Bristol area's MPs to leave London homes

MPs in and around Bristol are preparing to pack up and leave their London homes in the wake of a root-and-branch review of the discredited parliamentary expenses system.

Sir Christopher Kelly, the man appointed to come up with a new set of rules for allowances after the full scale of abuses was laid bare earlier this year, has made a series of tough recommendations to curb excessive claims.

They include ending the practice that allows MPs to have mortgage interest on their second homes paid for from the public purse.

Instead, accommodation will be found for new MPs by a commercial agency and there will be a £1,250 a month cap on how much rent will be met by the Commons.

That means MPs like Labour's Roger Berry and Liberal Democrat Steve Webb will sell up but Stephen Williams, Bristol West, will also have to find a new home as his rented Westminster flat comes in at more than the monthly limit.

"This is the only part of the report that really affects me," the Lib Dem said. "The rent was well within the limit as it was set at the time.

"I will have to move if the limit is capped at £1,250. It would make sense if renting arrangements were taken over by Parliament. I turned up on the first day and asked, 'now, where do I live?'

"If you are employed by any other organisation they would look after those arrangements."

Kingswood's Mr Berry said he would have to sell up, adding: "My view before the review was that we had to accept the outcome, whatever it was. Kelly's proposals and recommendations are absolutely fine by me, and I think most MPs will accept them.

"It is true that at the moment those paying mortgage interest are a smaller charge on the taxpayer than those paying rent, but there is no doubt second home allowances have been abused and if this is Kelly's best way of solving the problem I think we have to accept it and go with it."

Northavon MP Mr Webb said: "One of the more positive suggestions is that there should be some central provision of rented accommodation.

"This makes a lot of sense, and to be honest if there had been somewhere available to rent as soon as I was elected in 1997 I would have immediately opted for that.

"I've already said that when my current one-bed flat is sold the full gain (after capital gains tax) will go back to the taxpayer, so, if re-elected, I will sell up by the end of the next Parliament and switch to rented accommodation."

Government whip Kerry McCarthy, Bristol East, is now renting in London after deciding that holding a mortgage in Bristol and London was too costly. She said: "We do have to accept all of the proposals so we can draw a line under it.

"Some MPs won't be happy but we are past the point where the public will accept any pleading of special cases.

"The public is quite rightly very angry about the situation that has arisen and we have to accept that we are going to have to bite the bullet.

"I have made the decision that I couldn't afford the capital repayments in London on top of my mortgage commitments in Bristol so have decided to rent.

"I am not claiming anything on Bristol, that is my main home."

MPs will no longer be able to employ family members and must meet the cost of their daily commutes themselves. All claims will need receipts and they will no longer be able to put in for cleaning and gardening.

It will be down to a new body, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), to decide how to implement the recommendations, which will not come in to force until after the election.

That will be headed up by Sir Ian Kennedy, who led the Bristol Inquiry into children's heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

The revelation that his position will command £100,000 a year, £30,000 more than a backbench MP's basic pay, caused some uproar in the House.

From after the next election MPs retiring or standing down voluntarily will no longer be given the resettlement grant of up to £65,000, instead getting a maximum of two month's salary.

Retiring Bristol North West MP Doug Naysmith, will still be given his grant, estimated at £37,000 under the current formula, based on his age and length of service.

He said: "I think it is a very sensible report and reasonable in its attitude to expenses and I do not disagree with anything in it.

"It doesn't affect me because I have never employed anyone to work for me who is a member of my family.

"I think the report, given all the problems we have been struggling with for the past six months, provides a welcome relief and a way forward, and I hope it is implemented in full as soon as possible."

Children's Minister Dawn Primarolo, Bristol South MP, said: "I welcome Sir Christopher Kelly's review of MPs' allowances. The old system simply had to go, and be replaced by one which is open and fair."