Prescott blog defends expense claims

Prescott blog defends expense claims

Hull East MP John Prescott has defended his expenses claims for maintenance work at his home in the city.

Giving his first detailed account of allegations surrounding the Westminster expenses scandal, Mr Prescott also revealed he had personally apologised to staff in the House of Commons Fees Office on behalf of some of his fellow MPs for allowing "excessive blame" to be placed at their door.

Expenses receipts revealed by the Daily Telegraph showed that Mr Prescott submitted two claims totalling £323.31 covering plumbing work, including the re-fixing of a toilet seat.

He also claimed back the £312 cost of fitting mock Tudor boards onto the front of his house in Saltshouse Road.

Both claims were allowed under House of Commons rules because Mr Prescott had designated his property in Hull as his second home.

Writing on his blog, he said: "I bought one toilet seat (and never claimed for it) but because it was an old Victorian toilet and the seat was modern, it didn't fit properly.

"If you're really interested, the seat was a metric measurement, the toilet was imperial.

"So in December 2004, a plumber charged £210.79 for repairs to soil pipework and leaking water taps in the toilet.

"While he was repairing the old Victorian toilet, he also refitted the seat.

"In 2006 we had to get new taps in the bathroom. But whilst the plumber was there, he re-fixed the same seat as it kept getting loose.

"The total repair bill, which was mostly for the bathroom work, was £112.52.

"In fact it never really solved the problem. So I finally chose to completely refurbish the bathroom and the toilets. All paid for by myself, without a penny charged back to the taxpayer."

Mr Prescott said the mock Tudor boards were part of wider renovation work carried out at his home.

"The three pieces of wood on the front of my house were part of an overall bill for replacing rotten woodwork throughout a building that is over 100 years old.

"These were overall maintenance bills for plumbing and replacing woodwork in a Victorian house."

Mr Prescott, who also claimed the maximum amount for food at £4,800 a year, added: "All these maintenance bills were cleared by the Fees Office. However, for people to totally blame them is completely unacceptable when you consider that they were judging each claim by the Green Book - rules designed and voted upon by Members of Parliament."

He said he had met with staff in the Fees Office to apologise on behalf of some of his fellow MPs.

Mr Prescott said MPs alone were responsible for the current crisis by failing to link their salaries with civil service pay grades, relying instead on allowances to top up their wages.

"We have become the architects of this sorry situation which now must be fundamentally reformed. I am glad to see this is finally underway."

Susie Squire, campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It's staggering that Mr Prescott thinks all these claims were legitimate.

"Presumably Mr Prescott would have to go to the loo whether he was an MP or not, and I cannot see how Tudor beams are in any way essential to enable him to perform his Parliamentary duties."