THE WRONG GOODBYE

DISGRACED MPs forced to stand down over the expenses scandal will trouser £65,000 pay-offs - despite pledges to scrap the handouts.

Senior MPs secretly agreed plans to keep the huge golden goodbyes which are funded by the taxpayer.

They rubber stamped the move on the SAME DAY Commons leader Harriet Harman was telling an anti-sleaze panel there must be changes to the resettlement grants system.

She admitted: "There has been controversy about it."

And she added there was nothing in the law that prevented the payouts being scrapped. "There is not a contract of employment between the House and MPs in respect of any of these allowances," she said.

But the Committee on Members' Allowances secretly drafted a new White Book on pay and allowances for MPs standing down at the election. And they agreed to keep the controversial resettlement grants, which see MPs receive up to £65,000.

That will mean payouts for the likes of Labour's Margaret Moran, Elliot Morley and David Chaytor and Tories Sir Peter Viggers and Douglas Hogg. Moran is quitting after she spent £22,500 of taxpayers' money treating dry rot at her and her husband's seaside house 100 miles from her constituency.

Morley is standing down after claiming £16,000 over 18 months for a mortgage that did not exist. Chaytor claimed almost £13,000 in interest from his MPs' expenses for a mortgage he had already paid off.

Viggers claimed £1,645 for a floating duck house in his garden pond. Hogg used taxpayers' cash to have his moat cleaned.

Scores more MPs are expected to stand down before the general election.

The move was agreed at a meeting before MPs broke up for summer.

A source close to the committee said: "There have been lots of calls for the grants to be stopped. But the MPs decided it would not be fair to change it now. It would be like changing someone's contract when they had already announced they were going to resign."

Harriet Harman addressed the Committee on Standards in Public Life - which PM Gordon Brown called in to clean up the discredited system.

The committee - chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly - called for the grants to be AXED.

Sir Christopher said: "One thing which appears to irritate the public most is where MPs have different arrangements applied to them than members of the public would expect.

"Most people would not expect to be able to receive redundancy pay if they stood down voluntarily from whatever job."

Committee member Lloyd Clarke said the public would not stand for the payouts.

He said the Senior Salaries Review Board - which sets MPs' wages - had already called for the grants to be stopped for MPs who resign or retire.

Mr Clarke said: "If an MP has committed abuse of the expenses system and has said they are going to stand down then they are still eligible to receive the resettlement grant. It is redundancy in truth. There is a clamour that urgent action should be taken to prevent that happening at the next election."

Last night it was revealed Tory Lord Taylor of Warwick claimed £70,000 in expenses for a home that didn't exist.

He claimed he lived with his mum until 2007, but her home was sold in 2001, the year she died.

• HOME LOAN BOOST
• ROBBER STAMPED

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