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Double dipping MPs in another dodgy deal
THE husband and wife Tory MPs who have been "double-dipping" expenses so the taxpayer funds BOTH their homes were last night caught up in a new scandal.
Julie Kirkbride and Andrew Mackay are letting her brother live rent-free in their mansion flat that WE pay for, the News of the World can reveal.
And the brother, Ian Kirkbride, is even listed as running a BUSINESS from the apartment in a stately home near Bromsgrove, Worcs.
Last night, as Mackay, 59, agreed to stand down at the next election after a talking-to from party leader David Cameron, his wife spluttered: "Ian spends a lot of time there because he's the carer of my child.
"I couldn't cope without that help."
She insisted her 59-year-old brother does not pay any rent and only uses the property when her son is home.
Rules
But a gardener at the country estate says he's there ALL the time . . . and son Angus, aged nine, is at school all week 116 miles away in LONDON.
When questioned, Ms Kirkbride, 48, admitted: "There are times when Ian's there and not looking after my son." And she revealed she also has an AU PAIR.
Last night the MP claimed she had done nothing wrong and her brother only stayed with her from "time to time".
But in two interviews with the News of the World she failed to explain why he filed the address as his main residence on forms he submitted to Companies House for his business.
He is also listed there not as a child carer, but a director and IT consultant.
Meanwhile, Ms Kirkbride has been claiming more than £1,000 a month in mortgage payments on the apartment which she named as her second home- plus thousands more for maintenance.
Under Commons rules only an MP's direct family-spouses and children-are supposed to share the second home. Last June she wrote to Parliament's Fees Office telling them she had been forced to extend the apartment "accommodating the needs of our growing family."
Ms Kirkbride told us: "If you want more women with children to go into Parliament we can't manage without carers and that's who Ian is. He does it mainly in Bromsgrove."
There was no sign of son Angus in her grey 4x4 when she left the property yesterday morning. The schoolboy is also listed as a shareholder in his uncle's company, Moneymemo Ltd.
But Mrs Kirkbride claimed: "It was a paper company, it never traded." However, she did confirm her brother had two other directorships in companies based in another county and also looked after her aged mother in Cirencester, Gloucs. Yesterday voters in her Bromsgrove constituency started a campaign to kick her out after the revelations about her expenses. Julie Kirkbride and her husband have been raking in more than £45,000 a year on top of their £64,000 salaries for years.
The couple bought the three-bedroom apartment in Beoley Hall, near Bromsgrove, in 1997. Commons expenses files show that, in 2005, Ms Kirkbride declared the flat her SECOND home and collected £21,613 in expenses.
Her husband-MP for Bracknell, Berks-told the Fees Office it was his MAIN home. Under Commons rules, MPs are supposed to pay for one home themselves, while the taxpayer picks up the tab for their second. But between 2005 and 2008 Ms Kirkbride claimed £66,763 on the exclusive Beoley apartment.
At the same time Mr Mackay received £66,192 for their London house, claiming that as his SECOND home.
In one year alone Ms Kirkbride claimed £2,169 for cleaning, £2,466 for service charges, £1,545 on food, £501 on curtains, £639 on a bed and £828 for carpets at their converted Georgian flat.
Her husband claimed more than £1,000 a month in mortgage interest payments on their joint Westminster flat.
Ms Kirkbride used her Additional Costs Allowance to claim more than £900 a month on paying off the mortgage for their family home near her constituency. That went up last year after she increased their mortgage by £50,000 to pay for an extension.
They even claimed for each other's travel costs, with Kirkbride claiming £1,392 under the category "spouse travel" while Mackay claimed £408.
Scrutiny
Last year, the Bromsgrove MP took out another £50,000 mortgage on the property and her mortgage interest claims on the home loan increased from £900 to £1,171.
When she wrote to the Fees Office to explain her increased mortgage charges, they replied saying the letter "suggests her designated second home is in fact her primary residence." But in all her correspondence she failed to mention her brother was living there.
When initially confronted over double-dipping, Ms Kirkbride defended her expenses as "both permissible and reasonable." She added: "I believe that I was operating perfectly properly within the system."
