Major Balls Up
Ed Balls has opened up a real can of worms for Labour with his comments about the need for responsible citizens obtaining VAT receipts for 'cash' jobs - because it turns out that many of his fellow Labour MPs at Westminster have been ignoring this sage advice.
The Telegraph newspaper which broke the story on the great expenses scandal amongst Westminster MPs does a great job here of exposing rank hypocrisy on the Labour benches.
And you can bet your bottom dollar that this story will run and run.
Ed Balls among 12 shadow cabinet members who claimed expenses without receipts
Following shadow chancellor's advice that everyone should get a receipt for cash in hand jobs, Labour MPs put in spotlight over their expense claims
Ed Balls is among 12 shadow cabinet members who claimed for cash-in-hand jobs without submitting receipts Photo: BLOOMBERG
By Gordon Rayner, and Holly Watt - The Telegraph
Ed Balls and 11 other members of the shadow cabinet claimed expenses for cleaning, gardening or odd jobs without submitting receipts, seriously undermining the shadow chancellor’s advice that we should all insist on invoices for cash-in-hand jobs.
Mr Balls claimed £1,610 for cleaners and his wife Yvette Cooper claimed £2,640 for cleaning and gardening, out of a total of £37,881 claimed by the 12 Labour MPs.
Ed Balls claims expenses for cleaners in 2006
Mr Balls, in common with his 11 colleagues, did not submit a single receipt for the work done, despite his insistence on Monday that he had obtained receipts for every single cash payment since he entered politics 21 years ago.
He had earlier said that even someone who “cuts your hedge for a tenner” should provide an invoice to discourage tax avoidance, and claimed that he had the “name and address and a receipt” for every cash transaction because it was “the right thing to do”.
Amid growing signs of a rift at the top of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, appeared to belittle Mr Balls by saying that he wanted to pursue hedge funds for tax avoidance, not hedge cutters.
He said: “I think we’re all clear: the hedge funds and hedge funds dealing with these issues is more important than the hedge cutters and I think that has been a clarity of view right across our Shadow Cabinet.”
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, ridiculed Mr Balls’s suggestion, saying: “Here we have a man that would be the Chancellor who is wandering around saying Big Brother is going to watch you carefully that if you do any tax transactions and don't keep receipts, somehow they're going to punish you. I find that absurd.”
A Conservative Party source said: “Ed Balls needs to clean up his act on his own expenses before lecturing others. If he can't even manage his own finances how can he expect anyone to trust him with the nation’s coffers?”
David Cameron said he had occasionally paid for goods and services in cash without getting a receipt, but insisted that he has never helped someone “evade the taxes that they should pay”.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The onus is on the trader who is responsible for paying the taxes that they owe.”
Ed Balls is among 12 shadow cabinet members who claimed for cash-in-hand jobs without submitting receipts Photo: BLOOMBERG
By Gordon Rayner, and Holly Watt - The Telegraph
Ed Balls and 11 other members of the shadow cabinet claimed expenses for cleaning, gardening or odd jobs without submitting receipts, seriously undermining the shadow chancellor’s advice that we should all insist on invoices for cash-in-hand jobs.
Mr Balls claimed £1,610 for cleaners and his wife Yvette Cooper claimed £2,640 for cleaning and gardening, out of a total of £37,881 claimed by the 12 Labour MPs.
Ed Balls claims expenses for cleaners in 2006
Mr Balls, in common with his 11 colleagues, did not submit a single receipt for the work done, despite his insistence on Monday that he had obtained receipts for every single cash payment since he entered politics 21 years ago.
He had earlier said that even someone who “cuts your hedge for a tenner” should provide an invoice to discourage tax avoidance, and claimed that he had the “name and address and a receipt” for every cash transaction because it was “the right thing to do”.
Amid growing signs of a rift at the top of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, appeared to belittle Mr Balls by saying that he wanted to pursue hedge funds for tax avoidance, not hedge cutters.
He said: “I think we’re all clear: the hedge funds and hedge funds dealing with these issues is more important than the hedge cutters and I think that has been a clarity of view right across our Shadow Cabinet.”
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, ridiculed Mr Balls’s suggestion, saying: “Here we have a man that would be the Chancellor who is wandering around saying Big Brother is going to watch you carefully that if you do any tax transactions and don't keep receipts, somehow they're going to punish you. I find that absurd.”
A Conservative Party source said: “Ed Balls needs to clean up his act on his own expenses before lecturing others. If he can't even manage his own finances how can he expect anyone to trust him with the nation’s coffers?”
David Cameron said he had occasionally paid for goods and services in cash without getting a receipt, but insisted that he has never helped someone “evade the taxes that they should pay”.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The onus is on the trader who is responsible for paying the taxes that they owe.”
Vernon Coaker, the shadow defence secretary, claimed large sums every month in cash for his second home, without submitting any receipts
Vernon Coaker, the shadow defence secretary, claimed £14,950 in unreceipted expenses over a four-year period, comprising £3,425 for cleaning, £6,320 for service and maintenance, and £5,205 for repairs on his second home.
