TATTON MP George Osbourne has come out fighting after it was revealed he claimed more than £400 in expenses for a chauffeur to take him from his constituency home in Cheshire to Westminster.
The Shadow Chancellor was also rebuked by the Commons authorities because his taxpayer-funded personal website was too “political”.
But Mr Osborne, whose constituency includes Barnton and Rudheath, hit back at detractors this week.
He told the Chronicle the £440 cab fare, from November 2005, was a one-off.
“I usually travel the 200 miles to Westminster by train,” he said. “On this one occasion I had a constituency function that evening and had to be in London very early the next morning.
“The engagement finished after the last train left so I hired a car.”
On the subject of his website, www. georgeosborne.co.uk, the MP said: “In 2006/07 my website was redesigned. Rather than remove the ‘political’ features I decided to retain them and pay for the website privately. No public money was spent on the redesigned website.”
Mr Osborne said he had remortgaged his home in March 2008 to take advantage of a more competitive rate on his interest-only mortgage.
Records also show he spent hundreds of pounds on cleaning his constituency home, including a £430 for a three- month period between February and April last year.
Mid Cheshire’s two other MPs, Stepphen O’Brien (Eddisbury, Conservative) and Mike Hall (Weaver Vale, Labour), both support the need for transparency and say they have nothing to hide regarding their own claims.
Revellations in The Daily Telegraph have put a number of MPs in the stocks for their liberal approach to what they can claim to carry out their job.