Last night a spokesman for the Conservative party said Ms Kirkbride was now being investigated by the party. He added: "Her expenses and living arrangements will be scrutinised by our independent panel."
An MP is to repay almost £2,000 in expenses back to Parliament after over-claiming for council tax. Linda Gilroy, Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton, said she was paying back £1,891 which she had claimed for her second home in London.
She admitted making a double claim for one month in 2005/6 amounting to £1,570, and another over- claim of £320.10 for council tax in 2005.
ian.kirby@notw.co.uk
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This article has 34 comments
I would seek an audit at the fees office. If the greedy MP's are on the take for whatever, I bet someone is also on the take when expenses are dished out.
Who is checking who?
By John Baker.. Posted May 31 2009 at 1:26 AM.
They must have so much spare time on their hands to work these lurks.
So So out of touch with community standards.
How can these ratbags get pre-selected? Don't people who are way out of touch with the comunity they want to represent, get weeded out by the pre-selection system?
& it's system with an "S" not a "$"
By Brian Bunns.. Posted May 27 2009 at 4:28 AM.
The fact is the whole system is a grubby tawdry
mess that a surprising number of M P,s have been willing to unmercifully exploit to the full . Expending a great deal of time and effort to line their own pockets , instead of looking after their Constituents interests ; which is after all what they are being paid to do ! .
To overcome this the two most vital reforms are ;
their housing provision whist away from home ; and employing family , friends , as staff . Just give them an allowance to rent furnished accomodation from an approved listing that they have no connection with whatsoever ; and procure staff from a seperate agency likewise .
The " Two Home Secretary " is a prime example of how corrupt the present system is . She was "hopping mad " because he partner
claimed for a couple of " Adult Movies " whilst in
her employ to handle her affairs - at the Taxpayers
exspense . But that was all a load of " hot air " ! .
If she was really genuinely contrite she would have dismissed him . Instead she merely made the
ghesture to pay back the pittance they had
" mistakenly " claimed in the first place , so as to deflect from the fact that her Partner was at the very least totally incompetant, and at worst.... .
It was a grubby and seedy affair , but as a
" Honourable Member " and despite the fact that she and her partner are the subject of derision and a laughing stock , she clings to her Post with
little sense of shame ! .
By PETER .. Posted May 25 2009 at 11:11 AM.
Now that many MP's has been exposed for their crooked and dishonest behaviours,one wonders if we should now turn our attention to our local parish and district councillors in order to ensure that they too are not exploiting the tax payers.
By Dave from West sussex.. Posted May 25 2009 at 9:54 AM.
They will probably resign, keep everything, get fat pensions, for the rest of their, lives,appear on reality shows, or get cushy appearance money from the beeb, write a book, do adverts,..nothing changes much, the worse you are in this country the better you get on...
By Jim.. Posted May 24 2009 at 10:24 PM.
You can just sense how these people have come to believe their own lies. Forget contrition they are mystified as to why we can't see things their way. This is truly frightening to have so many senior MP's sloshing around in a moral vacuum. It just goes to show that lying is a way of life for them, both in their personal as well as their professional dealings
By Rachael.. Posted May 24 2009 at 6:57 PM.
Andrew Mackay was David Camoron's top adviser. You can judge a man by the company he keeps. I'm sure this bodes ill for anybody who is not a cheating millionaire when Dave and his cronies get elected.
By Ken Crooked.. Posted May 24 2009 at 5:09 PM.
If no fiddling MP's are prosecuted, thereby setting up a precedent in English tax laws, surely in the meantime, every taxpayer would have carte blanche to form a club or charity using exactly the same rules as is written in the official HoC Green Book regarding what was, or is permitted or not
with the intention to mislead HMRC.
If not then it confirms that the Commons MP's are either above or better than the rest of the population who have to finance such fiddles and some taxpers sons and daughters are dying in wars, even this week, to keep a corrupt system alive that benefits only the politicions, with local government right behind them.
It is getting to the stage where a total clear out of them all in both houses is the only way to make a proper start.
Just like clearing a sewer of rats or an ants nest. Get rid of the vermin and make a totally clean start.
