Labour MP pockets £19,000 a year renting taxpayer-funded second home to fellow MP while she claims expenses for a third property
Halifax MP Linda Riordan renting her taxpayer-funded second home
Fellow Labour MP Iain McKenzie pays her £1,560 a month in rent
She is one of four MPs involved in the controversial practice
It means she has three properties, two of which are funded by the taxpayer
Speaker John Bercow in bid to prevent the naming of the others involved
EXCLUSIVE By Jason Groves and Christian Gysin
PUBLISHED: 23:41, 18 October 2012 | UPDATED: 08:33, 19 October 2012
Three properties: The socialist MP for Halifax Linda Riordan
A left-wing MP is pocketing £19,000 a year from the taxpayer by renting out her second home to a Labour MP – while claiming thousands in expenses to rent a third property for herself.
Linda Riordan is today revealed as one of four MPs involved in the controversial practice of renting out their taxpayer-funded second homes to fellow MPs for profit.
The practice is technically permitted under the supposedly tough new expenses regime imposed in the wake of the expenses scandal.
But critics last night warned it broke the spirit of the rules – and recalled the worst excesses of the scandal that heaped shame on Parliament three years ago.
Commons Speaker John Bercow has now launched a bid to block the publication of details of MPs’ landlords which would reveal which other MPs are involved.
Halifax MP Mrs Riordan, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group, rents out her £400,000 London flat to fellow Labour MP Iain McKenzie.
Mr McKenzie pays her £1,560 a month in rent – equal to £18,720 a year – which he claims back from the taxpayer.
Official records show that Mrs Riordan’s mortgage fell to £562 a month in 2009 when interest rates hit their current low level.
Assuming the rate is unchanged, she is now making £1,000 a month in clear profit from the rental payments to supplement her MPs’ salary of £65,738.
At the same time, Mrs Riordan, 59, claims £1,473 a month – equal to £17,676 a year – from the taxpayer for renting a separate flat in London for herself. She also has a home in Northowram, Halifax, which she has owned outright for more than 20 years.
The arrangement means she now has three properties, two of which are funded by the taxpayer.
Mrs Riordan, a widow, also employs her 51-year-old partner Stephen Roberts as a ‘senior researcher’ on a taxpayer-funded salary of up to £42,000.
She did not respond to calls last night and Mr Roberts declined to comment. But Mr McKenzie confirmed he was renting from Mrs Riordan – and admitted he felt uneasy about it.
Portfolio: Riordan's £400,000 London flat which she rents to fellow Labour MP Iain McKenzie for £1,560 a month
Portfolio: Riordan's £400,000 London flat which she rents to fellow Labour MP Iain McKenzie for £1,560 a month
The Inverclyde MP, who was elected at a by-election last year on a promise to ‘win back the trust of the people’, said he rented the flat via an estate agent and had not realised it was owned by a fellow MP until her post started arriving.
Mr McKenzie said he had checked the arrangement with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) when he discovered Mrs Riordan was his landlady.
He added: ‘Ipsa said there was nothing to stop MPs renting out their flats, MPs are allowed to do it.
But if I am honest, I would not do it and if I had known beforehand that the flat was owned by an MP then I probably wouldn’t have taken it.
You’ve got to apply the test of how it looks to the man in the street, regardless of whether it’s above board or not.’ Mr McKenzie stressed he made no money from the arrangement.
MPs were banned from claiming for their mortgages on expenses as part of a bid to clean up Parliament. Instead they get an allowance of up to £20,000 a year. The ban finally came into force last month.
Tenant: Iain McKenzie, pictured with his wife Alison McKenzie, has confirmed he is renting the property
Tenant: Iain McKenzie, pictured with his wife Alison McKenzie, has confirmed he is renting the property
Ipsa said four MPs are now renting to fellow MPs. Another four rent from former MPs whose homes were subsidised for years by the taxpayer.
Official records show around 50 MPs claim rental expenses from the taxpayer while renting out their own homes in London or their constituency.
Commons Speaker John Bercow has launched a bid to block the publication of details of MPs' landlords which would reveal which other MPs are involved
Commons Speaker John Bercow has launched a bid to block the publication of details of MPs' landlords which would reveal which other MPs are involved
Mrs Riordan, who was elected in 2005, bought the flat for £300,000 in 2006.
Records show the taxpayer contributed more than £35,000 to the cost of her mortgage between 2007 and 2010. Total payments are thought to top £50,000.
Other claims relating to the flat include £1,310 for a sofa bed, £219 for bedding, and £1,936 for carpets.
She also routinely claimed the maximum £400 a month for food – all without receipts – and claimed £100 a month for a cleaner until the practice was banned.
Last night Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: ‘It was the cry that “it’s all within the rules” combined with attempts to suppress the publication of claims that made the MPs’ expenses crisis three years ago so toxic.
‘Whilst the rules may not technically prevent MPs from renting properties to one another, it is certainly against the spirit of those rules.’
Tory MP Julian Lewis, who has campaigned for MPs’ addresses to be kept secret on security grounds, also criticised the arrangement, and called for a change in the rules.
He said: ‘If it turns out MPs are doing this then people should be tackling Ipsa, asking why they are allowing it and, if necessary, changing the rules.’
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z29kQpTTERFollow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Login
Register
FAQ
