Hundreds of MPs Claim Thousands on Expenses For Their Utility Bills - And You Get a £200 Loan?
So today we will carry on very much in that spirit, and we will dig a little further into the cost of living crisis, and the mind blowing hypocrisy of the (mostly) Conservative MPs that have used expenses to pay their utility bills.
If you follow me on Twitter you’ll know I’ve been on this for most of the last week. I cannot get my head around the fact we have MPs claiming thousands and thousands in expenses for their utility bills while the long-suffering British people are told to take out a £200 loan and put on another jumper.
If you followed me 6 years ago you’ll probably remember I would spend most of my time asking Conservative MPs to justify their extortionate expense claims while continuing to vote for the brunt of their ideological austerity experiment to be felt by the poor, disabled, sick and vulnerable.
Now here’s something you won’t hear me say very often. Most of this mind blowing legalised theft *has* been reported by much of the press. But our tendency to avoid the mainstream press, owned by tax-shy billionaires, means we avoid the rare moments when they pretend to serve some sort of a purpose.
So maybe it will help if we have the information put together by a source who didn’t have a great grandad that stood alongside Adolf Hitler.
The coverage was patchy, and mostly fuelled by public outrage following the Downing Street Party revelations. Then Putin invaded Ukraine, and Johnson’s woes were brushed under the carpet quicker than you can say “Johnson lied, our loved ones died”.
While the many crises facing Boris Johnson are no longer at the top of the commentariat agenda, the many crises facing the inhabitants of Plague Island are piling up as we crash land into the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.
I ask you, how can any member of parliament claim expenses for powering their homes when the people they are elected to serve are having to choose between a couple of hours of heating and beans on toast?
It’s just not on, and if you let these corrupt squanderous stains on the soul of humanity think it is acceptable they will continue to take the piss out of you until your final breath.
So let’s put some meat on the bone.
No fewer than 316 MPs put in utility claims in 2020-21 with dozens claiming more than average dual fuel tariff of £1,138. They claimed a total of £182,983 for gas, electricity and dual fuel across the 2020-21 financial year.
Despite years of apparent reforms, MPs still enjoy a ridiculously generous expenses system. Those who represent seats outside the London area - and don’t get grace-and-favour flats - can claim back housing costs.
They can either choose to stay in hotels when they are working in Parliament, rent a flat in London - or put in bills for their homes elsewhere in the country.
MPs who claim costs for their own homes can claim up to £5,480 a year for utility bills, council tax, service charges, phone lines and internet connections.
Those who rent in London have an annual budget of £23,290, including utilities as well as rent, while outside the capital it is £16,320.
I bet that sounds just like your employment, right?
Let me be clear, none of the 316 MPs have breached any parliamentary rules or committed any legal wrongdoing of any sort. But that doesn’t make it right, of course.
But what is very wrong is British politicians feathering their own nests, while those who they are supposed to serve and protect are left to suffer.
If you haven’t received your latest power bill then lucky you, but I’m afraid it is coming, and while there’s every chance your MP will get you to pay their electricity bill, you will be left wondering how on earth you are supposed to pay your own.
So let’s give you the top ten gas-guzzling £84,000 a year trough-clearers. I’m sure they will appreciate their constituents being made aware of how they are spending their money for them.
Number 10
In at number 10 is the Conservative MP for Fareham, and current Attorney General, Suella Braverman QC.
Suella - who once claimed the Conservatives are battling against “cultural Marxism” - had absolutely no problem with some taxpayer socialism, putting in a claim of £2,018 - just a bit more than ten times the amount you are being told to borrow from the Tories to pay towards your extortionate utility bills.
Does campaigning against anyone voting to cut disability money count as “cultural Marxism”, Suella? Loans for us, luxuries for you.
Number 9
At number 9 is the Conservative MP for Gainsborough, Edward Leigh.
The grasping ‘Sir’ claimed back £2,332 for heating last year, and £2,474 the year before that, so it’s not like he doesn’t know what he is doing.
Edward must be a morally starved individual. His anti-refugee rhetoric is utterly revolting, and the fact he is quite happy to claim thousands and thousands for his heating while still voting against free meals for hungry children sums him up quite perfectly.
In the bin with the establishment space-waster.
Number 8
Coming in at number 8 is the Conservative MP for Central Devon, Mel Stride.
The former President of Oxford Union recently appealed to Boris Johnson to delay the rise in National Insurance for a year, but this didn’t stop him from claiming back £2,347 towards his utility bills.
Once again, you will get a loan for £200, to be repaid over 5 years, but Mel Stride only has to put in an expense claim and his utility bills are covered.
Number 7
At number 7 is none other than the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and Conservative MP for West Suffolk, Matt Hancock.
Mr Hancock - another Tory politician happy to vote against free school meals for hungry children, and voting in favour of cutting disability benefits by £30 a week - claimed back a whopping £2,588 to pay for his heating oil, in the home he shared with his wife and children.
See, this annoys me. The man that literally broke his own pandemic rules to get his leg over gets his £84,000 salary, AND his heating paid for, while British people are turning off their fridge to save some electricity.
