Nick Clegg has called on the expenses audit that has angered many MPs to be widened.He wants more scrutiny on MPs who dodged tax by switching their second home allowance, even though so-called “flipping” was not against the rules.

Nick Clegg says there can be “no half measures”

Auditor Sir Thomas Legg has already asked some MPs to repay certain household expenses, after retrospectively setting new limits. This has angered MPs, who have accused Sir Thomas of penalising the innocent.

Nick Clegg has questioned whether Sir Thomas has been consistent in trying to allay public criticism of Parliamentary expenses. He says while Sir Thomas has imposed limits on household expenses like cleaning and gardening, he has not dealt with MPs who accrued much larger sums through property deals.

‘Worst offences’

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Nick said: “I think most people expected the worst offences to come under the toughest scrutiny – MPs who avoided capital gains tax, claimed cash for mortgages that didn’t exist or flipped their second home so they could claim for renovations on house after house.”

He added: “Every single MP who flipped, avoided capital gains tax or claimed for non-existent mortgages must be forced to repay the money and held to account.

“I believe we need to get MPs out of the property game altogether; they shouldn’t profit from taxpayer subsidies.

“If we want to rebuild faith in politics, there can be no half measures. Only fundamental reform will be enough.”

Here is a link to Nick’s article in the Daily Telegraph article:

http://bit.ly/2z6be