My honesty has got me into trouble

Phil Woolas, one of the Government ministers at the centre of a storm over MPs’ expenses, today offered a robust defence of his actions.

Speaking exclusively to the Oldham Chronicle, Mr Woolas, the Immigration Minister and MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, was responding to a stories that he claimed for women’s clothing and panty liners.

“My honesty has got me into trouble,” he said candidly. “The fees office told me that I did not need to submit these bills at all.

“They were just personal items on an overall bill for food and living costs and shown on receipts from supermarkets which included food, a legitimate expense. I claimed for the food — and not the other items.

“I can quite understand that it looks bad but the truth is that in my efforts to tell the whole truth I have shot myself in the foot.

“The amounts I claimed and received were much less than the total on the supermarket receipts. I claimed less than the entitlement and the fees office cleared all payments.

“It is like staying at a hotel overnight, then reclaiming your accommodation, and paying for the actual cost of the wine you have had with your meal yourself.

“That cost would still show on your final bill — even though you had actually paid for the wine by cash or credit card yourself.”

Mr Woolas, who has been an MP for 12 years, said he was being totally transparent about his expense claims.

“I have actually been told by the fees office to stop submitting receipts because I was working within their guidelines and allowances.

“They told me to stop sending them. I have not broken any rules.”

The Daily Telegraph said Mr Woolas had ‘unnecessarily’ put through receipts that show he claimed on his Parliamentary expenses for nappies, comics and women’s clothing.

The newspaper said he also claimed for a £3.49 bottle of red wine from Tesco in breach of the rules and even put through a receipt that suggests he received a 10 per cent staff discount at the supermarket.

That bill for £110.20 at the Horsham branch of Tesco, shows he spent £1.48 on panty liners, £1.19 on tampons, £2.99 on nappies and £15 on a lady’s blouse.

But Mr Woolas responded: “We came back from holiday and my sister-in-law, who works at Tesco, bought our groceries.

“I could have claimed £400 food allowance but I didn’t. I did not claim for that — it just shows on the receipt to the fees office.

“And in each and every case I have always discussed any item with the fees office — even though no receipts were required.”

The minister also claimed the maximum £400 a month for food on his second home expenses in most years.

“That is true,” he said. “The fees book says you can claim this amount without receipts and I had been told to stop submitting such detailed receipts.”

On one receipt he deleted claims for hair dye and baby wipes but did not remove £5.51 spent on Huggies nappies, and £3.49 and £3.99 on bottles of red wine even though alcohol is not allowed under the rules.

Mr Woolas explained: “Again, here the receipt is not the claim. The crossings off were shopping list markings – not expenses claims.”

Another shopping trip, claimed for in full, included claims for £5.96 on disposable bibs, £23 on women’s shoes, a £1.99 child’s comic, £1.60 and £1.55 comics, £2.88 on baby wipes and a £15 ladies’ jumper.

“This is genuine. They were simply items on a receipt which included food.”

He then stopped submitting receipts for groceries but instead claimed the maximum available allowance, £4,800, on food from 2005 to 2008.

“I stopped submitting receipts on the advice of the Commons. MPs were never required to provide receipts for this subsidy. In fact, I spend a lot more than that.

“Receipts for food were not and are not required. However, as a matter of transparency I have always submitted receipts even when not required.”

In May 2004, he attached receipts for £727.40 for the month but claimed only £332.48 under the food allowance system. In June 2004, he claimed and received £400 for food, against receipts of £841.44.

“I have already been transparent. And, as I have told the Chronicle before, I will be publishing all my expenses and allowances on my website as soon as I have removed personal account numbers.”

Finally, he said: “I love my job – even my enemies say I am a workaholic. I put in 80 hours last week and certainly do not do it for the money.”