'Duck island' is latest expenses outrage
Duck! MPs in more expenses trouble
The Electoral Reform Society is a voluntary organisation that campaigns for a better democracy, particularly through changes to our electoral system.
|  |
Find more Opinion Formers in this category:
The House of Lords has unanimously suspended two peers implicated in the 'cash for amendments' scandal. |  |
As MPs strive for the unity they need in the face of the expenses crisis, they can't help but show how divided they really are. |  |
Thursday, 21, May 2009 12:00
By politics.co.uk staff
A Conservative MP who claimed £1,645 for a floating duck island at his Hampshire home will not be standing at the next election.
Gosport MP Sir Peter Viggers, a member of the Treasury select committee, was ordered by party leader David Cameron to stand down or be kicked out of the Tory party.
It follows the latest in a series of damaging revelations by the Telegraph newspaper. It quotes a receipt submitted to the Fees Office as noting the 'Stockholm' duck island as saying: "Price includes three anchor blocks, duck house and island."
Sir Peter claimed for over £30,000 for gardening expenses during a three-year period.
It is not clear whether he actually received the expenses for the duck island. The Fees Office wrote 'not allowable' on its receipt, the Telegraph said. He received just over half of the total £18,522.59 he claimed in March 2007 for the year.
Sir Peter is the third Conservative to announce he will not be standing again at the next election. Douglas Hogg's moat was followed by Totnes MP Anthony Steen, who announced yesterday evening he would quit the Commons.
Mr Steen claimed £87,729 over a four-year period for gardening expenses, including payment for tree surgery.
Another Tory MP, Bill Wiggin, is strenuously denying wrongdoing after the Telegraph revealed he had claimed interest payments for a property on which he did not have a mortgage.
Mr Wiggin, who represents Leominster, is insisting the claim for over £11,000 was the result of an administrative error which should have applied to his other home.
Former Cabinet minister Ruth Kelly has also faced questions overnight. Ms Kelly had a building insurance policy but claimed thousands of pounds in flood damage, it was reported.