London MPs have helped push expenses spending in 2013 higher than before the scandal which rocked Westminster four years ago.
Claims made by all MPs in parliament rose by more than seven per cent to £98 million this year according to figures released by the expenses watchdog.
Meanwhile, MPs were left defending themselves against nepotism claims after dozens were shown to be employing family members. The increase in claims was down to larger staffing budgets but MPs’ personal expenses also jumped from £23.5 million in 2011/12 to £23.8 million last year.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, Chingford and Woodford Green MP, claimed £22,731 while Tory minister and Ruislip MP Nick Hurd claimed £21,752.
Labour MP for Barking Margaret Hodge, also Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, claimed £26,480, while Dulwich and West Norwood MP Tessa Jowell received £25,610.
Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Kahn claimed £20,880 while deputy labour leader Harriet Harman was among the lower claimers, receiving £11,094.
Millionaire Tory Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith claimed nothing.
This morning Eve Burt, employed by her Foreign Office minister husband Alistar Burt, hit out at critics of MPs who pay spouses and children from taxpayer funded expenses.
She said: “I’m not sure I have to defend it at all. We are legally entitled to be employed by our partners.
“My husband employed me 30 years ago. I could be doing a job for someone else.”
