MP Binley rented flat from himself

The Daily Telegraph has managed to get another scalp from the MPs' expenses scandal, with only a day to go before House of Commons finally releases the details officially. Today's revelations focus on the millionaire Conservative MP Brian Binley who claimed more than £50,000 in taxpayer-funded expenses to rent a flat from himself.
 
Binley, the MP for Northampton South who was elected to the Commons in May 2005, claimed £1,500 a month to rent a flat from his own company, BCC Marketing Services, for more than three years. BCC bought the flat in Pimlico, near Westminster, in December 2005 for £345,000, the Telegraph says. House of Commons rules forbid MPs from renting properties from themselves or their companies.
 
According to the Telegraph, Binley's rental claims attracted the attention of parliamentary officials in April 2006 and the 67-year-old MP was told the claims were not allowed. But his claims carried on for another three years, after he appealed to Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker. Martin, who stands down this Sunday, did not rule the claims must stop until April this year. Despite this, Binley has not had to repay the £57,000 he claimed while the Speaker deliberated over the issue, the newspaper reported.
 
Binley, who has not commented on the story, held a public meeting in his constituency, when the Daily Telegraph first started disclosing MPs' expenses last month. He handed out copies of his expenses - with addresses edited out - and said at the time: "I have dealt with my expense claims honourably and honestly, and will be handing out a full breakdown of my claims, year by year. Anyone who wants to tar us all with the same brush should be ashamed of themselves.”
 
Although Parliament is due to publish details of each MP's expense claims tomorrow, the information, the Telegraph argues, is likely to be heavily censored, with key details blacked out. This begs the question: what would have stayed out of public view had the newspaper not obtained the unedited details in advance? Claims like Binley’s may have been near impossible to uncover. ·