Last month, the Economist labelled the Tories’ shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, one to watch … a label which also clearly applies to his expenses claims, as the BBC reports:
Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is to repay more than £9,500 after he was found to have breached expenses rules. The Standards and Privileges Committee criticised an arrangement under which the MP’s agent stayed rent-free in his taxpayer subsidised home. … If the MP “promptly” repaid half of his claims on the home over the period, it said he would face no further action. …
The matter was referred to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, which investigates conduct allegations against MPs, by Mr Hunt’s Liberal Democrat opponent at the next election Mike Simpson. Mr Hunt’s agent stayed rent free in his constituency property, designated as his second home, three nights a week between November 2005 and June 2007. Over this period, the MP claimed £19,117 in public money towards the property.
In its report, the committee agreed that Mr Hunt had made “a wrong judgement” in not subtracting the agent’s living costs from his total claim and the agent had enjoyed a “personal benefit”.
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3 Comments
There seems to be a great deal of understatement around this case. Paying the money back is said to be sufficient? I find this astonishing.
Only haIf the money he claimed was offered back, as he had apologised. It was big in the Daily Telegraph and even bigger in The Times.
I get the impression he feels he hasn’t done anything wrong.