Two MPs cleared in expenses row - but does Love have Legg to stand on?

4:04pm Tuesday 20th October 2009

By Rebecca Lowe

TWO of Enfield's three MPs have avoided the long Legg of the law after their expenses were given a clean bill of health in an independent review.

David Burrowes, Conservative MP for Southgate, and Joan Ryan, Labour MP for Enfield North, have both been told they will not have to pay any money back to taxpayers following an investigation by Sir Thomas Legg.

Andy Love, Labour MP for Edmonton, has not yet revealed what his letter said.

Sir Thomas, a former civil servant, was given the job of examining all MPs' Additional Cost Allowances (ACAs) from 2004 to 2009 to identify claims that should not have been made.

Mr Burrowes was cleared because he claimed the £2,812 London supplement, not the ACA.

Although Ms Ryan was not requested to make any repayments, she has been asked to provide proof of mortgage payments made on her Kennington and Enfield Town homes.

Ms Ryan claimed back mortgage interest on her Enfield home from January 2004 to September 2008, before flipping her designated second home to Kennington.

Between 2006 and 2007, she claimed total expenses of £173,691 - the third highest amount in Westminster. The following year she dropped to 238th place.

A spokesman for the MP said: "Joan has gone to the bank to get the relevant information and will send it in as soon as possible."

Mr Love claimed total expenses of £146,216 between 2007 and 2008, including £1,952 for stationery and £5,046 for postage.

Mr Burrowes claimed £827 for stationery and £2,660 for postage in the same period, saying he used “a personal delivery system” instead of postage to get word to his constituents.

The Tory MP has frequently voiced his support for dropping the ACA payments.

When the expenses scandal first broke, he said: “There’s a reason we refer to ourselves as honourable and we shouldn’t have to be shamed into putting our house in order.”

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