MPs back cut in their allowance for second household

Published on Wednesday 16 July 2008 22:04

MEMBERS of Parliament will still be able to have their second homes kitted out by taxpayers, despite attempts to curb costly furnishings.

The House of Commons yesterday supported an attempt to abolish the controversial "John Lewis list", which gave MPs spending guidelines aligned to the department store's goods.

MPs could previously spend any amount of their 24,000 additional-cost allowance on furnishings, including up to 10,000 for a kitchen, 6,000 for a bathroom, plasma televisions and other furniture.

But yesterday MPs voted to accept a Labour amendment, led by Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, to cap the spending on furnishings to 10 per cent of the additional-cost allowance – at 2,400 a year. A Conservative attempt to ban any claims for furniture was defeated.

The Tories said the new cap did not go far enough and Theresa May, the shadow leader of the House, accused the government of replacing the "John Lewis list" with an "Ikea list".

MPs also backed greater scrutiny of their expenses. But checks by the National Audit Office on internal procedures fall far short of the recommendation that MPs should be individually audited.

Meanwhile, the Tories published the claims of all their MPs, including Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton, Christopher Chope, Sir Paul Beresford and Sir John Stanley. All MPs' claims will be published by the Commons authorities later this year.