MP: I won't pay it back

Bexhill and Battle's MP described recent reports of his involvement in the expenses scandal as "grossly misleading".

Mr Barker was the first senior Tory to be implicated in the furore when the Telegraph highlighted him as an example of the way MPs are helped up the property ladder by the controversial second homes allowance.

In a report published on Saturday the Telegraph alleged Mr Barker made a profit of 320,000 on a flat in Pimlico he bought with the help of taxpayer's money.

Mr Barker said: "With regards to the suggestion that I profited from the taxpayer funding my London home, the report in the Telegraph was extremely misleading.

"Although my former house was sold for more than I bought it for, that was primarily because of the substantial amount of our own money that my ex-wife and I spent on the property.

"Only a fraction of that came from my second home allowance, spent partly on mortgage interest and partly on maintenance, all of which was clearly approved by the fees office."

In April 2004 Mr Barker's designated second home was a flat in Cheyne Row, Chelsea, which he owned.

In August 2004 he submitted a claim for 2,148 on curtains and light decorating at this address.

He bought a new property in Pimlico in November 2004, switching his second home allowance to this flat and claiming 15,875 for stamp duty and other purchase costs.

Claims for stamp duty are allowed under the additional costs allowance (ACA) '“ the 24,000 a year sum allowing MPs to cover the cost of having a second home '“ but details of the perk have contributed towards public indignation.

In April 2006 a 12,452 claim for work done on the Pimlico property was refused by the fees office for being late.

Eight months later, in December 2006, he briefly switched his second home allowance back to the smaller property in Cheyne Row following the break-up of his marriage.

During this hiatus he claimed 3,492 on mortage interest payments from Cheyne Row, before returning his second homes allowance to Pimlico.

Here, at his most used second home, a total of 27,928 was claimed in mortgage interest payments between buying the flat in November 2004 and selling in February 2007 for 800,000.

Mr Barker will keep these payments, as he is entitled to do under current rules, but said he has now taken a personal decision not to claim any further mortage interest from the taxpayer.

Mr Barker has denied making a profit from this sale, telling the BBC he had invested "a very substantial six-figure sum" of his own money into the house, which he had not claimed back.

He said: "It would be completely inaccurate and untrue for the Telegraph to allege that the difference in purchase and sale price represented a profit."

He did not comment on whether capital gains tax was paid on the sale. MPs such as Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, have faced strong criticism for classing their second homes as main residences in order to avoid paying the tax, which is owed on the profit made when selling an asset.

Mr Barker said: "I am currently checking whether all taxes were paid in accordance with the new revised guidance that has just been issued."

Mr Barker, who is Shadow Climate Change minister, has not been affected by Tory party leader David Cameron's demands that members of his shadow Cabinet repay controversial expense claims.

He welcomed the independent scrutiny committee established by David Cameron, saying: "If the independent review judges anything to be inappropriate I will of course reimburse, but that's not my expectation."

Asked to explain the repeated switching of his designated second home, he said: "When first elected I bought the small flat in Cheyne Row, Chelsea, which proved to be inconvenient and problematic.

"As a result it proved difficult to sell until the issues with the lease and block were resolved.

"Wanting a larger property closer to the Commons I moved to Pimlico in 2004, where my ex-wife and I spent a substantial amount of our money renovating and improving the property from our funds.

"Unfortunately following a change in my personal circumstances it was necessary to move again, and I sold that property.

"I moved back to Cheyne Row, Chelsea, which still hadn't sold, and didn't until we were finally able to resolve these issues with the lease."

Conservative MPs were this week banned by their leader from the practice of "flipping" their second homes, which allows MPs to claim expenses, including mortgage interest payments, on multiple properties.

Mr Barker said: "The sale of property is entirely to do with change in

personal circumstances, not the process of flipping between London and a constituency.

"The fact is, if you accept that MPs have an allowance towards maintaining a second home, then part of that goes towards rent and mortgage interest.

"Whoever you are you'll need to move one day."

A complete list of Mr Barker's expenses will shortly be available online, following Mr Cameron's move to publish full details of his shadow cabinet's claims.

Mr Barker said: "When my claims are published everyone will be able to see there haven't been any excessive and outrageous claims - no barbecues or manure, no gardening or lavish furnishings."

He said he was "sickened" by some of the recent revelations and added: "For me personally, it's not about the rules and recommendation of an independent report; I want to make sure that going forward, whatever I claim has the broad support of my constituents and those people whose judgment and good standing I value.

"I will be listening very carefully to the views of my constituents on how we go forward from here and rebuild trust in the system.

"I'm proud to be the MP for Bexhill and Battle, but in current times it is quite shameful to some extent."

Brian Kentfield, chairman of Bexhill and Battle Conservative Association, said: "Having spoken to Greg about the misleading reports in the Daily Telegraph that arose from his need to move following changes in his personal circumstances, I am fully satisfied that unlike others, Greg has not behaved in an improper manner.

"He is a hard working an attentive MP who has my full support.

"He certainly does not deserve to be bracketed with those MPs who have abused the allowance system, but clearly the whole expenses regime needs root and branch reform before a rightfully angry public can have confidence in it again."

In a letter to this paper, Liberal Democrat Candidate Mary Varrall PPC said: "There is no justification for MPs to make large sums of money on property deals at our expense."

With county council elections approaching next month, she described the effect of the expenses scandal on her own campaign: "We're fighting it on the doorstep. There's certainly a higher proportion than usual criticising us.

"I'd like to see Greg actively working for change on this one, which he hasn't to date."

James Royston, the Labour candidate for Bexhill and Battle, said: "It seems that Greg Barker has been more interested in enhancing his property portfolio than serving the people of Bexhill and Battle.

"At a time when people across the country are struggling to make ends meet, it seems particularly ironic that Greg Barker, a multimillionaire and one of the richest MPs in the country, feels the need to use taxpayers' money for personal gain.

"Greg Barker needs to come clean to the people of Bexhill and Battle over exactly what taxpayer's money he used to buy property, and what financial gains he has made as a result.

"If it was the case that he profited personally from money intended to reimburse him for a personal expense, he should waste no time in returning it all."