By Ken.H.. Posted May 24 2009 at 4:56 PM.
They will probably both resign and then be sent to the House of Lords
By Dave.. Posted May 24 2009 at 4:22 PM.
Enjoy while you can just over a week you will be history,
By Mick.. Posted May 24 2009 at 3:06 PM.
How naive can some people like Ian be.
She is a double-dipping trougher - pure and simple. If the people of Bromsgrove re-elect her, the Speaker should suspend her from the Commons - as any other miscreant who makes it back.
By jingouk.. Posted May 24 2009 at 2:20 PM.
Why are you and the Brown Broadcasting Company only concentrating on the Tories?Why aren't you outraged by the people in Northern Ireland where there is a lot of dodgy dealings?The DUP Leader and his wife have SIX jobs between them at Westminster and Stormoent and get paid in excess of £550,000 per year,plus FOUR members of their family are paid £150,000 by the taxpayer.Whilst I hope Kirkbride is deselected along with her scabby husband you do seem to be one-sided.The BBC kept on and on and on about the ducks and the moat the other day.There are far bigger scandals on the NULiebor side but you and they don't seem to be reporting them.Why not?
By Jan.. Posted May 24 2009 at 12:32 PM.
When this mess is sorted, can't we pop across to Brussels and sort out that place because i think we are being taken to the cleaners and we have NO say in what is happening.
By mike.. Posted May 24 2009 at 12:34 PM.
Go now while you have some dignity left--you will have to resign the public can no longer stand doggy mps. Lost touch with reality
By Ronnie.. Posted May 24 2009 at 2:11 PM.
Bonney ands Clyde?
By Rumpole.. Posted May 24 2009 at 12:41 PM.
Anyone caught fiddling their benefit allowances should not be taken to court unless all of the MP's fiddling their expenses get taken to court.
By Angie.. Posted May 24 2009 at 1:20 PM.
Why the surprise? the Tories have been plundering the nation for centuries. New Labour, who are the Tories in disguise, are just doing what all ruling elites do, plunder the people.
It will never change until we have a real democracy.
PR, and elected second chamber, total transparency on allowable expenses, a cap on spending, no political contributions over £1000, and no anonymous donations, no expats with a vote, only UK residents. get rid of the gothic monstrosity of Westminster, and have a purpose built parliament building, with an attached Hotel with a room for every MP (no second homes), possibly even out of London.
Won't happen though, the ruling elite will not allow it.
By Kerry Trubee.. Posted May 24 2009 at 11:44 AM.
" She added: "I believe that I was operating perfectly properly within the system."
yeah they all know the loopholes
they no its wrong but they still do it.
there all corrupt.
By andy wright.. Posted May 24 2009 at 11:39 AM.
Not sure why everyone is so surprised or why people are shouting to get rid of them. most people will get rid of the thieving Labour party and replace it with the thieving Tories or Lib Dems lol.
By Dee.. Posted May 24 2009 at 11:03 AM.
It was only a matter of time before the full glare of the media shone on Julie and Andrew. When the news of the amount which they claimed from The Fees Office broke, the people of Bromsgrove were incredulous, and absolutely disgusted.
There are no innocent parties in these revelations, including the public who have been so shamelessly plundered. The system itself was rotten; the arrangement of MPs looking after their own pay and conditions was never going to be popular or fair. The daily revelations of their worst excesses seem to have confirmed what many people have said to me for years: “They’re all the same, all out for themselves”. The extent to which ‘the system’ has been exploited has even been reported on the main evening news in America.
No, its blame all around I’m afraid. Whenever the subject of MPs pay has been raised in the past, the public, whipped up by the media, reacted with outrage and not always justly. Getting in to politics is extremely hard work (as I am finding out!) that continues when you’ve arrived (or should!) When the dust settles on this debacle, we need to have a sensible, national debate as to how we reward our MPs, because as we‘ve seen from some, they are absolutely invaluable national assets motivated by service and conscience. But only after we’ve cleaned the stable, and got rid of the ones who aren’t, and saw it as an opportunity to advance themselves materially.
