MPs' expenses: Gordon Brown's £9,000 kitchen subsidy revealed

After months of refusals, the House of Commons has published detailed expenses claims for members including Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Tony Blair.

They were among 14 senior MPs and former MPs whose claims had been requested under Freedom of Information laws. The publication clears the way for all MPs' claims to be released later this year.

The Commons Additional Costs Allowance gives MPs up to £22,000 a year to spend on maintaining a second home.

Until now, their exact spending and the location of those homes had been kept secret.

More than 400 pages of Commons documents released on Friday disclosed that Mr Brown claimed £9,000 to have his kitchen refurbished in 2005.

In common with other senior ministers, Mr Brown claimed public money for a second home even though he is provided with a grace-and-favour home in Downing Street.

When he was Chancellor, Mr Brown also made claims including £372 on subscription fees for satellite television; £723 for “cleaning services”; £650 on food; and £1,396 for painting and decorating.

Mr Brown also claimed £15 for lightbulbs.

Tony Blair, who stepped down as an MP last year, claimed £11,200 for a new kitchen in his constituency home in Sedgefield.

For the same house, he spent £516 on new dishwasher and £50 on servicing an Aga.

Documents disclosed included a reminder notice sent to the then-Prime Minister asking him to pay an overdue water bill.

John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, spent £6,707 having work done on his Hull house, including £312 for fitting “Mock Tudor” boards to the front of the house.

He also claimed £3,200 for food

With the exception of a £65 telephone bill, Mr Cameron, the Tory leader, used his allowance only to pay a £1,741 monthly mortgage payment on his Oxfordshire home.

Other revelations in the documents published on Friday include:

Barbara Follett, the wife of millionaire novelist Ken Follett, claimed more than £1,600 for window cleaning at her London home. Cleaners visited on 18 occasions, at £94-a-time, during 2003-04.

Mark Oaten, the former Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, bought a bunk bed for his London home.

Peter Mandelson, the former MP for Hartlepool, spent £3,000 having a new shower installed.

Margaret Beckett, the former Foreign Secretary, tried to claim £600 for plants for her garden.

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the disclosures showed that the parliamentary expenses regime is too generous.

He said: “It’s clear that this allowance pays for much more than just a base in London - MPs use it to fund a lifestyle far more comfortable than their constituents enjoy. Taxpayers should not be made to pay for Gordon Brown’s Sky TV subscription or Tony Blair’s £10,000 kitchen.

"Given the economic climate and the fact that everyone’s feeling poorer, it’s high time MPs reined in the amounts they spend. It is costly for taxpayers and harmful to the standing of Parliament for them to use expenses to live the high life.”

The disclosure came about only after a lengthy legal battle by campaigners including Ben Leapman, a Telegraph journalist.

Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, spent more than £100,000 of public money on legal fees as he tried to block the publication.

Commons lawyers argued that disclosing the home addresses of MPs could jeopardise their security.

In the event, certain details, like the address of Mr Brown’s private home, were redacted from the documents released.

Heather Brooke, a freedom of information campaigner who made one of the original requests for the information, said it was “unacceptable” that MPs had resisted publication.

She said: “All public figures should learn from this case and realise that proactively publishing this information is the way forward and that by dragging their heels, MPs have only lowered themselves in the eyes of their constituents.”

Theresa May, the Conservative shadow leader of the House of Commons, said: “We must ensure that the systems in place see that money is properly spent.”

The disclosure of MPs’ expenses has piled new pressure on the European Parliament to follow suit.

MEPs are not required to disclose their expenses. Open Europe, a lobby group, has been conducting a survey asking British MEPs about how they spend their staff allowances, and whether they are properly accounted for.

The group revealed that only 19 out of 79 UK MEPs were prepared to provide full answers. 14 MEPs replied, but gave only partial answers, while 46 refused to answer the questions.