Britain's Conservative leader David Cameron said today one of his party's senior MPs had "serious questions to answer" over £15,000 he claimed in expenses to pay his daughter rent for a flat.
Bill Cash, MP for Stone in Staffordshire, designated his daughter's west London flat as his "second home" during 2004 and 2005 despite owning a property nearer Westminster, according to the latest expense revelations in the
Daily Telegraph.
Mr Cash, whose main home is in his constituency, did not live in or rent out the flat he owned at the time, saying his son lived there instead.
Instead he claimed £1,200 a month to live in his daughter's flat as a tenant.
His daughter Laetitia (35) who the paper said is hoping to become a Conservative MP herself, sold her flat for a £48,000 profit shortly after her father stopped claiming allowances for it.
"I do not agree with the suggestion that renting my daughter's flat, in the circumstances, was unreasonable," Mr Cash said in a statement.
"I had to live somewhere to perform my parliamentary duties. The rent which was agreed was a reasonable rent and the tenancy agreement had been cleared by the Fees Office in advance."
After leaving his daughter's flat, Mr Cash designated two London private members' clubs as his second home or stayed in hotels, which he said was a cheaper option for the public.
"My staying in these clubs/hotels meant that I was paying less than I would have done if I had been in a rented property at that time," he said.
Mr Cameron has set up a scrutiny panel to examine all the expense claims of Tory MPs to see if any money should be paid back. Those who fail to comply will be expelled from the party.
Mr Cash, he said, had questions to answer.
"He needs to answer those questions. He also needs to cooperate with the inquiries that the Conservative Party is holding," Cameron told reporters.
"Everyone knows the consequences of not participating in those inquiries. I've made that very clear."
Mr Cash later said he would repay the money "in the context of having a fair hearing of the scrutiny committee and due process".
Meanwhile, former minister Elliot Morley said today he will step down as an MP at the next election.
The Scunthorpe MP claimed 16,000 pounds of taxpayers' money for a mortgage that had already been repaid. He later said it was a mistake, apologised and returned the money.
Mr Morley, an environment minister in former prime minister Tony Blair's government, said he did not want to damage the ruling Labour Party in parliamentary elections that must be held within a year.
"The last two weeks have been traumatic for me and I have to think of my family and my health, both of which have suffered," he told reporters after a meeting with local party members in Scunthorpe, northeast England.
"Nor do I want in any way to undermine the strong position the Labour Party has in this constituency in what will be a crucial election."
More than a dozen MPs have already said they will quit at the next election after the
Daily Telegraphbegan publishing leaked details of parliamentary expense claims.
Conservative Julie Kirkbride and Labour's Margaret Moran yesterday said they would quit after details of their allowances were published.
Ms Moran decided to step down as Luton South MP after the
Telegraphsaid she had spent £22,500 of taxpayers' money to treat dry rot at a seaside house she had designated as her second home, 100 miles from her constituency.
Pressure had been building on Ms Kirkbride (48) after the
Telegraphdisclosed she had used public money to build an extension to her constituency flat so that her brother could live there and help look after her son.
Politicians have claimed for everything from plasma screen televisions and designer wallpaper to moat cleaning bills and a floating house for ducks.
Prime minister Gordon Brown, trailing badly in the polls, has promised to reform the system in response to mounting public anger over the expenses system.