Complete and Utter Zebu

The details of MPs’ expenses for the past financial year – totalling some £10 million – have just been released. The way they are put online does not make it easy to unearth the most noteworth claims quickly but already it is clear that some MPs are determined to plunder the public purse to their own advantage for as long as possible.

There are some more interesting claims made by Jacqui Smith. It is she, of course, who had not only to contend with a claim for her husband’s porn films but later had to apologise to the House of Commons for abusing the second home allowance by using it to pay for her family home, though she did not have to pay most of the money back. In the past financial year, she has charged us £244.90 for a new DVD player, £555.74 for a TV and, the claim that is most likely to raise a few giggles, a new double bed and mattress for £611.

The invoices for those porn films can be seen on the same page. They are billed as 18-certificate “additional features” at a cost of £5 each.

Among other claims

• Defence Minister Quentin Davies charged £20,700 for repairs to a bell tower at his stately home but then withdrew the claim.
• Gordon Brown claimed £500 for painting a summer house. After this was discovered earlier in the year, he has since repaid it.
• Sir Peter “Duckhouse” Viggers claimed £6,648 for gardening services, as well as another £1,410 for grass cutting.
• Shadow Chancellor George Osborne was reimbursed £225 for having his house jet-washed.
• Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg claimed £1,440 for gardening.
• Health Secretary Andy Burnham had a new shower, taps and electrics installed for £2,245.
• Conservative MP David Ruffley must have a pest problem, charging £52 for 14 anti-moth sachets.
• Junior pensions minister Helen Goodman claimed £600 to hire her husband for “consultancy on operation of office”.

Although there don’t seem to be any claims as utterly outrageous as those we saw earlier in the year, do keep in mind that each MP who claims agrees that it is “exclusively and necessarily incurred to enable you to stay overnight away from your only or main home for the purpose of performing your parliamentary duties”.

Some 50 MPs switched their designated second homes, though it is too early to say if any have done so for financial gain rather than administrative convenience.

The complete new list of MPs’ expenses can be seen here.

While you marvel at the extent to which some MPs still have their snouts in the trough, do bear in mind one of the more astonishing things to emerge from the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Statement. While public sector pay will be capped at 1% in 2011 and 2012, the chap does not include MPs’ salaries. Indeed, with their lavish expenses being cut back, some MPs are calling for their pay to rise by a tenth or more after the election. And they wonder why they’re so unpopular.