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Thank Goodness They All Don't Know
MPs are allowed to claim up to £10,000 for a new kitchen, more than £6,000 for a bathroom and £750 for a television on their Parliamentary allowances, it has been revealed.
They can also claim reimbursement from the taxpayer for stereos worth up to £750, £300 air-conditioning units and £2,000 for a furniture suite for their second homes.
The figures came as the Commons released the so-called "John Lewis list", which finance officials use to approve or reject MPs' expenses claims.
It is a list of precedents for spending on household items under the Parliamentary second homes allowance, based on prices at the John Lewis department store.
The document, released under the Freedom of Information Act, was not even known to most MPs until recently.
Andrew Walker, the Commons' director general of resources, has previously declined to release the document for fear that MPs would take advantage if they knew how much they could claim for certain items.
"My concern would be that if we say what the maximum price we will allow for such an item is, it will become the going rate," he told a recent Information Tribunal hearing.
Later, the BBC reported that detailed expenses claims from all MPs dating back to 2004 look set to be published.
Sir Stuart Bell, an MP on the Commons Commission - the top management committee of the House - told the BBC: "Of course we accept the outrage. We accept the loss of public trust and public confidence. Our job is to get that back - and that's what we are going to do."
They can also claim reimbursement from the taxpayer for stereos worth up to £750, £300 air-conditioning units and £2,000 for a furniture suite for their second homes.
The figures came as the Commons released the so-called "John Lewis list", which finance officials use to approve or reject MPs' expenses claims.
It is a list of precedents for spending on household items under the Parliamentary second homes allowance, based on prices at the John Lewis department store.
The document, released under the Freedom of Information Act, was not even known to most MPs until recently.
Andrew Walker, the Commons' director general of resources, has previously declined to release the document for fear that MPs would take advantage if they knew how much they could claim for certain items.
"My concern would be that if we say what the maximum price we will allow for such an item is, it will become the going rate," he told a recent Information Tribunal hearing.
Later, the BBC reported that detailed expenses claims from all MPs dating back to 2004 look set to be published.
Sir Stuart Bell, an MP on the Commons Commission - the top management committee of the House - told the BBC: "Of course we accept the outrage. We accept the loss of public trust and public confidence. Our job is to get that back - and that's what we are going to do."
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