Lawmakers face strict allowance rules

DRAIN the moat, tear down the duck house, fire the housekeeper.

British lawmakers face strict new allowance rules following a scandal over their outrageous expense claims. The rules published yesterday will ban legislators from using expenses to fund swanky second homes and outlaw the use of taxpayers’ money to employ family members as staff.

Christopher Kelly, an ex-civil servant, said an advisory committee he leads has drafted a new regime “shorn of the special features which gave scope for exploitation”.

Party leaders have promised to adopt all his recommendations, despite protests from legislators.

Leaked documents showed how lawmakers manipulated housing rules for profit, and attempted to bill the public for items including porn movies, horse manure and an ornamental duck house. In one notorious case, a lawmaker demanded reimbursement for the cost of cleaning the moat surrounding his country mansion.

“The system in future will be different — it will be open, it will be more transparent, it will be fair,” said Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Legislators will be banned from using public money for cleaners or gardeners and tighter rules will restrict spending on meals and transport.

House of Commons lawmakers claim an average of £135,000 (€150,722) a year in expense payments.

Kelly said expenses will no longer cover mortgage interest payments on second homes. Only claims for rent on modest apartments, or for occasional hotel rooms, will be allowed.

Many legislators have a second home near Parliament, or in the district in which they were elected, but some are accused of profiting personally after selling properties renovated using public funds.

Most new rules will be phased in over five years, meaning lawmakers who employ husbands and wives as office staff won’t have to fire them immediately. Some suggest they will hire relatives of other legislators — effectively swapping family members between offices.

Details of questionable claims were exposed when expense files were leaked to the Daily Telegraph by a government worker. He was paid £110,000 but claimed to be angry over soldiers’ low pay.

Few escaped the toxic touch of the scandal that followed disclosure of the claims.

Brown saw nine ministers quit and suffered losses in local and European elections as voters deserted mainstream parties. An independent auditor ordered Brown to repay £12,000.