LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain’s opposition Conservatives said yesterday their politicians would pay back thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money to try to quell a row over parliamentary expenses that has outraged voters.
The ruling Labour Party and centre-right Conservatives alike have been damaged by embarrassing revelations about how their politicians have filed expense claims for large sums spent on gardening, home furnishings, repairs and security.
Opposition leader David Cameron, whose Conservative party has a commanding lead in opinion polls, putting him on course for a landslide election win, said he was sorry for the actions of some Conservative legislators and was taking immediate action to halt abuse of the system.
“Politicians have done things that are unethical and wrong,” he told a news conference.
Saying Conservative legislators must set an example of personal responsibility and thrift with public money, he said: “From now on I want them to claim what is reasonable to do their jobs, not the maximum they can get away with.”
Revelations by The Daily Telegraph newspaper that senior Conservatives claimed for cleaning their swimming pools, installing a chandelier or buying manure for their gardens have given a glimpse of the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by some.
That grates with voters suffering the worst recession since World War Two and undermines Cameron’s attempts to tone down the party’s elitist image.
Cameron wants to win over working- and middle-class voters as he seeks to end 12 years of Labour rule. The Conservatives have a double-digit lead in the polls with a general election 13 months away at most.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has apologised on behalf of all politicians for the way the expenses system has been milked, but has not ordered wholesale repayment of any of the perks.
Instead he said an independent body would review the expenses of all legislators over the past four years, before deciding if there were any irregularities which needed to be acted on. “It’s extreme action but it’s the right action,” he said in a Sky News interview.
Cameron said four of his top lieutenants — Michael Gove, Oliver Letwin, Andrew Lansley and Alan Duncan — would repay more than 16,000 pounds ($24,280) they had claimed for, respectively, furniture, putting a pipe under a tennis court, home improvements and gardening expenses.
Cameron said he personally would pay back a maintenance bill for an unspecified amount. And he said he was setting up a new scrutiny panel to review “excessive” expense claims by Conservative members of parliament.
Politicians who failed to repay the money agreed with the panel would be dismissed from the party, he said.
Harriet Harman, deputy leader of Brown’s Labour Party, told the BBC she had asked a parliamentary committee to look at setting up a mechanism for legislators of all parties “to establish if money has been paid out wrongfully and to arrange for a repayment system.”