A spokesman for Mr Balls on Monday defended his cleaning claims, saying: “Ed’s cleaner was and continues to be employed on PAYE and paid by bank transfer. These claims were made fully in accordance with the Fees Office rules.”
But there was more embarrassment for Mr Balls as it emerged that he had made basic errors in adding up one of his claims and had filled in his expenses forms incorrectly for months.
In March 2007 he claimed a total of £1,182.14 in expenses for his second home, though the actual total for the items claimed was £100 more.
For eight consecutive months in 2005 and 2006 Mr Balls filled in his expenses forms wrongly, putting each figure one line above where it should have been. It meant that in June 2006 his £70 cleaning bill was not paid because he had entered it under “telephone” and the following month an exasperated official wrote a note on his form saying: “Rang member & asked to fill in form correctly!”
He also submitted that claim twice, and tried to claim £1,298.17 for his mortgage, instead of the £733 he had been claiming until then, resulting in the difference being slashed from his reimbursement.
Mr Balls and Ms Cooper are at least in good company, with almost half the MPs in the shadow cabinet filing unreceipted expenses.
Rosie Winterton, Labour’s chief whip, claimed £8,058 without receipts over the course of four years, comprising £5,280 for cleaning, £2,302 for “repairs”, £300 for service and maintenance and £175 for gardening.
In July 2008 the parliamentary Fees Office - which at the time scrutinised MPs’ expenses - wrote to her to express concerns about her spending.
Ed Balls claimed £1,610 for cleaners.
Mary Creagh claimed £120 a month for cleaning, as well as around £50 a month for repairs. She didn’t submit receipts.
Rosie Winterton claimed £5,280 for cleaning, £300 for "service and maintenance" and £2,302 for repairs on her Elephant and Castle home in south London.
She was told “no claim against allowances of £25 or more per item will be reimbursed unless it is accompanied by a receipt”. She later began submitting receipts, but the Fees Office informed her that they would be withholding £841.26 for costs including repairs and insurance.
In August 2007, the fees office wrote to Maria Eagle, the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, querying her monthly cleaning bill of £100.
The letter said: “I note that you claim regular nominal amounts for utilities, telephone, cleaning, services/maintenance. Although we do not require sight of receipts or invoices for amounts which are £250 or less, we would need to know on what these amounts are based. Ideally we would expect Members to claim for actual amounts and not nominal amounts.”
She phoned to say she had been dividing her bills by 12 for about 10 years and “it was acceptable”. The fees office persisted, asking her to write to them explaining how she worked out her bills so that “we can confirm whether it is OK and whether we would need to see any bills at the beginning of the financial year or at the end.”
Angela Eagle claimed £165 for cleaning from 2005 to 2007, and £208 for repairs and insurance.
Chris Leslie claimed £1,922 for cleaning in 2004-05, before losing his Shipley seat at the 2005 election.
Mary Creagh, shadow secretary of state for international development, claimed £2,512 on cleaning and £370 on “repairs” between 2005 and 2008; Chris Leslie, shadow chief secretary to the treasury, claimed £1,922 for cleaning in 2005-06. Jon Trickett, the shadow minister without portfolio, claimed £2,010 for cleaning between 2005 and 2008, and Jon Cruddas, Labour’s Policy Coordinator, claimed £360 for cleaning over the same period.
Caroline Flint, the shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change, claimed £216 for a gardener, £23.50 for a window cleaner and £40 for a cleaner between 2005 and 2007, while Angela Eagle, shadow leader of the House, claimed £165 for cleaning from 2005 to 2007, and £208 for repairs and insurance. Her sister Maria Eagle claimed £1,900 for cleaning costs between 2004 and 2008.
Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, claimed £1,105 for cleaning between 2004 and 2007.
Ed Miliband, however, did not claim any expenses for cleaners, gardeners or odd jobs, restricting himself to rent, utilities and £654 worth of food.
A spokesperson for Rosie Winterton said: “All expenses were claimed in accordance with the rules administered by the Commons fees office at the time.”
Other MPs made similar points, saying they had not been required to submit receipts and they had done nothing wrong.
Jon Cruddas claimed £360 for cleaning over three years
Caroline Flint claimed £216 for a gardener, £23.50 for a window cleaner and £40 for a cleaner between 2005 and 2007
Douglas Alexander claimed £1,105 for cleaning between 2004 and 2007
Tax accountant Elaine Clark, of Cheapaccounting, said: "For anyone working in the private sector, it just wouldn't be allowed. If you put your expenses claim in to your employer they would expect it to be supported by receipts, and HMRC would expect receipts if you were putting your accounts in for inspection.
"Ed Balls's comments were rather ill-informed and naive."
Meanwhile a survey of 1,000 people across the UK found 71.6% did not not follow the advice of Mr Balls by asking for a receipt after paying for small jobs such as hedge trimming.
The poll by Usurv found 82% of people aged over 60 did not keep a receipt for small cash-in-hand jobs, compared with 64.2% of people aged 18 to 29, and 28.8% of those in their 30s.
Vernon Coaker, the shadow defence secretary, claimed £14,950 in unreceipted expenses over a four-year period, comprising £3,425 for cleaning, £6,320 for service and maintenance, and £5,205 for repairs on his second home.
