Legg report: winners and losers
Updated on 04 February 2010
As Sir Thomas Legg highlights "vague rules" and a "culture of deference" surrounding MPs' expenses, Channel 4 News takes a look at the biggest winners and losers from today's report.
It is familiar, indeed well-manicured, turf. The rules surrounding MPs' expenses and allowances, untouched for decades, turn out to be "deeply flawed", according to Sir Thomas Legg.
We've had the duck houses, the dry rot, the "adult" films. We've had the anger and outrage, from both voters and MPs.
Now it is payback time; from fine art insurance to excessive phone lines, flag poles and fruit bowls.
So whose bill is the biggest? And is there an unlikely winner in Legg's document? Here we go again:
Biggest loser
Barbara Follett, Labour MP for Stevenage, has been ordered to pay back a total of £42,458. It is the largest sum demanded of a sitting member of parliament.
Today Ms Follett issued a statement which read: "This has been a sad and sorry episode in Britain’s political life which I deeply regret."
The junior local government minister has so far repaid £32,976, according to Sir Thomas's records. In her statement she insists she has now paid up in full.
The bulk of the cash she claimed paid for mobile security patrols at her second home from April 2004 to November 2008. This went beyond the Green Book provisions limiting claims to "basic security measures".
Many of her constituents, in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, say the scandal will affect the way they vote at the forthcoming general election.
Responding to the sum of money spent on security, one woman said: "I've got a dog. It costs me about ten pounds a week.
"They shouldn't be spending what they are spending... any of them."
Ms Follett also paid a total of £8,908 for six telephone lines at the same address.
More from Channel 4 News
- MPs ordered to repay £1.1m in expenses
- Gary Gibbon blogs on the expenses report
- Legg report: full list of MPs
Sir Thomas Legg deemed the number of lines and the amount claimed to be "excessive" and ordered Ms Follett to repat half the allowance, £4,454.
She was further overpaid an estimated £2,812 for insuring fine art, which is not allowed, and £221 twice for boiler insurance. Ms Follett received £193.78 for pest control in 2006 for an address other than her second home.
Other MPs with big bills include Tory Bernard Jenkin, who had to pay back £36,250. But it could have been much worse for the North Essex MP. The original demand from Sir Thomas, for claims made against rent paid to Mr Jenkins' sister, was for £63,250. The amount was reduced on appeal.
John Gummer, Conservative member for Suffolk Coastal, has repaid £29,398 used for gardening, cleaning and lawnmower repairs.
Mr and Mrs
Husband-and-wife MPs Andrew Mackay (Tory MP for Bracknell) and Julie Kirkbride (Bromsgrove, Conservative) take the biggest joint hit in Sir Thomas Legg's report.
The couple must dig deep to repay £60,000 between them in second home allowances, after it emerged they owned two properties, with each claiming one as their second home.
It meant the couple had no main residence which was not funded by the taxpayer.
Sir Thomas ruled that the arrangements "obtained a financial benefit for the couple which appears unintended under the Green Book rules, and as such contrary to the principles governing it".
He ordered them to repay one-third of the maximum allowance which they would legitimately have been able to claim, and both have repaid the sums demanded in full.
Legg also asked Ms Kirkbride to repay £2,584 of mortgage interest on an extension built so her brother could provide childcare, but this was overturned on appeal by Sir Paul.
Former MPs
Outspoken former Labour MP Ian Gibson, who was forced to resign over the issue, still needs to pay £16,025 for payments received in connection with a flat he shared with his adult daughter, according to the document.
Ivor Caplin, former Labour member for Hove, owes £17,865 for mortgage interest payments. But earlier he told Channel 4 News: "I haven't received any letters (from Sir Thomas Legg)."
Tony Blair gets a clean bill of health. In the "former MPs" section of the report it says "no issues" by his name.
Surprise winner
Peter Lilley, Tory MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, had a demand for £41,057 from Sir Thomas overturned in its entirety on appeal.
Mr Lilley purchased his second home in 2003 using a loan from his wife, replacing the arrangement two years later with a joint loan.
Sir Thomas ordered him to repay the amounts claimed for mortgage interest following that change. In his report he wrote: "In substance, this loan appears to have released capital, which was not permitted under the ACA other than for the purpose of improving or repairing the home."
But Sir Paul Kennedy ruled Mrs Lilley's loan was effectively a "bridging loan", as the couple were initially unable to use a mortgage to buy their second home because the seller wanted an immediate cash offer.