By Steven Morson.. Posted May 24 2009 at 11:13 AM.
Its disgusting - they should be made to pay every penny back - All these expenses are a joke - perhaps if this country didn't pay so much out in expenses they could afford to supply our military forces with the proper equipment that they need give more money to education and the nhs services - people that actually do something for this country apart from sponge and muck things up like most MP's do .
By Nat .. Posted May 24 2009 at 11:13 AM.
The simple fact is that Julie Kirkbride and her husband have put their privileges above their principles. The have been exposed and then offer a very weak defense for their conduct.
By marcus walsh.. Posted May 24 2009 at 10:55 AM.
Just because the system in place is open to abuse does not mean that it SHOULD be abused! These MPs are the leaders of this country, they should lead by example!
By mike.. Posted May 24 2009 at 10:29 AM.
I want to know why they are not properly sacked? Or is it because then they don't get their 'golden handshake' from the taxpayer at the end of the term?
By steve.. Posted May 24 2009 at 10:37 AM.
sack the lot, they screwing the system and also screwing each other! time wasters! abolish the government and have one individual multi party! that would put billions of £'s into the economy and get them lazy lamers a popper job!
they are a discgrace!!!!!
By Sir Robert Helton.. Posted May 24 2009 at 10:03 AM.
I love these MPS volunteering to stand down at next election -both parties. Well I don't think they'd stand a chance of being elected by the voting public who are a lot wiser now
.
By mrs_spratt.. Posted May 24 2009 at 9:55 AM.
I think Ian should should start up their Fan Club. He could be their exclusive and only member.
By George.. Posted May 24 2009 at 9:53 AM.
Taxi for Ms Kirkbride.............. and make sure it's not claimed back!
By Marc.. Posted May 24 2009 at 9:39 AM.
How can they, the MP's stand up and sprout off this utter garbage of .''WE thought it was correct .we were never aware we broke any rules '' sorry but ot go to the lengths of looking into every possibilty ,every avenue of who to screw the system ,does not justify ''we thought we were doing no wrong'' ..as always our MP's open ther mouths and blabber the crap .and expect us to swallow it ...sack the lot ..
By Terry.. Posted May 24 2009 at 8:19 AM.
get rid of all of them and start afresh. they should all pay back their "expenses"
By Rigby.. Posted May 24 2009 at 8:11 AM.
Sure Ian....not related to the Kirkbrides are you???
By Mark.. Posted May 24 2009 at 7:10 AM.
why cant all the MPs pack up an move closer to their work like the rest of us??
By ec.. Posted May 24 2009 at 5:55 AM.
The only reason MPs haven't broken any laws is because they make the rules, and they are different fromt eh rules the rest of us are expected to follow.
there's a lot of blaming the fees office going on, OK they appear to be inept, but bottom line is morally if a couple are both MPs WHY should they be able to claim the expenses of all their homes tax free? Morally how can they "forget" they paid off their mortgage, and ethically how can they say other family memebers are just guests/carers etc when it would appear they are on the electoral roll. It stinks and it's wrong on all counts
By Chris.. Posted May 24 2009 at 12:50 AM.
There are over 600 other MPs, many who seem to have much higher and more dubious claims than Ms Kirkbride. This is turning into a witch hunt trying to get MPs to resign. Not a single one of them has broken any laws. David Cameron is right in saying the system must change, but we should not punish people who do a great deal of hard work for their constituencies, most MPs are good hardworking people. The people of Bromsgrove have benefited in many ways over the last 12 years from having Ms Kirkbride as an MP. I know, I used to work there. In the local Bromsgrove paper, Ms Kirkbride says all her claims were passed by the House of Commons fees office, it seems she has been misinformed by them in making claims when your spouse is also an MP. That is not her fault. Her husband has said he will stand down at the next election, I think they have both been punished enough. Deselecting hard working experienced MPs in a pique of rage, at mistakes they have made, in a very grey area, will not benefit society in the long term. The people of Bromsgrove should make their own choice at the next General Election. Democracy, not a witch hunt is the way forward.
By IAN .. Posted May 24 2009 at 12:21 AM.