A "mole" (= spy) has leaked details about what British MPs have claimed as expenses. Now, parliamentary authorities have called in the police to find out who the identity of the mole, who has supplied information to the Daily Telegraph. But the government are worried that the police investigation may backfire as there is huge anger at what the public consider as greed and fraud by MPs.
An example is the cost of a razor, claimed by a health minister. He said that when he was told the expense was inadmissible, he withdrew his claim. He said "In order to represent my constituents effectively I have somewhere to live – in my family home – and I have somewhere to live in London to carry out my duties in parliament. In all my claims for the costs of the accommodation in London I have acted with the full approval of the fees office and the claims are entirely in line with the rules of parliament."
Some other examples:
- a minister claimed about £60,000 under the second homes allowance, but for a house where his parents lived.
- an MP claimed for two tins of pet food.
- a minister claimed for two packets of nappies
- a senior politician claimed for the service on his swimming pool boiler.
- some MPs have changed their second home from London to their constituency home to allow them to claim for renovation work on the new second property.
David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party said: "I completely understand how angry the public are about this and we desperately need change. "We've got to radically reduce the number of things that MPs can claim for such as barbeques and patio heaters."
Words in the news
leak details / information = tell other people confidential information
MP = Member of Parliament
claim sth as an expense = say you needed to buy something from your own money and ask the company to pay back (i.e. if you need to pay for a hotel room when you are on a company trip)
backfire = have completely the opposite effect of what you wanted
greed = when you want more money than fair or necessary
fraud = trying to get money by making a wrong claim
inadmissible = cannot be allowed
constituents = the people an MP represents
act with the full approval = do what is allowed
in line with = in accordance with
boiler = machine which heats water
Other related words
submit a claim for = give your company a form where you write down what you paid and attach the receipt
constituency = the geographical area that an MP represents
personal expenditure = the money you pay for personal items
personal gain = doing something to get money for yourself
unethical = not ethical / morally acceptable
