The used to be referred as the Right Honourable? Any suggestions for a new title
1. Glitter toilet seat
Who: John Reid, former Home Secretary
Reid's Glasgow flat must be quite something - he claimed for a DFS sofa, which comes with instructions to 'plump cushions daily', a £199 'pouffe' and a toilet seat that would make Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen blush.
2. Three Kit Kat Chunkies
Who: Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
According to The Sun newspaper Blears bought the late night snacks while staying at the City Inn hotel. A ‘friend’ of Blears said she had been “feeling lonely” and had “wanted something to cheer her up.”
3. Moles removed from country estate
Who: John Gummer, former Tory Cabinet minister
The former Environment Minister claimed £9,000 a year in gardening expenses over a four-year period including £100 to rid his lawn of moles and bills to remove jackdaw nests, combat insect infestations and an annual 'rodent service' contract.
4. Light bulb installation
Who: David Willetts, Shadow Innovations, Universities and Skills Secretary
We can't decide whether it's more embarrassing to pay someone to install 25 lightbulbs in your home, or to admit to such a thing by submitting receipts for the workman's bill?
5. Horse manure
Who: David Heathcoat-Amory, Tory MP
The former Foreign Office Minister claimed for 550 bags of manure, as well as £5 to repair a wheelbarrow puncture and £6 for use of a chainsaw. Frightening.
6. Moat cleaning
Who: Douglas Hogg, Tory MP
Mr Hogg has agreed to repay the £2,200 it cost taxpayers to clear the moat on his country estate, Kettlethorpe Hall. His neighbour, Frank Barton, 69, remains unimpressed though, telling the Daily Mirror: "I've met [Mr Hogg] and he's very arrogant. It's like he's Lord of the Manor. I've been trying to get him to sort out the vandals on my street but it seems he was too busy filling out his expenses."
7. Jellied Eels
Who: Andrew Rosindell, Tory MP
It is good to see that the MP for Romford, Essex, is supporting local business by sampling his constituency's traditional snack but, surely, he could have found the £1.31 from his own pocket?
8. Fluffy dusters
Who: Steve Webb, Lib Dem Work and Pensions Spokesman
No flies on Mr Webb who managed to get us to pick up the bill for stamp duty on his Westminster pad, and none trapped in cobwebs either, it seems. Wonder if he donned a pinny and did the dusting himself?
9. Sit-and-ride lawnmower
Who: Geoff Hoon, Transport Secretary
Mr Hoon lived rent free for three and a half years in Admiralty House, London, when he was Defence Secretary meanwhile earning money from a London property he called his main home and claiming for the upkeep of his consituency home in Derby. What's more he gets a ride-on lawnmower while the rest of us have to make do with a Flymo.
10. Ice cube tray
Who: John "disco bathroom" Reid, (again) former Home Secretary
