Financial Times: MPs told they can claim for kitchen cabinet

Jim Pickard, Political Correspondent

The potential range of expense claims allowed to MPs was made public on Thursday when it emerged that they can claim up to GBP10,000 ($20,000) for a new kitchen in their second homes.

A GBP22,110 a year "additional cost allowance" is given to MPs with constituencies outside central London to pay rent or meet the interest repayments on a mortgage, as well as covering food and other bills.

But the true extent of objects which can be purchased was not public until Thursday's publication of the Commons' so-called "John Lewis list", which finance officials use to approve or reject MPs' expenses claims. MPs can also buy GBP300 rugs, GBP750 stereos and GBP6,000-plus bathrooms - among other things - within the remit of the allowance.

The details of expenditure limits for 38 items, ranging from carpet to washing machines and food blenders, was released after a freedom of information request by Press Association.

The Commons defends the list, saying that John Lewis is used as a benchmark for the objects because the department store chain claims that its products cannot be bought more cheaply elsewhere.

Andrew Walker, the Commons' director general of resources, had previously refused to publish the document because he feared MPs would take advantage if they knew how much they could claim for certain items.

But Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "John Lewis is a fine store, but it is hardly the cheapest place to purchase household goods."

The revelations add to the weight of pressure for more transparency in the way that MPs are rewarded, prompted largely by the scandal of Derek Conway, a Tory MP who paid his son nearly GBP45,000 to work as his researcher while a student at Newcastle.

The additional cost allowance was introduced years ago, effectively in lieu of a pay rise which - ironically - was thought to be less acceptable to the public.

After a recent decision by the information commissioner, MPs will be forced to disclose a breakdown of how they use the cost allowance, a move which is likely to prove embarrassing for some.

Separately, a Commons committee led by Michael Martin, the speaker, is carrying out a review of MPs pay and perks. It has already cut the level at which receipts must be produced - from GBP250 to GBP25 - and more changes will be recommended in July. The committee is thought likely to advocate the removal of the additional costs allowance and an equivalent sum to be added to MPs' pay.