List of expenses claims in the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal
[3] However, a freedom of information request by the Press Association just a month later, in March 2008, saw the list released into the public domain anyway,[4] revealing that MPs were able to claim for, among other things, dishwashers, television sets and tumble dryers.
[12][13] Caroline Spelman, the then Chairman of the Conservative Party, became embroiled in the "nannygate" saga on 6 June 2008 when the BBC's Newsnight programme suggested she had paid for her nanny out of parliamentary expenses during her early years in Parliament, between 1997 and 1998.
Immediately after the revelations were made public, the nanny told Newsnight that she only took the odd phone message or posted documents when needed.
[15] In an attempt to resolve the situation and clear her name, Spelman asked John Lyons, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, to investigate the payments to Haynes.
[17] During the commissioner's investigation, Newsnight revealed that nine years earlier, Spelman's parliamentary secretary, Sally Hammond, had raised concerns over the "nannygate" payments with the leadership of the Conservative party.
In 1998, Hammond informed Peter Ainsworth, a member of the Shadow Cabinet, who in turn referred the matter to the then Opposition Chief Whip, James Arbuthnot, who investigated and told Spelman to stop paying Haynes out of parliamentary expenses immediately.
[18] In March 2009, the Committee for Standards and Privileges published their final report into the matter, which ruled that Spelman had inadvertently "misapplied part of [her] parliamentary allowances".
However, both the Committee and the Commissioner noted that Spelman was, at the time, one of many new members who had taken their seats following the 1997 general election, and was therefore not fully aware of the rules governing the use or purpose of parliamentary allowances.
[20] The Conservative MP Malcolm Moss made a complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, who agreed to launch an investigation into the matter.
[23] The Committee on Standards and Privileges agreed with the Commissioner's report and ruled that the payment of the Additional Costs Allowance to the Wintertons should be stopped.
[citation needed] In a separate debate, the Wintertons are two of only six Conservative MPs who have refused to disclose their full expenses claims, despite orders to do so by party leader, David Cameron.
[27] This, coupled with the previous allegation, led to mounting pressure of Smith to resign, but the prime minister, Gordon Brown, gave her his full support, before proposing alterations to the existing expenses system.
The newspaper suggested that Smith had claimed for several items that were supposed to allow her to "perform her duties as an MP", including a toothbrush, a patio heater, a barbecue, a flat-screen TV and a bath plug costing 89p.
[32] On 26 March 2009, Conservative MP Eric Pickles (Brentwood and Ongar) appeared on the political debate programme Question Time.
[78] The day after these particular revelations began, the Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, announced that all questionable claims by the Shadow Cabinet would be repaid, including those made by Michael Gove, Oliver Letwin, Francis Maude and Chris Grayling.
[45] On the evening of 11 May, the Daily Telegraph announced it was turning its attention on the claims of backbench Conservative MPs whom the newspaper dubbed "the grandees" of the party.
On 10 May 2009, The Sunday Telegraph reported that the five Sinn Féin MPs together claimed nearly £500,000 in second home allowances, despite never taking up their seats at Westminster due to the party's abstentionist policy.
