Newly-disclosed files show the chancellor and MP for Tatton didn’t claim a penny for accommodation, travel or other costs in September or October.
The rest of the region’s 31 MPs claimed a total of £165,000 in the same period.
The files are the second round to be published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority , set up in the wake of the 2009 expenses scandal to enforce tighter regulations on how MPs spend taxpayers’ money.
They relate to the period just before the Chancellor Mr Osborne delivered his Comprehensive Spending Review – detailing how he planned to cut £83bn of public spending.
The authority, which published its first round of approved expenses in December, has this time included claims rejected by the Commons for failing to comply with new rules. Some 145 wrongful submissions by Commons MPs, totalling £15,000, have been laid bare.
In Greater Manchester, only Michael Meacher (Lab, Oldham West and Royton MP) had two claims thrown out. Both were duplicate submissions for £43.70 train fares for which he had already claimed. He also spent £222 on new toilet cisterns, the files show.
| Name | Amount claimed |
|---|---|
| David Nuttall | £12377.64 |
| Michael Meacher | £11534.58 |
| Jake Berry | £11369.27 |
| Andy Burnham | £11091.72 |
| Graham Stringer | £10891.54 |
| Yasmin Qureshi | £9047.66 |
| Lisa Nandy | £8299.73 |
| Ivan Lewis | £7943.15 |
| Andrew Gwynne | £7634.17 |
| David Heyes | £7077.7 |
| Mark Hunter | £6479 |
| Tony Lloyd | £6244.94 |
| Yvonne Fovargue | £6061.97 |
| David Crausby | £5057.48 |
| Jonny Reynolds | £4733.17 |
| Julie Hilling | £4188.16 |
| Hazel Blears | £3900.5 |
| Simon Danczuk | £3807.17 |
| Andrew Stunell | £3736 |
| Phil Woolas | £3384.86 |
| David Rutley | £3258.76 |
| Sir Gerald Kaufman | £3148.59 |
| Paul Goggins | £2474.73 |
| Graham Brady | £2304.36 |
| Barbara Keeley | £2006.1 |
| Kate Green | £1726 |
| Ann Coffey | £1357.53 |
| John Leech | £1290.15 |
| Fiona Bruce | £1217.19 |
| Jim Dobbin | £770.4 |
| George Osborne | £0 |
Yvonne Fovargue (Lab, Makerfield) and Yasmin Qureshi (Lab, Bolton South East) each claimed a £10 congestion charge fee but were only given £8. Ms Fovargue ran up £243.38 in food and drink bills at Westminster.
Among the region’s 31 MPs rent, hotels and travel were among the biggest spends.
They had racked up around £135,000 in the first tranche of claims, which covered the four months from May’s General Election, including Parliament’s summer recess.
The latest claims show that disgraced former Oldham East and Saddleworth MP, Phil Woolas, claimed £66.20 for a train ticket from London to Manchester on Sunday, September 12 – the day before the election trial that stripped him of his seat began in the town.
Jake Berry (Con, Rossendale and Darwen) spent £33 on parliamentary cuisine during three late-night sittings and £11.12 on a stapler ‘required for performance of a parliamentary function’. He also charged the £9.04 cost of attending a ‘Darwen 1940s event’ to the public purse.
Many MPs claimed the maximum in second home allowance – £1,450-a-month – with Wigan’s Lisa Nandy moving from a £576-a-month flat. She also claimed £6.04 for a book to report accidents in.
David Nuttall (Con, Bury North) was the highest claimer in the region, at £12,377.64, and Jim Dobbin (Heywood and Middleton) the lowest – other than Mr Osborne – at £770.40.
Leigh MP and former cabinet member Andy Burnham, who chose not to claim anything last time round so that he could get to grips with the new rules, claimed £12.80 in mileage to send staff to an Ipsa training session – on claiming expenses. He claimed a further £33 on milk for his constituency office.
Graham Stringer (Lab, Blackley and Broughton) spent £3,240 on 26 nights in London hotels while he waited for his flat to become available, and Bolton North MP David Crausby’s spent £46 on regional newspapers – the equivalent of 100 copies of the M.E.N.
Veteran Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman, whose unusual claims have previously come under the spotlight, received £7.38 for batteries for his Gorton constituency office and 58p for a mobile phone bill.
The tough new regime has been unpopular with MPs and Ipsa found itself under fire again yesterday, from both Downing Street and leader of the House of Commons, Sir George Young, who attacked the watchdog for impeding politicians’ work. Tweet
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George Osborne is the millionaire son of a baronet and heir to the Osborne & Little wallpaper empire.
Just to point that out.
Easy to lead from the front when you have a personal fortune of tens of millions like Osborne.
And we're supposed to be impressed?
This Tory-boy upstart will see it as some form of loss leader, using it to try to accrue 'brownie-points' from the electorate... but we can see through your dubious deeds, Gideon.
Go! And take your rag-tag coalition with you.
To get to where he is we have to assume George is not an idiot. But after years of privilege and private school he probably assumes most of the British public are. It's easy for a millionaire like him to afford trivial little stunts like this. After all he's going to save himself a mint by adjusting the tax framework so it doesn't 'punish' people for being financially successful - after all that won't incentivise entrepreneurial spirit!
Then he and his wealthy peers can encourage their wives and children to indulge in voluntary work to help the poor as part of dear David's BIG society. In fact why stop BIG society there; let's bring back public hangings, debts gaol, penny farthings and the poor house.
Are any of the millionaire Labour hyps doing it too?
If he really wanted to do his bit he would take a step away from teh detail, take a deep breath and look at what the economic signs are telling him.
In terms of him not taking on circa £3,000 I say fair play; regarless of whether he is a millionaire or not (nd in real terms would represent the average joe skipping a £10 expenses claim) he is still entitled to the money.
RE GO .. surely we must wait for the Treasury to publish ministers expenses to be sure of his claims on the tax payer.
"Newly-disclosed files show the chancellor and MP for Tatton didn’t claim a penny for accommodation". Does he not live at No. 11 Downing Street so, surely, does not need to claim for accomodation. What about other grace and favour residences?
Interesting though, in the age of austerity, the highest claimer is a Conservative MP and lowest a Laobur MP.
Is compiling claim forms for staplers and batteries really good use of an MP's (or their staff) time.
Surely a set allowance for such things could be given to each one, actually claiming and assessing all the claims must cost as much as the actuall items?
Yet more proof that to be a member of Parliament you now need to be rich. The rich are once again able to pass laws to benefit themselves whilst people of modest incomes can’t afford to play their parts in a democracy. Why don’t we fund our MP’s properly through a central budget where they don’t have to buy their own stationary so anyone can run for office, as any self employed expenses system takes the ability to represent away from ordinary people
This bloke inherited millions from his daddy; just like Cameron and most of the other Tories inherited their wealth, which means their income is earned not by him but by the peasants who live or used his land and property or work for his companies; so I don't suppose he need the "peanuts" of MP expenses anyway.
Have a heart good people...George(real name Gideon) Osborne is only worth about £4m which is 'nt that much...well,compared to fellow tory toff Cameron, which is a nice £30m!
Also no mention of the £1,666...(666????..hell) which Osborne had to pay back a couple of years ago
Anyway,one or two comments here which gladden's the heart of this old Red...I live in hope that the future can hold a decent and fair society,
I am entirely symapthetic to our poor politicians (a large proportion of whom are Oxbridge graduates) who find the parlimentary expenses system "confusing". I propose scrapping it and introducing a Politicians Loan whereby they can borrow vast amounts of money and then pay it back when they leave full time politicianing and get a proper job.