scruffy.”

He said he had second-hand furniture in his London flat.



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