Britain’s Darling claimed for help with tax return

LONDON – Several British Cabinet members claimed public money for accountants to fill in tax returns, a newspaper revealed yesterday, as the opposition leader said the expenses row has rocked politics ‘to the core’.

Chancellor Alistair Darling, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Foreign Secretary David Miliband were among nine top members of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government who claimed over 11 000 pounds between them, the Daily Telegraph said.
Brown is facing growing calls for an early general election from figures including David Cameron, leader of the Conservatives, tipped by most opinion polls to be prime minister within about a year.
Cameron said it had ‘been a terrible few weeks’ for politics in a Daily Telegraph article published yesterday and urged more ordinary people to stand for parliament to help reform the system.
‘The stories revealed by the Telegraph of MPs abusing their expenses have shaken parliament, and our whole political process, to the core,’ he wrote.
‘When it comes to the people who actually become members of parliament, this is also an opportunity to widen the net, increase the talent pool and attract people who have never previously thought of serving.’
Over the last two and a half weeks, the Telegraph has published leaked details of how MPs claimed public money for everything from moat cleaning to an ornamental duck house as part of their second home allowance.
Seven MPs including the House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin have said they will step down amid the row, ahead of the next election which must be held by the middle of next year.
Most Britons filling in tax returns are not allowed to claim back the cost of using an accountant but the latest claims are thought to be within parliamentary rules and Darling was among those to defend himself.
‘Like many MPs, I employed an accountant to prepare tax returns for each of the years in question to ensure that the correct amount of tax was paid in respect of my office costs,’ said a statement from the chancellor of the exchequer.
Brown is reportedly considering a sweeping cabinet reshuffle because of the controversy, which has caused fury among voters.
A Guardian newspaper/ICM opinion poll on Saturday showed two-thirds of Britons calling for an election this year rather than next.
Two Cabinet ministers spoke out to acknowledge public anger and highlight the case for reform yesterday.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson, tipped by some commentators as a possible successor to Brown as Labour leader should the prime minister lose the general election, called for ‘profound constitutional change’ and reform of the voting system in a Times article.
‘We need to overhaul the engine, not just clean the upholstery… (to) produce the radical change that the moment demands,’ Johnson wrote.
And Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband, one of Brown’s closest allies, said parliament must look less like a ’19th century institution’ in comments reported by the Guardian newspaper.
He also described the weekly showpiece Prime Minister’s Questions session, when Brown faces often combative questions from Cameron and other lawmakers, as ‘an incredibly off-putting version of what politics is about’. – Nampa-AFP