EXCLUSIVE by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD
The four Conservative MPs who represent constituencies across the south of Scotland and north Northumberland between them claimed more than £237,000 in costs and allowances last year, each of them surpassing the average figure paid to all 650 members of the House of Commons by a wide margin, according to an unofficial expenses website.
And while remoteness from London might be cited as a reason for the four's sizeable expenses bills on top of their £77,379 salaries there are various examples of MPs representing areas much further north who claimed considerably less.
The official expenses statistics for 2017/18 published at the weekend by IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) are different from those posted on the website www.mpsexpenses.info. It estimates a total sum of £26.267 million having been paid out by the Parliamentary authorities covering a total of 144,844 items claimed for. That produces an average claim per MP of £40,410 in respect of items including travel, accommodation and office costs.
Both sets of statistics show the four sitting MPs in Scottish Borders, Dumfries & Galloway and the northern half of Northumberland received considerably more than the quoted average. Here are the local statistics, first the IPSA sums with the 'unofficial' figures in brackets:
Alister Jack, Dumfries & Galloway £67,350 (£68,337); David Mundell, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale £57,330 (£58,338); John Lamont, Roxburgh, Berwickshire & Selkirk £57,727 (£58,148) and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Berwick-on-Tweed £54,972 (£56,989). Mr Jack and Mr Lamont were newly elected in June 2017 which means their claims were made over a 10 month period rather than a full financial year. It means each of them submitted claims worth in excess of £1,000 per week.
The difference between the quartet's allowances and the standard figure for all Tory MPs is also substantial, according to the mpsexpenses.info calculations. The party's average expenses claim for each member amounted to £32,219, it says..
Not Just Sheep & Rugby examined the IPSA statistics for a number of Conservatives representing seats far further away from Westminster than the Border country. We found that Ross Thomson (Aberdeen South) claimed £48,717 while Douglas Ross (Moray) chalked up £50,459, Bill Grant (Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock) £33,144, David Duguid (Banff & Buchan £49,416, and Paul Masterton (East Renfrewshire) £46,809.
In constituencies close to the four seats highlighted there were a number of examples of MPs claiming considerably less than their counterparts in southern Scotland and north Northumberland.
Ian Lavery, the Labour member for Wansbeck around the town of Morpeth collected £46,817 over the full 12 months. His Labour colleague Danielle Rowley (Midlothian), also elected last June, was paid £48,550.
Meanwhile John Stevenson, the Conservative MP for Carlisle, received £46,227 while fellow Tory Rory Stewart (Penrith & the Border) claimed £35,432.
A number of Conservatives had extremely low claims. They included Jacob Rees-Mogg (North east Somerset) £1,043; Michael Fallon (Sevenoaks) £1,828, and Simon Burns (Chelmsford) £2,545.
Before becoming a MP at the 2017 General Election Mr Lamont served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) where he regularly featured in local news stories concerning allowances claims by MSPs serving South of Scotland voters. The sums paid on an annual basis to Mr Lamont tended to be considerably higher than those received by his 'neighbours'.
In 2016/17 - Mr Lamont's final full year as a MSP - he claimed £34,209 for 436 items. The 2017/18 sum of £57,727 relating to his work at Westminster was for over 460 items.
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