12:27pm Monday 26th May 2008
By Guardian Reporter
Two Labour MPs have drawn criticism after using expenses to help pay for a second home despite living only 30 minutes from Parliament.
Health Minister Ann Keen, MP for Brentford and Isleworth, and her husband, Alan Keen, who represents Feltham and Heston used £175,000 of taxpayers' cash to pay for a £500,000 Waterloo flat.
Expenses rules allow MPs to spend £23,083 a year to run and pay for a home near the Commons if they live outside inner London.
While Mr and Mrs Keen do reside outside inner London, they share a home in Brentford which is only about 30 minutes away from Parliament by car.
The couple bought their flat in May 2002 after spending six months in a London hotel.
They then used two mortgages to pay for it, one loan of £350,000 from HSBC and £170,000 raised by re-mortgaging their Brentford property.
The couple's argument that the second home loan should be permissible on expenses because it was used to raise equity for the central London flat was accepted.
The pair also claimed for compulsory' life insurance premiums attached to the loans.
New rules have since banned MPs from using expenses to claim for life insurance premiums.
Since buying the apartment they have jointly claimed £175,128 under the second homes perk.
The details were among a number released after a three-year freedom of information wrangle in the Commons which saw Speaker Michael Martin unable to prevent publication of a breakdown of MPs' expenses.
The couple have not broken any rules MPs expenses have drawn criticism from some campaign groups.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It's clear that this allowance pays for much more than just a base in London - MPs use it to fund a lifestyle far more comfortable than their constituents enjoy.
"Taxpayers should not be made to pay for Gordon Brown's Sky TV subscription or Tony Blair's £10,000 kitchen.
"Given the economic climate and the fact that everyone's feeling poorer, it's high time MPs reined in the amounts they spend. It is costly for taxpayers and harmful to the standing of Parliament for them to use expenses to live the high life."
Neither Mr or Mrs Keen were available for comment although a spokesman for the Department of Health has stressed the Keens' claims were within the rules.
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