McNulty to be investigated
Thursday, 26 March 2009 12:00 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
The parliamentary standards watchdog has confirmed he intends to investigate employment minister Tony McNulty over his second home allowance.
The decision means John Lyons will be investigating two government front benchers, the other being home secretary Jacqui Smith.
Mr McNulty, who was reported over the weekend as claiming expenses on a second home just eight miles from his main home, has said the system should be looked into, in a curious reaction to the latest row.
Mr McNulty stopped claiming the second home allowance in January, mostly because the drop in interest rates had allowed him to pay the mortgage on his salary.
Mr McNulty's spokesman said the MP is "completely compliant with all the regulations around the allowances for second homes".
"There is absolutely nothing irregular in Tony's situation," he added.
Living just outside the London zone which prevents MPs from claiming second home allowance, it does not appear that the minister has technically broken any rules.
But the fact he claimed taxpayers' money for a home in which his parents lived, and which lies so close to his normal home, has prompted strong criticism.
"The minister can't seem to get his story straight. He admits that the arrangement looks odd and that he stopped it in January, but won't repay the £60,000 he took from taxpayers to fund it," said Tory MP Greg Hands, who registered the complaint against the employment minister.
Mr McNulty's difficulties follow a problematic few weeks for home secretary Jacqui Smith, who claimed £116,000 in expenses for a family home in the West Midlands while declaring her sister's home in London to be her main residence.
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