MP under pressure to explain expenses

VOTERS are calling on Staffordshire Moorlands MP Charlotte Atkins to come clean over why she has repaid more than £10,000 in expenses.

The Labour MP is refusing to explain why she has paid back £10,226.50 to the House of Commons Fees Office.

Ms Atkins had claimed the money within the financial year 2008/09, which means it is in addition to the £87,702 claimed between 2004 and 2007.

But her subsequent repayment was only revealed in a list of MPs who have paid money back since the expenses scandal broke last month.

In response to the expenses row, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, pictured below, had changed the rules on second home allowances and backdated the new regulations to cover last year's claims.

It means MPs can no longer 'flip', by changing the second home which they claim for; cannot claim for furniture for second homes; and the Fees Office will also reject claims for cleaning expenses and stamp duty on members' London properties.

Ms Atkins has confirmed that it was these rule changes that prompted her to pay the money back, but will not say which rules she would have breached.

She said: "In advance of finalising my 2008/09 claims Gordon Brown created new rules.

"I decided to retrospectively apply them to the claim I had recently submitted."

But Keith Smith, of Leek, feels the MP should be more open about her expenses to rebuild public trust.

The retired 59-year-old, of Mountside Gardens, said: "She should say what the money was for.

"I'm disgusted about the MPs' expenses – I would like a new kitchen for my home, but I can't go and charge the taxpayer for one, and I don't see why they should be able to."

He added: "They should be honest about everything they have had, not just telling us a few things to keep us happy."

Agricultural engineer Peter Mesham, aged 57, from Leek, said: "She should come clean.

"If I had taken money when I shouldn't I would be prosecuted, so MPs need to be more open about what they've been doing."

And care worker Hilary Spencer-Austin, aged 55, of Bradnop, near Leek, said: "She definitely needs to explain herself.

"I won't trust any of the MPs again and I think we need an election."

The row over the repayment continued as latest figures showed Ms Atkins is one of the region's highest claimers for office expenses. She claimed £96,086 for office expenses over four years, compared with Newcastle MP Paul Farrelly spending £52,360 in the same period, and www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/mytowncongleton">Congleton's Conservative MP Ann Winterton claiming £56,257.

In one claim Ms Atkins spent £10.69 on biscuits, including chocolate digestives and cream rich teas. Other expenses included £189 for a digital camera in 2007, £611 in March 2007 to complete tax returns, and two portrait photograph sessions in five months, costing £253.

Ms Atkins also paid £3,600 to the Barnard Braggins Partnership for Parliamentary research, copy writing and draft press releases in December 2007.