Darling to repay allowances
Monday, 1 June 2009 12:00 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
Alistair Darling is to repay costs he charged to taxpayers on his London flat despite having moved to No 11.
The Telegraph's newspaper's latest revelation is that the chancellor claimed for a £1,004 service charge claim for the flat he had been living in.
Ten days previously, in June 2007, he had been made chancellor and had moved into Downing Street's grace-and-favour home. The service charge claim covered the period until December of that year.
In a statement Mr Darling said: "The allegation I claimed for two houses at the same time is untrue. I became chancellor in June 2007. In September 2007 I moved from my London flat to live in Downing Street. I made no further claims on that flat."
He added, however, that he had let his London flat in September 2007.
"Because the service charge covered the period beyond September to December I will repay the service charge from September to December," he conceded.
The revelations come at a bad time for the chancellor, who is facing growing speculation he will be replaced in No 11 by children's secretary Ed Balls in the rumoured reshuffle expected soon.
Gordon Brown said Mr Darling is a "very good" chancellor on the Today programme - but used the past tense, saying he "was" a good chancellor in media interviews later.
Downing Street later insisted there was no significance in the change of wording as the prime minister's spokesman avoided repeated reshuffle questions during this morning's lobby question.
"The chancellor has decided for the avoidance of doubt it is right to repay the money," he said.
The repayment was to "remove any potential ambiguity", the spokesman explained, adding Mr Darling was "determined to ensure he is and is seen to be doing the right thing".
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