Cabinet minister faces expenses row
- Press Association, Friday May 28 2010
Chief Treasury Secretary David Laws is facing a storm over his expenses after it emerged he had channelled more than £40,000 of taxpayers' money to his long-term partner.
The Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister - who this week promised public spending curbs which would send "shockwaves" through Whitehall - claimed up to £950 a month for five years to rent a room in two properties owned by his partner, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Laws has issued an apology and announced that he would "immediately" pay back tens of thousands of pounds claimed for rent and other housing costs between 2006 and 2009. He has also referred himself to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon.
The Yeovil MP's partner is James Lundie, who works for a lobbying firm. The Telegraph has stressed that it was not intending to disclose that Mr Laws was homosexual, but he has chosen to do so.
"James and I are intensely private people," Mr Laws said in a statement. "We made the decision to keep our relationship private and believed that was our right. Clearly that cannot now remain the case. My motivation throughout has not been to maximise profit but to simply protect our privacy and my wish not to reveal my sexuality."
According to the newspaper, between 2004 and 2007, Mr Laws claimed between £700 and £950 a month to sub-let a room in a flat in Kennington, south London.
This flat was owned by the MP's partner who was also registered as living at the property. The partner sold the flat for a profit of £193,000 in 2007.
During the same year, Mr Laws' partner bought another house nearby for £510,000. The MP then began claiming rent for the "second bedroom" in this property. His claims increased to £920 a month. The partner also lived at the property. Mr Laws' main home is in his Yeovil constituency.
The arrangement continued until September 2009, when Parliamentary records indicate Mr Laws switched his designated second home and began renting another flat at taxpayers' expense. His partner remained at the Kennington house.
Since 2006, Parliamentary rules have banned MPs from "leasing accommodation from a partner".
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2010, All Rights Reserved.
The Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister - who this week promised public spending curbs which would send "shockwaves" through Whitehall - claimed up to £950 a month for five years to rent a room in two properties owned by his partner, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Laws has issued an apology and announced that he would "immediately" pay back tens of thousands of pounds claimed for rent and other housing costs between 2006 and 2009. He has also referred himself to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon.
The Yeovil MP's partner is James Lundie, who works for a lobbying firm. The Telegraph has stressed that it was not intending to disclose that Mr Laws was homosexual, but he has chosen to do so.
"James and I are intensely private people," Mr Laws said in a statement. "We made the decision to keep our relationship private and believed that was our right. Clearly that cannot now remain the case. My motivation throughout has not been to maximise profit but to simply protect our privacy and my wish not to reveal my sexuality."
According to the newspaper, between 2004 and 2007, Mr Laws claimed between £700 and £950 a month to sub-let a room in a flat in Kennington, south London.
This flat was owned by the MP's partner who was also registered as living at the property. The partner sold the flat for a profit of £193,000 in 2007.
During the same year, Mr Laws' partner bought another house nearby for £510,000. The MP then began claiming rent for the "second bedroom" in this property. His claims increased to £920 a month. The partner also lived at the property. Mr Laws' main home is in his Yeovil constituency.
The arrangement continued until September 2009, when Parliamentary records indicate Mr Laws switched his designated second home and began renting another flat at taxpayers' expense. His partner remained at the Kennington house.
Since 2006, Parliamentary rules have banned MPs from "leasing accommodation from a partner".
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2010, All Rights Reserved.
- guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment