Norfolk Labour MP in expenses trouble

AN East Anglia Labour MP has defended his decision to claim parliamentary second-home allowances on a flat where his daughter and her partner were living rent-free and which he eventually sold to them.

Graham Dines

AN East Anglia Labour MP has defended his decision to claim parliamentary second-home allowances on a flat where his daughter and her partner were living rent-free and which he eventually sold to them.

Dr Ian Gibson said he is prepared to stand down as an MP at the next election if voters in his Norwich North constituency demanded it.

The Daily Telegraph has reported that Dr Gibson's daughter and her partner lived rent-free in the flat while the MP was claiming mortgage interest payments and utility bills of �836 a month from the Additional Costs Allowance. He is said to have sold the flat to them in April for �162,000 - considerably less than the �195,000 he originally bought it for in 1999.

“I can see many people would think that that was unfair, but the whole system is very unfair.' he said.

“That was my second home for several years. The mortgage was coming to an end. I would have had to sell it off anyway to pay off the capital on the mortgage. I will pay capital gains tax on it.”

Dr Gibson added: “I spend my life working for constituents and would like to continue, but if you have lost their confidence then you have lost their confidence.”