Louise (Admin)
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Furious Cameron vows action over expensesConservative leader David Cameron has vowed to take action against Tory MPs who "abused" their ommons expenses.
Mr Cameron said some Tory MPs were "out of order" following the latest disclosures that taxpayer-funded allowances were used to pay for the upkeep of country estates and maintenance of private swimming pools.
"I am angry about what has happened. It is out of order and some of it is abuse of taxpayers' money and I am going to deal with it," he said.
Mr Cameron arrived early at the party's Westminster headquarters to take personal charge of the situation.
It is understood that the options he is considering include demanding the MPs involved repay the claims which are excessive.
Any who refuse could face the ultimate sanction of having the Conservative whip withdrawn - effectively expelling them from the parliamentary party.
In the Daily Telegraph's latest revelations over MPs' expenses, North East Hampshire MP James Arbuthnot had a swimming pool cleaned at a home which he said was "expensive to run".
According to the paper, the senior Tory made a series of claims to maintain a rented property - before buying a £2 million home in 2007. They included £1,471 for "grass, strim, pool, fuel" and in total, he claimed £108,062 over five years - the maximum amount possible.
The paper also says Sir Michael Spicer, the Tories' most senior backbench MP, claimed £5,650 for gardening costs. He has said a detailed invoice submitted in December 2006, which included "helipad", was a "family joke". Sir Michael also successfully claimed for the cost of hanging a chandelier in his main manor house.
Meanwhile, Michael Ancram and Stewart Jackson reportedly claimed for maintenance of swimming pools while David Heathcoat-Amory, a backbench MP, claimed more than £380 for horse manure.
And Douglas Hogg, a former Agriculture Secretary, is said to have spent more than £2,000 clearing the moat on his Lincolnshire estate while Sir Alan Haselhurst, Deputy Speaker of the Commons, also claimed for gardening - £12,000 over five years.
Mr Hogg insisted that all his claims were "within both the spirit and the letter" of Commons rules but denied the taxpayer had paid for the cleaning of his moat.
That item was featured on a schedule of all the expenses incurred on the house supplied to the Commons authorities "in the interests of transparency", he said.
"I then accompanied it with a letter which set out what I thought was proper and claimable. The schedule was not a claims schedule."
He added: "It is true that the system is terribly flawed. But as to claims that I made, they were agreed in advance and in writing and were all within both the spirit and the letter of the rules.
"Members of Parliament who are living in two places are entitled to, and need to, claim the cost of running two places."
Ex-shadow Home Secretary David Davis claimed for more than £10,000 of home renovations and furnishings, including a new £5,700 portico.
Earlier it was revealed shadow schools secretary Michael Gove - one of Mr Cameron's closest allies - spent £7,000 over five months on a London property, before buying a house in Surrey and claiming thousands of pounds more on that.
And shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley apparently renovated a Tudor thatched cottage using taxpayers' cash shortly before selling it, while shadow Welsh secretary Cheryl Gillan was forced to apologise after admitting she had put dog food through on expenses.
Meanwhile, Oliver Letwin, chairman of the Conservatives' policy team, apparently received more than £2,000 to replace a leaking pipe under a tennis court.
Shadow Leader of the House Alan Duncan is facing questions for reportedly running up a £4,000 bill on gardening. He was warned the spending "could be considered excessive".
Liberal Democrat MP Nick Harvey, spokesman for the House of Commons Commission which oversees MPs' affairs, has suggested the earliest that details of MPs' expenses will be published is late June.
On Monday, Gordon Brown, whose Cabinet has also been slammed, apologised on behalf of all political parties. The Prime Minister said that where "wrongs" had come to light they should be addressed immediately.
"I want to apologise on behalf of politicians on behalf of all parties for what has happened in the events of the last few days," he said.
Later, however, there were angry scenes in the Commons as Speaker Michael Martin slapped down an MP who challenged the decision by the House authorities to call in police to investigate the leak of MPs' expenses claims.
Labour backbencher Kate Hoey told the half-empty chamber that the inquiry was an "awful waste of money" at a time when the police already had a "huge job" to do in London.
But Mr Martin said her "pearls of wisdom" were all very well when uttered in late-night interviews, adding: "I just say to you it's easy to say to the press, 'This should not happen'. It's a wee bit more difficult when you just don't have to give quotes to the press and do nothing else. Some of us in this House have other responsibilities."
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hakkie
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What a shower of sh****!
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Saftlad
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He's going to take action  well I for one believe him 
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Lady Rachel
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Honestly words fail me............they should try living on my income
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FlakeySugarButt
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They're living on the bloody tax we lose from our income!! While the rest of us struggle to scrape enough money together to live on they laugh it up at our flaming expense!!!! Grrrrr. 
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Shar
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Ok fair enough, they were giving 'allowances' to enable them to have two homes due to them working from home alot but I am truly stunned by the obvious 'scamming' of the system. Its theft in my eyes. 
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FlakeySugarButt
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That's exactly what it is. Fraud. If it was you or me we'd be locked up by now.
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