MPs' EXPENSES: Blair's £43,000 expenses were shredded 'by incompetence'
Last updated at 1:40 AM on 14th May 2009
Tony Blair dodged possible fire over his housing deals after hundreds of
expenses claims were 'accidentally' shredded.
Documents itemising some of the then Prime Minister's receipts for
2001-02 were destroyed by Commons officials 'by mistake'.
It covered a period when he claimed for Myrobella, his Sedgefield
constituency home.
It was already known that Mr Blair claimed £43,029 over a three-year
period up to 2003-04.But it was not known what the money was spent on.
The former Premier's financial affairs have long been under the
spotlight.
A receipt-by-receipt breakdown of his expenses claims published last
year showed he had remortgaged Myrobella for £296,000, almost ten times
what he paid for it, months before he bought a London town house for
£3.65million.
The details were only published following a four-year freedom of
information battle.
But the 'black hole' in Mr Blair expenses claims raise questions over
what details the destroyed documents might have contained.
To increase suspicions, Westminster officials shredded the files even
though they were the subject to an ongoing legal challenge.
Expenses campaigner Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat, MP said: 'It
seems terribly opportune that a sheaf of Tony Blair's expenses have been
destroyed.
'This is either incompetence or obstruction of the Freedom of
Information Act. It should be properly investigated to remove any
concerns that someone has had a quiet word to ensure it happened.'
More...
* Oi, Dave, did you get your new bike on expenses?
* Ex-minister faces fraud probe over £16,000 'mistake' on mortgage
that did not exist
* As minister pledges to pay back £41,000 of dodgy expenses, why
aren't Darling & Co doing the same?
* Brown plays catch-up in the race for public trust after Cameron's
manoeuvrings
* The millionaire Lib Dem and the trouser press: Even more claims
emerge from Clegg's party
* 100 MPs cash in on tax dodge that Speaker Martin failed to end
Andrew Walker, the head of the Commons fees office which oversees
expenses claims, has apologised for the blunder. He insists it occurred
through 'incompetence, not intent'.
Last year it emerged that Commons Speaker Michael Martin had allowed
officials to destroy claim forms and receipts up to April 2005 - meaning
thousands of expenses have been secretly shredded.
But the authorities said the shredding was simply 'routine destruction'
- and not a cover up.
Http://www.dailymai l.co.uk/news/ article-1181415/ MPs-EXPENSES- Blairs-
43-000-expenses- shredded- incompetence. html
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