Julie gets backing of local party (From Bromsgrove Advertiser)

Julie gets backing of local party

5:04pm Wednesday 20th May 2009

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By Sam Greenway »

BROMSGROVE Tories are backing town MP Julie Kirkbride “one-hundred per cent” over her expense revelations which have made national headlines.

Speaking to the Advertiser/Messenger, the chairman of Bromsgrove Conservative Association, Alan Dent, said it was “completely out of the question” that they would not have her as a candidate at the next General Election.

“She is a very good MP and we are going to do all we can to get her elected again. It is important to say she has done nothing wrong, her claims were within the rules.”

The chairman of Bromsgrove Conservative Association, Alan Dent

He said: “She is a very good MP and we are going to do all we can to get her elected again. It is important to say she has done nothing wrong, her claims were within the rules.”

On Thursday (May 14) Ms Kirkbride’s husband, Andrew Mackay, quit his post as Parliamentary aide to Conservative leader David Cameron over what the party said were “unacceptable” expenses claims.

It is alleged Mr Mackay used his second home allowance to pay almost £12,000 a year in mortgage interest payments on the couple’s joint flat near Westminster, while Miss Kirkbride used her allowance to pay off a similar amount on a loan for their family home, in Beoley. The arrangements suggest neither had a first home.

It is understood public funds were used to pay both properties as second homes for at least eight years, after the Commons authorities agreed to the arrangement.

It has been reported by some media outlets that combined the couple claimed over a quarter-of-a-million in expenses.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Miss Kirkbride claimed £2,169 for cleaning, £2,466 for service charges, £1,545 on food, £501 on curtains, £639 on a bed and £828 for carpets at their converted Georgian flat between 2007 and 2008. The expenses claimed are in addition to a basic salary of around £60,000.

Last year, the Bromsgrove MP is said to have taken out another £50,000 mortgage on the property and her mortgage interest claims on the home loan increased from £900 to £1,171.

According to the Telegraph, the Bromsgrove MP wrote to the Commons fees office to explain the higher charges. They say the letter “suggests her designated second home is in fact her primary residence.”

Julie Kirkbride defended her expenses as “both permissible and reasonable.”

She said: “I understand the public’s anger at an allowance system that is difficult to justify, especially after the furore of constant revelations.

“I believe that I was operating perfectly properly within the system which was designed to enable me to afford a family home in Bromsgrove where I serve my constituents.”

The MP said she will be making her expense details available for scrutiny by constituents “as soon as possible.”

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