LONDON – British chancellor Alistair Darling’s parliamentary expenses came under scrutiny yesterday after newspaper reports that he claimed almost £70,000 for his family home in Edinburgh while listing small rented rooms in London flats as his main residence.
There is no suggestion that Mr Darling has broken House of Commons rules, but his claims will raise eyebrows a week after it was revealed that home secretary Jacqui Smith used a similar arrangement to claim allowances on her family home while lodging at her sister’s house.
Controversial House of Commons rules allow MPs from outside London to claim up to £24,006 a year in allowances for the cost of living away from their main home, which can cover mortgage payments, rent, household bills and the cost of fitting out and furnishing a property.
While many MPs use the allowance to pay for a flat near Westminster, others – including some ministers with rent-free grace-and-favour accommodation in London – name their constituency residence as their second home.
The News of the World yesterday highlighted Mr Darling’s claims for his Edinburgh home totalling around £70,000 between 2001 and 2005.
Before moving into 11 Downing Street on becoming chancellor in 2007, Mr Darling lodged in a London flat belonging to fellow-Labour MP Lewis Moonie – now Lord Moonie – until January 2005, and then in another friend’s flat, reported the paper.
Until 2004, Commons rules required ministers to list their London home as their main residence, but even after this date Mr Darling continued to designate the Edinburgh house as his second home and his rented room as his main residence. It was not until September 2005 that he changed his listing to make the Edinburgh property his main home. – (PA)