SNP sleaze: Angus Robertson claims £80,000 for second home.

£20 on a corkscrew, still it was not his money he was pissing away....Angus Robertson, the leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster bought and refurbished a flat in London, claiming the stamp duty and over £4,000 for furnishings, after renting for several years.

Angus Robertson also successfully appealed to the fees office when they turned down his claim for a £400 home cinema system.

Mr Robertson's claimed for furniture after he bought the £227,500 property in March 2006. As well as claiming the legal fees and £2,275 stamp duty on the flat in Lambeth, he spent £2,324 for a sofa bed from Habitat and £1,271 at upmarket furniture shop Heal's.

His second home allowance claim rose by over £4,000 after he bought the flat, having previously rented a flat five minutes away. Other purchases include an espresso maker, £100 for Sabatier knives and £20 for a corkscrew.
He also bought a television for £1,119, but the fees office only paid their “recommended maximum” of £750.

Last year, he claimed £400 for a “home cinema system”, according to the receipt. The Fees office wrote to him to ask if the expenditure was necessary. “We are, therefore, required to ask you to reconsider the amount you are claiming for this item.”

Mr Robertson wrote to the fees office to say that DVD player and recorder “was purchased to catch up with recorded political programmes and also has a built in radio function.”
The fees office paid the £400 claim.

In 2005, on the last day of the financial year, Mr Robertson spent £526 on bed linen and £183 on a rug at the John Lewis in Edinburgh.

Angus Robertson became the leader of the six SNP MPs in Westminster in May 2007, after Alex Salmond's election as First Minister for Scotland. He has claimed £104,373 in the last five years.

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