FORMER LABOUR minister Tony McNulty, who claimed House of Commons expenses for a house in which his parents live in London, has been forced to apologise and ordered to repay nearly £14,000.
Delivering a formal statement in the Commons yesterday, Mr McNulty, whose father emigrated to London from Donegal, apologised “for any part I have played in the diminution of the standing of this House in the eyes of the public”.
He claimed mortgage interest and other expenses totalling almost £14,000 a year for the house in his Harrow East constituency, saying it was his second home – even though his main home is just eight miles away in Westminster.
Mr McNulty faced a seven-month investigation by the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Sir John Lyon, who passed his findings to the standards and privileges committee after a complaint was made about him by a Tory MP.
A new expenses regime is to be published next week by Sir Christopher Kelly. Prime minister Gordon Brown is ready to accept the recommendations in full, despite mounting fury from Labour MPs.
The leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman, will unveil the new rules in the Commons on Wednesday, and then pass them on to the newly created Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority to put them into force.
MPs will not have a vote, said Downing Street yesterday: “There is no need for a vote. MPs lost their power to regulate their own expenses in the summer. This is what we meant by the end of the gentleman’s club – the end of self-regulation,” said one source.
While not defending the undoubted excesses of many, some MPs now argue that Sir Christopher’s decision to ban mortgage interest allowances and impose a £1,250 a month ceiling on rent will prevent all bar the rich from becoming MPs.
Meanwhile, reforms are also coming to the House of Lords. Lord Robin Eames, the Church of Ireland Primate of All Ireland, announced changes yesterday that will cut the daily rate paid to lords for attending Westminster.
In addition, a £150 subsistence payment will replace existing allowances, and receipts will be required for the first time.
Also, a new watchdog will have powers to examine all claims lodged by lords dating back to 2006.
Peers will be banned from accepting payments for asking questions in the House after a series of revelations that several had been paid by lobbying firms to push for amendments to legislation.
Lord Eames, who has led a cross-party review group drawing up new rules, said: “There is no place in the House of Lords for ‘peers for hire’.”
Under the new rules peers will have to swear to abide by the code of conduct and divulge which public or private companies they have links with, even if such relationships have nothing to do with their parliamentary duties.