[1]http://www.telegrap
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Shahid Malik, his house and the slum landlord: MPs' expenses
The controversial way in which Justice Minister Shahid Malik was
able
to run up the highest expenses claim of any MP can be disclosed
by The
Telegraph.
By Robert Winnett and Gordon Rayner
Last Updated: 6:53AM BST 15 May 2009Since being elected in 2005, Mr Malik has claimed the maximum
amount
allowable for a second home, amounting to £66,827 over three
years.
Last year, he claimed £23,083 from the taxpayer for his London
town
house, equivalent to £443 per week. The Telegraph can disclose
that
the “main home” for which Mr Malik pays out of his own pocket - a
three-bedroom house in his constituency of Dewsbury, West Yorks -
has
been secured at a discounted rent of less than £100 per week from
a
local landlord who was fined for letting an “uninhabitable”
house.
Mr Malik also rents a constituency office from the same
businessman,
Tahir Zaman.
Mr Malik’s arrangement means he pays below market rent for his
main
home while billing taxpayers thousands for his second home in
London.
His second home claims have included £2,600 for a home cinema
system —
which was cut in half by officials — and £65 for a court summons
for
not paying council tax.
Neither Mr Malik nor Mr Zaman would say last night whether they
had
signed a formal agreement for the lease of the constituency
house,
although Mr Zaman said the rent was below the market rate. The
landlord’s wife said the house appeared to be occupied by a
constituency worker during the week.
The case of Mr Malik’s expenses illustrates the potential
problems of
an MP being able to nominate what appears to be the family home
as his
second home, enabling him to claim tens of thousands of pounds of
taxpayers’ money.
Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, faced similar allegations after
she
was shown to have claimed her family home in Redditch as her
second
house.
However, the Home Secretary said she had always paid rent to her
sister at a commercial rate.
As a minister, she also said she spent the majority of her time
in
London.
Mr Malik’s arrangements relating to his constituency home will
also
raise questions as to whether a minister could be beholden to a
businessman who offers him discounted rent. Mr Zaman lives next
door
to Mr Malik’s home in Dewsbury. Mr Zaman and Mr Malik also have a
rental agreement relating to the constituency office in a nearby
shopping parade. Mr Malik claims for the cost of renting his
office
from parliamentary office allowances.
Yesterday, following a week of disclosures about MPs’ expenses by
The
Daily Telegraph, Elliot Morley, the former minister, was
suspended
from the Parliamentary Labour Party and Andrew Mackay lost his
job as
David Cameron’s aide.
Today, details of claims made by married MPs are disclosed. A
former
Cabinet minister is also exposed for over-claiming more than
£8,000 on
her mortgage.
Mr Malik bought a home in Peckham in 2001 for £85,000 — four
years
before he became an MP. After being elected to Parliament in
2005, he
nominated the property as his “second home” and began claiming
the
maximum amount available in parliamentary expenses.
During the first year as an MP, he made 13 separate claims for
different items of furniture or electrical appliances totalling
more
than £7,000. The fees office blocked several items and he
eventually
received £6,147. He also regularly claimed the maximum allowable
£400
a month for food.
The most contentious item was a £2,600 home cinema system
including a
40in flat-screen television. The fees office paid half, after
initially rejecting the claim.
It blocked claims for a portable DVD player and an iPod during
the
same year.
The spending on the Peckham house continued during 2007-08, with
24
separate claims for furniture, decorating and electrical goods.
These
included a £671 fireplace, a leather daybed sofa and a £510
fitted
wardrobe.
Mr Malik was also reimbursed for a £730 “massage chair”. Last
night,
the MP said he had a “back problem”.
The Justice Minister said he would repay the £65 he claimed for
his
non-payment of council tax courts summons.
In total, in three years, Mr Malik claimed £66,827 for the
property -
£18,173 less than the original cost of the house.
However, the spending on his “second” London home stands in stark
contrast to the cut-price arrangements for his constituency
property.
Mr Malik’s landlord last night told The Daily Telegraph: “He is
definitely paying well under the market value rent.”
When asked if Mr Malik paid £100 a week, Mr Zaman said: “I’m
renting
[out] the next door [property], [it’s] half the size
of his property, they pay me more rent than what he’s paying me.”
In 2005 Mr Zaman pleaded guilty to letting a house to a family of
five
despite a council enforcement order classing building as
“uninhabitable”
He was fined £450 and ordered to pay £200 costs.
Mr Zaman receives more than £4,000 annually from Mr Malik in
office
rent. The money is funded from a separate system of parliamentary
expenses.
The landlord’s wife who lives in a neighbouring property said
that Mr
Malik only used the property at weekends and a member of his
staff
stayed there during the week.
“He [Mr Malik] is a good friend and neighbour,” she said. “He
comes
here just at the weekends... Usually he comes here alone.”
Mrs Zaman said a constituency worker she knew only as Paul
occupied
the house during the week.
Yesterday, when asked whether someone stayed in the property
during
the week, Mr Malik would only say: “I am happy to confirm that I
do
not rent it out or derive any income from it.” Last night, in a
statement issued by Mr Malik he strongly denied wrongdoing.
He said: “Dewsbury has been my home since 2004 when I moved there
a
year prior to becoming the MP. Overall I spend the majority of my
time
in Dewsbury because, although I spent half the week in London
when
Parliament is in session I spend most of recess at my main home
in
Dewsbury.
“The vast majority of my costs [on the London house] have gone on
food, insurance, council tax, gas, electricity, security and
mortgage
interest.
“All these costs are regarded as basic essentials in terms of the
ACA
[expenses system].”
He also said his rejected claims had been a misunderstanding.
He said: “With hindsight of course I would have acted differently
on
these items but as a new MP, with a Green Book that was full of
subjective rules and a guidance team that knew the limits for
items,
but chose not to share them with MPs, it was inevitable that
almost
every MP would have items questioned at some point.”
Shahid Malik
Job: junior minister at the Ministry of Justice
Salary: £95,617
Total second
home claims
2004-05: N/A
2005-06: £21,634
2006-07: £22,110
2007-08: £23,083
References
1. http://www.telegrap
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