Esther McVey claims thousands in rent – despite MP husband owning flat nearby

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A authorities minister tasked with figuring out wasteful spending has been charging the taxpayer tens of thousands of kilos in bills to rent a flat in London despite her fellow MP husband owning a property nearby.

Esther McVey has over the previous two years acquired greater than £30,000  in taxpayers’ cash to rent the flat the place she lives together with her husband Phillip Davies, the MP for Shipley.

Ms McVey, who represents Tatton and was final 12 months appointed minister for ‘common sense’, is paid £86,584 for being an MP however can be incomes thousands of kilos extra from her further position as Cabinet Office minister with out portfolio.

She and her husband have been claiming bills on a property in Westminster since 2017, in accordance with The Daily Telegraph and marketing campaign group Led By Donkeys.

According to the report, Mr Davies owns a property in Waterloo, which is a few 25-minute stroll away. The property is rented out and the MP  has declared an annual earnings of greater than £10,000 from this property.

Mr Davies, who has additionally earned thousands of kilos from media work over the previous two years, stated he would have been completely satisfied to proceed claiming mortgage prices on the flat he owns, “but that option was removed from me”.

MPs can now not declare their mortgage funds again from the taxpayer following adjustments to the principles in the aftermath of the 2009 bills scandal.

The couple isn’t breaking any guidelines however their association raises questions on worth for cash, significantly given Ms McVey’s position on the high of presidency in cost of tacking wasteful spending.

Ms McVey, a self-declared low-tax Thatcherite who typically rails towards the ‘big state’, wrote in the Daily Mail final 12 months that she didn’t “want you to see a single penny of your hard-earned cash wasted on unnecessary public spending”.

Her duties as Cabinet Office minister with out portfolio embrace supply of presidency priorities and making certain efficient communication of Downing Street’s targets.

Ms McVey, who beforehand served as secretary of state for work and pensions from January to November 2018, additionally earned thousands of kilos for media work.

In February she instructed GB News she had written to unbiased authorities businesses asking them to spend extra effectively.

“We want to make sure there isn’t any waste … You can’t put up taxpayers’ bills and ask the government for more money, and yet not get rid of wasteful spending yourself,” she stated.

Mr Davies instructed Led By Donkeys: “If I owned the flat outright and I could stay there without incurring any cost then I would agree that I should do that, but that doesn’t remotely apply in my case.

“As far as I am aware, all workplaces cover the accommodation costs of people working away from home, and I am surprised … [you] … think that should no longer be the case. That, of course, will lead to only the wealthiest people in the country being able to become MPs.”

Ms McVey has been contacted for remark.