SCARBOROUGH’S Conservative MP Robert Goodwill has backed his party leader’s tough stance over MPs’ expenses claims. He said: “Some of the revelations have dragged parliament through the mud. Some people have claimed things that beggar belief. For myself as a London base I have a modest flat in Pimlico, on which I claim the mortgage interest, and when I bought a TV I got a secondhand one, not a new plasma.
“On travel I am very careful to purchase competitively priced rail tickets to London. My travel allowance for last year was £9,372 – compare that to my Labour predecessor who spent £20,565 in 2004-05.
Any of my constituents who want to inspect my flat in London is welcome to do so by appointment. There’s no moat around it and no swimming pool.”
