A Conservative MP from Devon has paid back nearly £400 he claimed on expenses for a designer leather carrying case for his laptop. Hugo Swire, MP for east Devon, paid £395 for the laptop bag from Mulberry – the luxury accessories company.
Many of the brand’s products are said to be favoured by A-list celebrities. Mr Swire said he had not been asked to pay back his expenses claim for the laptop bag but after consulting his colleagues, he thought he should do as it may be deemed “extravagant”.
“It’s a leather one - I use it every day,” he said. “But when you start going through four years of expenses pile after pile the only thing that stuck out was this bag. I thought it could be extravagant, I took a sounding from the rest of my office and I offered to pay it back so I paid it back fully. I have not been asked to pay it back by anyone but it was the one thing that I thought could be deemed perhaps to be extravagant.”
Swire is one of many MPs who have been embarrassed after their claims were made public, sparking an expenses row which has seen many fired or walk out, including House of Commons speaker Michael Martin. The news also comes as Scotland Yard has decided to launch an investigation into the alleged misuse of expenses by a small number of MPs and peers. Police say its economic and specialist crime command will investigate.
Labour’s David Chaytor has admitted he is one of the MPs under scrutiny, and his party colleague Elliot Morley is also understood to be interviewed. Meanwhile the Daily Telegraph says more than 50 MPs have claimed expenses for council tax they have not paid. The MPs are said to have claimed more than the rates of tax published by town halls.
Mr Chaytor said his solicitor had been contacted by the police and that he would co-operate fully with the investigation once he was invited for an interview.
“I want to explain my case, explain what happened. I’ve acknowledged that there is an error here and I want to clear my name,” Chaytor said. “It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing police investigation; however we always expect all Labour Party representatives and members to cooperate fully with the police. The Labour Party has already taken tough action on expenses, including barring MPs found to have broken the rules from standing as Labour candidates at the next general election.”
The Conservative Party has declined to comment.
The decision to launch an investigation follows several weeks of preliminary inquiries by a team of police investigators, prosecutors and legal experts.