Andrew George - Robbing £847 from taxpayers a month.

Andrew George, the MP for St Ives, claims £847 a month from taxpayers on mortgage interest payments for the riverside flat.

Last night, Mr George admitted his daughter kept some of her belongings there and used it as a “bolt-hole” but denied she spent more time there than him. He said his insurers had prevented him from being named on the policy as well as on one at his Cornish home.

Mr George’s claims reveal how MPs are able to use the system to buy properties from which their families can benefit.
The disclosures come on the sixth day of The Daily Telegraph’s investigation into MPs’ expenses, which shows that Liberal Democrats have made claims just as questionable as their Labour and Conservative counterparts.

In March 2006, he told the fees office he was planning to lease a flat and then used his second home allowance before securing the lease, claiming back £1,898 spent on furnishings, including a sofa and beds that were in fact delivered to his main home in Cornwall.

However, he continued to stay in hotels in the capital and eight months later was sent a letter by Commons officials stating: “I should be grateful if you would let me know whether or not you still intend to lease the flat.”

Mr George eventually bought a two-bed flat overlooking the Thames, in a gated block in Roth er hithe, for £308,000 in January 2007 and soon after put in a £3,999 bill for furniture and household items including a television, lamps, blinds, a bed and a futon. This was reduced by £1,488.95 by the fees office, which said: “You have already claimed for a bed in anticipation of your purchase of a second home. You may not claim living costs for anyone other than yourself.”
Mr George complained, writing back: “I wanted two beds for the second bedroom when my family come to stay.”

He was allowed to claim back the £538 cost of a futon after telling them it was “living room furniture” rather than another bed, and the following month claimed £388.41 for more furniture and homeware.

In 2007-08, he billed taxpayers for £1,343.81 in household goods and redecoration including a new bath, although a claim to have the archway between the hallway and lounge removed was rejected. His file shows that the £223.04 annual home insurance policy with the Post Office was taken out solely in the name of his daughter, listed as “Miss M George”. She began studying in London in autumn 2007, just months after her father bought the flat.

Mr George was last seen running away squealing his curly tail up in the air....

Technorati Tags: troughligate, expenses

.