MP 'paid expenses to own company'
Updated on 15 October 2009
Gordon Brown calls for an official inquiry into claims that Conservative MP David Wilshire used his expenses to pay more than £100,000 of public money to a company he owns. Rags Martel reports.
He used public money to pay a company for admin and research work, which is quite normal. But in his case the company was owned by him and his partner, it was not registered with Companies House, and Mr Wilshire has offered no explanaton for what work was done, or where the money went.
The Daily Telegraph has reported that the taxpayer funded more than £100,000 of office assistance provided by Moorlands Research Services for more than three years.
The firm, which is jointly owned by Mr Wilshire and his partner Ann Palmer, was paid up to £3,250 a month between 2005 and 2008.
Gordon Brown has called for an official inquiry into the claims.
Nr Wilshire said he was "deeply hurt" by the allegations, insisting that the research services firm was a properly constituted business, and had never made a profit.
He's referred the matter to the parliamentary standards commissioner who is now deciding whether to investigate.
Mr Wilshire said: "I am deeply hurt by the way in which the Daily Telegraph has reported on my expenses and disappointed that it has not published all of my response to their enquiries.
"My constituents are rightly entitled to the truth about these allegations. I have therefore written to the commissioner for standards asking him to conduct an enquiry. Until I have had an opportunity to take his advice, I think it best if I say nothing further."
Commons speaker John Bercow signalled his support for the controversial backdated caps on MPs' expenses as the fresh abuse allegation surfaced.
Mr Bercow indicated he believed limits imposed on certain historic expenses by auditor Sir Thomas Legg had been "implicit" at the time they were claimed, despite fury among MPs at the retrospective rules.
Speaker Mr Bercow risks incurring the wrath of MPs over his approach to the retrospective limits imposed by Sir Thomas.
Mr Bercow's spokesman denied reports he had tried to persuade Sir Thomas against introducing backdated caps, insisting the men only discussed whether the limits should be cash, or a percentage of the expenses claimed.
The spokesman added: "The speaker accepts Sir Thomas's view that this is not retrospective, but what was implicit in the rules as written."
Sir Thomas sparked the controversy by deciding no MP should have claimed more than £1,000 a year for gardening and £2,000 for cleaning.
The move means many are now being asked to repay thousands of pounds of spending that was signed off by Commons officials.
