The Glaswegian GrinTELEGRAPH.co.uk Tuesday 19 May 2009
Steve McCabe
Steve McCabe, a New Labour whip, over-claimed on his mortgage by £4,059 during the course of two years before a parliamentary official discovered what he had done, his expenses files showed.
For 10 months in 2005-06, Mr McCabe claimed for capital repayments on his mortgage, which is expressly forbidden, instead of the interest repayments on the loan.The wrongful claims, which totalled £1,736, led to a three-month investigation in the parliamentary fees office. Officials went back through four years’ worth of expenses submitted by the MP for Birmingham Hall Green and found that he also over-claimed by £2,323 in 2004-05. No action was taken against Mr McCabe and instead the £4,059 was deducted from subsequent claims.
Mr McCabe, 53, lives with Fiona Gordon, who was Gordon Brown’s political secretary until recently, in a flat in Walworth, south London. He nominated the flat as his second home for the purposes of his expense claims. Mr McCabe also has a house in Birmingham, which he bought for £57,000 in 2000.His claims came to light in March 2006 when he submitted an invoice for 10 months’ mortgage payments that came to more than £5,000. He included a copy of his mortgage statement.An official at the fees office spotted a discrepancy and wrote in a file: “Today we received 10 monthly claims and a copy of mort. int. statement which appears to suggest that S McC is claiming more than the mortgage interest. Will write and ask for a reimbursement.”Officials sent a letter to Mr McCabe, which said: “You are claiming an amount of £515 per month for mortgage interest. However, based on the information on the statement, it would appear that the mortgage interest payable should be approximately £338.19 per month.”The file goes on to note that Mr McCabe “agreed that he has claimed the wrong amount. He has asked me to reduce the claims to reflect the correct amount... we will now need to go back to Oct 03 to work out how much he has overclaimed in the past”.Another note on the file, added in June 2006, said: “04/05 overclaim of £2,323. letter sent.”The fees office was happy to accept Mr McCabe’s explanation that he had claimed the wrong amount in error, and agreed to deduct the money from future claims.Between 2004 and 2008, Mr McCabe claimed £54,699 in expenses for his second home, on which he has a £60,000 mortgage. The claims included £5,500 for a new kitchen. Mr McCabe said: “I did make an error in my claim and, as the letter from the fees office shows, this money was repaid in a deduction from my next claim. I am more than happy for my claims to be examined by the independent auditor.”
Mr McCabe, 53, lives with Fiona Gordon, who was Gordon Brown’s political secretary until recently, in a flat in Walworth, south London. He nominated the flat as his second home for the purposes of his expense claims. Mr McCabe also has a house in Birmingham, which he bought for £57,000 in 2000.His claims came to light in March 2006 when he submitted an invoice for 10 months’ mortgage payments that came to more than £5,000. He included a copy of his mortgage statement.An official at the fees office spotted a discrepancy and wrote in a file: “Today we received 10 monthly claims and a copy of mort. int. statement which appears to suggest that S McC is claiming more than the mortgage interest. Will write and ask for a reimbursement.”Officials sent a letter to Mr McCabe, which said: “You are claiming an amount of £515 per month for mortgage interest. However, based on the information on the statement, it would appear that the mortgage interest payable should be approximately £338.19 per month.”The file goes on to note that Mr McCabe “agreed that he has claimed the wrong amount. He has asked me to reduce the claims to reflect the correct amount... we will now need to go back to Oct 03 to work out how much he has overclaimed in the past”.Another note on the file, added in June 2006, said: “04/05 overclaim of £2,323. letter sent.”The fees office was happy to accept Mr McCabe’s explanation that he had claimed the wrong amount in error, and agreed to deduct the money from future claims.Between 2004 and 2008, Mr McCabe claimed £54,699 in expenses for his second home, on which he has a £60,000 mortgage. The claims included £5,500 for a new kitchen. Mr McCabe said: “I did make an error in my claim and, as the letter from the fees office shows, this money was repaid in a deduction from my next claim. I am more than happy for my claims to be examined by the independent auditor.”
Steve McCabe
Job: Government whipSalary: £89,522
Total second home claims
2004-05: £14,010
2005-06: £11,488
2006-07: £12,092
2007-08: £17,109
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