A spokesman for Mr Balls on Monday defended his cleaning claims, saying: “Ed’s cleaner was and continues to be employed on PAYE and paid by bank transfer. These claims were made fully in accordance with the Fees Office rules.”
But there was more embarrassment for Mr Balls as it emerged that he had made basic errors in adding up one of his claims and had filled in his expenses forms incorrectly for months.
In March 2007 he claimed a total of £1,182.14 in expenses for his second home, though the actual total for the items claimed was £100 more.
For eight consecutive months in 2005 and 2006 Mr Balls filled in his expenses forms wrongly, putting each figure one line above where it should have been. It meant that in June 2006 his £70 cleaning bill was not paid because he had entered it under “telephone” and the following month an exasperated official wrote a note on his form saying: “Rang member & asked to fill in form correctly!”
He also submitted that claim twice, and tried to claim £1,298.17 for his mortgage, instead of the £733 he had been claiming until then, resulting in the difference being slashed from his reimbursement.
Mr Balls and Ms Cooper are at least in good company, with almost half the MPs in the shadow cabinet filing unreceipted expenses.
Rosie Winterton, Labour’s chief whip, claimed £8,058 without receipts over the course of four years, comprising £5,280 for cleaning, £2,302 for “repairs”, £300 for service and maintenance and £175 for gardening.
In July 2008 the parliamentary Fees Office - which at the time scrutinised MPs’ expenses - wrote to her to express concerns about her spending.
Ed Balls claimed £1,610 for cleaners.
Mary Creagh claimed £120 a month for cleaning, as well as around £50 a month for repairs. She didn’t submit receipts.
Rosie Winterton claimed £5,280 for cleaning, £300 for "service and maintenance" and £2,302 for repairs on her Elephant and Castle home in south London.
She was told “no claim against allowances of £25 or more per item will be reimbursed unless it is accompanied by a receipt”. She later began submitting receipts, but the Fees Office informed her that they would be withholding £841.26 for costs including repairs and insurance.
In August 2007, the fees office wrote to Maria Eagle, the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, querying her monthly cleaning bill of £100.
The letter said: “I note that you claim regular nominal amounts for utilities, telephone, cleaning, services/maintenance. Although we do not require sight of receipts or invoices for amounts which are £250 or less, we would need to know on what these amounts are based. Ideally we would expect Members to claim for actual amounts and not nominal amounts.”
She phoned to say she had been dividing her bills by 12 for about 10 years and “it was acceptable”. The fees office persisted, asking her to write to them explaining how she worked out her bills so that “we can confirm whether it is OK and whether we would need to see any bills at the beginning of the financial year or at the end.”
Angela Eagle claimed £165 for cleaning from 2005 to 2007, and £208 for repairs and insurance.
Chris Leslie claimed £1,922 for cleaning in 2004-05, before losing his Shipley seat at the 2005 election.
Mary Creagh, shadow secretary of state for international development, claimed £2,512 on cleaning and £370 on “repairs” between 2005 and 2008; Chris Leslie, shadow chief secretary to the treasury, claimed £1,922 for cleaning in 2005-06. Jon Trickett, the shadow minister without portfolio, claimed £2,010 for cleaning between 2005 and 2008, and Jon Cruddas, Labour’s Policy Coordinator, claimed £360 for cleaning over the same period.
Caroline Flint, the shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change, claimed £216 for a gardener, £23.50 for a window cleaner and £40 for a cleaner between 2005 and 2007, while Angela Eagle, shadow leader of the House, claimed £165 for cleaning from 2005 to 2007, and £208 for repairs and insurance. Her sister Maria Eagle claimed £1,900 for cleaning costs between 2004 and 2008.
Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, claimed £1,105 for cleaning between 2004 and 2007.
Ed Miliband, however, did not claim any expenses for cleaners, gardeners or odd jobs, restricting himself to rent, utilities and £654 worth of food.
A spokesperson for Rosie Winterton said: “All expenses were claimed in accordance with the rules administered by the Commons fees office at the time.”
Other MPs made similar points, saying they had not been required to submit receipts and they had done nothing wrong.
Jon Cruddas claimed £360 for cleaning over three years
Caroline Flint claimed £216 for a gardener, £23.50 for a window cleaner and £40 for a cleaner between 2005 and 2007
Douglas Alexander claimed £1,105 for cleaning between 2004 and 2007
Tax accountant Elaine Clark, of Cheapaccounting, said: "For anyone working in the private sector, it just wouldn't be allowed. If you put your expenses claim in to your employer they would expect it to be supported by receipts, and HMRC would expect receipts if you were putting your accounts in for inspection.
"Ed Balls's comments were rather ill-informed and naive."
Meanwhile a survey of 1,000 people across the UK found 71.6% did not not follow the advice of Mr Balls by asking for a receipt after paying for small jobs such as hedge trimming.
The poll by Usurv found 82% of people aged over 60 did not keep a receipt for small cash-in-hand jobs, compared with 64.2% of people aged 18 to 29, and 28.8% of those in their 30s.
