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Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
Labour MPs claimed more than £400,000 of taxpayers’ money to heat their own homes over the last five years, as the party voted to cut Winter Fuel Payments for millions of pensioners this month.
Official figures reveal how much members who claim expenses for their London accommodation have been awarded over time, with some taking thousands.
Rachel Reeves, who announced the controversial cut to Winter Fuel Payments in July, has claimed £4,400 since she was elected an MP in 2010. In the last five years alone, the figure was £3,700, analysis from The Telegraph shows.
As MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, Ms Reeves is expected to hold a residence in both her constituency and London, so that she is able to attend to parliamentary business. All expenses for this second accommodation are paid for with taxpayer money, as is the case with all members who do the same.
Taken from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the figures reveal that 162 Labour MPs have claimed £425,000 in expenses for energy bills in accommodation.
This is reportedly £83,000 more than the average amount a similar number of households would have spent over the same time period.
The chancellor has defended her expenses, telling GB News: “Being a constituency MP means that you have to have a house in London as well as, of course, living in the constituency, and that’s the same for all MPs. Those are long-standing rules.”
MPs earn far higher than the median wage in the UK, taking home £91,346 compared to £34,963. This is on top of any expenses claimed.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told The Telegraph: “Taxpayers are tired of taking lectures from politicians unable to practice what they preach.
“Failed policies have driven up energy prices to levels that families are struggling to meet, yet MPs are insulated from the soaring costs. Our representatives should remember their voters when deciding policies.”
The new Labour government has been criticised in recent weeks for its decision to means-test winter fuel payments, meaning only the poorest pensioners will still receive it.
Campaigners have said the measure will plunge around two million vulnerable pensioners into dangerous fuel poverty this winter, while analysis published by Labour in 2017 shows the cut could kill 4,000 people.
Ministers have remained steadfast against the criticism, with Ms Reeves defending the need to make “tough decisions” to plug the £22bn “black hole” in public spending that she says was concealed by the previous Conservative government.
Sir Keir Starmer faced his first major rebellion over the measure in the recent Commons vote as 53 Labour MPs abstained. However, only Jon Trickett, MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, voted against the government on the measure. It is unclear which of the abstentions were permitted by Labour to miss the vote.
The Treasury has been approached for comment.
