Suffolk MP's pink laptop on expenses

SOUTH Suffolk MP Tim Yeo claimed more than �900 on a pink laptop in the run-up to Christmas and �135 on repairs to a fountain pen, according to latest allegations about MP expenses.

Russell Claydon

SOUTH Suffolk MP Tim Yeo claimed more than �900 on a pink laptop in the run-up to Christmas and �135 on repairs to a fountain pen, according to latest allegations about MP expenses.

Details of Mr Yeo's claims over the past four years were published as part of the Telegraph's expenses investigation yesterday .

It also alleged he claimed utility bills for four separate properties and used his office costs allowance to claim for �3,000 worth of shelving at his London flat.

The MP was unavailable for comment yesterday, but he told the Telegraph: “A laptop is a laptop whatever colour it is. This is a trivial point.”

Expenses paperwork reveals House of Commons officials initially deliberated on querying the purchase of the �905.95 Sony Vaio laptop from John Lewis on November 29, 2007 but then decided to let it through without questioning.

The portable pink computer is described on one large company's website as “easy to use, stylish to look at, sensual to touch” and says it is best for sharing “everything from music to movies with friends and family”.

Mr Yeo said the pen repair claim, made under his office costs allowance, was “one of a pair of fountain pens I have had since I entered parliament - and I always use it to sign letters.”

Mr Yeo said his claim for shelving was “correctly paid” under the Incidental Expenses Provision - which covers office costs - at his London home, where he had converted a bedroom into an office