Number 6
Anyway, let’s get on with number 6. Her name is Virginia Crosbie, and she is the Conservative MP for Ynys Môn (that’s Anglesey for us uncultured types).
Nope, I’d never heard of her myself until recently, but she did claim back £2,634 for her utility bills last year, so Virginia ended up on my radar.
Virginia is yet another Tory that is absolutely fine voting against free school meals for hungry children, providing she is nice and warm and well fed.
Number 5
At number 5 is another virtual-unknown, and he is Stuart Anderson, the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South.
I asked Mr Anderson about his excessive expense claim on Wednesday, but sadly I was met with a block. £2,670 is a hell of a lot of cash to pay for his utilities, particularly when we, the plebs, are expected to take out a £200 loan from Wonga Sunak.
It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one’s actions, Stuart, even if you are a Conservative. Grow a set.
Crashing in at number 4 we have our first Labour chilly-bones - Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour MP for Bolton South East.
Yasmin claimed a radiator-glowing £2,967 towards her utility bills last year, and another £2,396 the year before that.
Imagine my delight at spotting this tweet from Yasmin, talking about “energy security”, and some old nonsense about Keith having a “clear plan”.
Spoiler: He doesn’t.
See, while this utility expense claim thing is mostly Conservative MPs, it is not exclusively a Conservative problem. A number of Labour MPs have claimed back money for their utilities, and I would urge anyone with a few spare minutes to have a dig, and seek accountability from their parliamentarians.
Number 3
We arrive at number 3, and that is the Conservative MP for North Dorset, Simon Hoare.
I asked Simon about his jaw-dropping expense claim of £3,252 towards his utility bills, and once again I was met with a block.
That means Simon cannot object to me reminding the electorate that he once made an expense claim of 18p (that’s eighteen pence), to cover a 0.4 mile car journey.
Granted, you need nearer £18 to make a 0.4 mile car journey these days.
Number 2
In at number 2 is another Labour MP, intent on keeping lovely and warm while you are using the last few pennies of your emergency meter credit.
Liam Byrne is the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, and he claimed back a massive £3,535 last year, with 12 separate invoices for his utilities.
To Liam’s credit, this is a fair bit less than the bloody scandalous £5,105 he claimed the year before, but if he isn’t living in Buckingham Palace with utility claims of that size, I’m afraid he is taking the piss out of every single one of us.
Number 1
And finally, we come to number 1 in the list of shameless hypocrites that are perfectly okay with milking the public cash cow for every last penny while the rest of us are left to rot.
Our number one is the Conservative MP for Devizes, a chap named Danny Kruger.
I must admit, I only know of Mr Kruger because his surname is kind of memorable to anyone that’s watched a Nightmare on Elm Street, and Devizes is only a short distance from where I live. Beyond that, I would be shrugging my shoulders like the majority of you are now.
Danny cut his way into the public purse and managed to relieve it of some £3,598, making him our number one gas-guzzling glutton by just £63.
Nice work Danny, and better luck next time, Liam.
A spokesman for Mr Kruger said:
‘Danny challenged the energy bills repeatedly with the provider as they were clearly very high, although within the budget set by Parliament. He was unable to get the bills reduced. He has since moved constituency home and his bills this year are considerably lower.’
Three cheers for Danny?
This whole rotten scandal isn’t about the colour of the party rosette, we have no left representation so it certainly isn’t about left and right, it is quite simply a case of what is right and what is wrong.
The Tories cost of living crisis is going to cost lives in the same way the Tories austerity showboating cost lives, and in the same way the Tories diabolical response to the arrival of Covid-19 cost lives.
Conservative governments cost lives.
The most powerful tool our politicians should possess is their own personal example. What kind of society can we hope for when the elected ‘leaders’ do not know the way, will not go the way, and are incapable of showing the way it should be done?
The spring statement is due from Rishi Sunak this week.
What could be a better time to SCRAP the planned National Insurance hike?
How about a wealth tax, pumping billions and billions of pounds back into our economy?
Why doesn’t Sunak REVERSE the £20 weekly cut to Universal Credit, compensate the millions of legacy benefit claimants that have been thrown on the scrapheap for as long as I can remember, and begin to introduce a Universal Basic Income?
The big gas and oil companies are making a profit of £600, every second. A windfall tax can be invested back into the British people who are facing the very real decision of dramatically reducing their meals so the kids can have a bath.
Why won’t you do this, Rishi Sunak? Why aren’t you demanding that he does this, Keir Starmer, and Rachel Reeves?
I’ll tell you why. It’s because you don’t want to.
You need big business on your side, we need politicians on our side. What we have is hundreds and hundreds of morally repugnant failures, feathering their own nests while we are sent to freeze in ours.
This problem cannot be solved until the people feel the same outrage as you, and I believe this cost of living crisis, created by the Conservatives, will be the trigger for protests up and down the land throughout the year.
There’s never been a better time to be heard than now.
Until next time,
Rachael
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