Julie Kirkbride quits over expense claims

12 April 2012

The Commons expenses scandal claimed the scalps of two women MPs today.

Tory Julie Kirkbride finally caved in to public anger over her use of taxpayers' money and announced she would step aside at the next election.

In yet another dramatic day at Westminster, Labour's Margaret Moran, who had claimed £22,500 for treating dry rot, also announced she would quit.

The decision by Bromsgrove MP Ms Kirkbride comes only five days after her husband, Andrew MacKay, was forced to step down. The couple came under fire when it emerged that more than £170,000 of Commons allowances had been used to simultaneously fund both their homes.

Ms Kirkbride made a last-ditch attempt to defend herself this morning and had planned to meet voters in her constituency to explain why she used expenses to pay her sister for secretarial work and her brother for childcare.

But as the depth of public feeling against her became clear, she cancelled the visit and decided to quit after a phone conversation with Tory leader David Cameron. Ms Kirkbride is the fifth Tory MP to be forced out by the scandal following Anthony Steen, Sir Peter Viggers, and Douglas Hogg, as well as her husband.

Within minutes of Ms Kirkbride's announcement, Ms Moran followed suit. The Labour MP for Luton South was heavily criticised for claiming for treating dry rot in her designated second home in Southampton — 100 miles from her constituency.

Although she repaid the money, a Labour disciplinary panel had been due to decide her fate and TV personality Esther Rantzen had indicated she would challenge her.

In a fresh blow to the Commons fees office, which has been accused of colluding with MPs, Ms Moran revealed that officials had now admitted that she had been given incorrect advice on her claims for her second home.

But in recent days it was Ms Kirkbride who became the focus for public anger over the MPs' expenses saga. The 48-year-old backbencher was tipped over the edge by revelations that she had used £50,000 of public money to extend her home and build a new bedroom for her brother Ian. She defended the spending by claiming that her brother often looked after her eight-year-old son while she was in Parliament.

In a radio interview this morning, she blamed her problems on the difficulty of juggling the pressures of being a working mother. "Until this week's furore, it didn't cross my mind that I had done anything wrong," she told Radio 5 Live.

However, MPs cannot claim for au pairs or nannies under Commons rules and Ms Kirkbride faced a backlash from working mothers who get no state help for childcare.

In a letter to Mr Cameron today, Ms Kirkbride said that the support from some of her supporters in Bromsgrove had been "very humbling" but she did not want her case to undermine the Tory party ahead of next week's European and local elections. She added that her decision was also made to "take into account the effects on my family".

Mr Cameron replied: "Thank you for being so frank and candid about your decision to stand down at the coming election. I know this was a very hard decision for you but I completely understand why you have decided to do so.

"You have been under enormous pressure in the last two weeks. Sometimes the focus of the public spotlight can be unbearably intense, as you described graphically to me on the phone this morning. I understand that the pressure has now become more than you can bear."

The Standard revealed this week Ms Kirkbride employs her sister Karen as a £12,000-a-year secretary working from home in Dorset, more than 100 miles from both the MP's constituency and Westminster.

Ms Kirkbride's fate was a crucial test of Mr Cameron's leadership and today he faced criticism that he had failed to order the MP to go. The Tory leader had publicly supported her, while insisting that she would at some stage have to explain herself to her voters.

Cabinet minister Ed Balls today said family commitments could never be an excuse for breaking the rules and declared Mr Cameron had not been as tough as Gordon Brown in dealing with his MPs. He said not a single Tory had been suspended from the party despite the stories about duck ponds, moats and tree inspections.

Mr Balls also said that Mr Cameron's words had not been matched by his actions. "On the Labour side, two people have had the whip withdrawn and four people are going before the NEC process. On the Conservative side, I don't think the whip has been withdrawn from anybody," he said.

People living Julie Kirkbride's Bromsgrove constituency expressed delight today that their MP would be stepping down.

Many said they were "disgusted" at Ms Kirkbride's behaviour and said she had done the right thing in standing down.

Mark Spittle, 44, said: "I am very pleased that she has quit. This has been a total scandal. The general public is disgusted with her and with all of them."

Sheila Warner, 54, who has lived in Bromsgrove for 23 years, said: "I think it's the right thing for her to do. What she was doing was morally unjustifiable. It may have been within the rules but it was not morally justified.

"She has not faced her constituents at all so I think she has done the right thing in stepping down. I am very angry indeed at all of the MPs."

And in Luton, residents gave an equally resounding positive reaction to their MP's departure.

Amy Clarke, 19, said: "Of course she should go. They are spending taxpayers' money on stuff they shouldn't be.

"It should be going on the NHS or childcare, or something worthwhile. Her standing down is a small price to pay for what she has done. If you are in a position of authority you should do the right thing."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in