CONSERVATIVE leader David Cameron vowed today that he would take action against Tory MPs who "abused" their Commons expenses.
Mr Cameron said the conduct of some Tory MPs was "out of order" following
the latest disclosures that taxpayer-funded allowances were used to pay for the upkeep of country estates and maintenance of private swimming pools.
"I am angry about what has happened. It is out of order and some of it is abuse of taxpayers' money and I am going to deal with it," he said.
The Conservative leader arrived early at the party's Westminster headquarters to take personal charge of the situation.
It is understood that the options he is considering include demanding the MPs involved repay the claims which are excessive.
Any who refuse could face the ultimate sanction of having the Conservative whip withdrawn – effectively expelling them from the parliamentary party.
The latest embarrassing revelations about MPs' allowances – which also include an expenses claim for horse manure – come amid evidence that the controversy has hit confidence in both main parties.
According to the Daily Telegraph's disclosures from the leaked expenses receipts, senior Tory backbenchers Michael Ancram, James Arbuthnot and Stewart Jackson claimed for maintenance of swimming pools.
Former shadow defence secretary Mr Ancram, who is the Marquess of Lothian, claimed £98.58 for the repair of a swimming pool boiler, the paper said. He also asked for reimbursement of £1,117.43 for a gardening bill which included "cleaning up moss etc" at a house in Wiltshire.
Mr Arbuthnot, who is chairman of the Defence Select Committee, claimed £1,471 for garden and swimming pool costs, as well as £2,433 "for the expense of our housekeeper".
Tory communities spokesman Mr Jackson also claimed £304.10 for refurbishing his swimming pool. All three MPs have said they will repay the swimming pool costs.
David Heathcoat-Amory, a backbench MP, claimed more than £380 for horse manure, with other items including £2 of mouse poison and £1.95 for sunflower seeds, according to the disclosures.
Among the other claims were from Douglas Hogg, a former Agriculture Secretary, who claimed more than £2,000 for clearing the moat on his Lincolnshire estate.
Sir Michael Spicer, chairman of the powerful Tory backbench 1922 Committee, also spent £5,650 of taxpayers' money having his garden maintained.
And Sir Alan Haselhurst, Deputy Speaker of the Commons, is reported to have claimed £142,000 on his country house, and £12,000 for gardening bills over five years.
Former Home Secretary David Davis also claimed for more than £10,000 of home renovations and furnishings, including a new £5,700 portico.
They are the latest Tory MPs to have their claims exposed after the Conservative front bench had its allowances laid bare in yesterday's paper.
Mr Hogg insisted that all his claims were "within both the spirit and the letter" of Commons rules but denied the taxpayer had paid for the cleaning of his moat.
That item was featured on a schedule of all the expenses incurred on the house supplied to the Commons authorities "in the interests of transparency", he said.
"I then accompanied it with a letter which set out what I thought was proper and claimable. The schedule was not a claims schedule."
He told BBC News: "It is true that the system is terribly flawed.
"But as to claims that I made, they were agreed in advance and in writing and (were) all within both the spirit and the letter of the rules.
"Members of Parliament who are living in two places are entitled to, and need to, claim the cost of running two places."
A Populus poll for The Times, conducted over the weekend as the expenses revelations were being made, showed tonight that support for Labour slumped by four points in the past month to 26%.
The Conservatives were also down four points on 39%.
The House of Commons Commission decided last night to bring forward the official publication of MPs' expenses receipts to put the Telegraph's disclosures in "perspective".
But it is unlikely to take place any more than a few weeks earlier than the previous target date of mid-July.
Meanwhile, there was growing pressure on Commons Speaker Michael Martin after his outburst yesterday against Labour MP Kate Hoey when she questioned the decision to call in the police to investigate the leak to the Daily Telegraph.
Tory MP Douglas Carswell disclosed that he was actively canvassing colleagues from all parties to support an attempt to oust Mr Martin.
"It is because of this man that we have got into this situation," he said.
"Anyone who is capable of doing the job would have seen all of this coming and realised that in a modern democracy we need transparency. He failed to do that."
Mr Carswell said he was seeking six fellow MPs to support a Commons motion before tabling it next week.
Labour peer Lord Foulkes came to Mr Martin's defence, dismissing Mr Carswell's motion as an irrelevance.
"Douglas Carswell has put down an early-day motion. There are more than 1,000 of those out, most of them congratulating their local football team on promotion. Can you remember one being debated, let alone being voted upon?" he told the BBC Radio 4 today programme.
"I think you and others are stirring things up deliberately by interviewing people like Douglas Carswell, a very new member."
He said Mr Martin had "quite rightly" reprimanded Ms Hoey following her intervention the Commons.
"Kate Hoey goes on television and radio all the time judging her colleagues, treating them as guilty before they have been proved (guilty) and I think that is really quite improper and the Speaker was right to do that," he said.
Mr Cameron brought forward a meeting of the Shadow Cabinet, scheduled for this afternoon, to this morning to discuss the expenses controversy.
The Tory leader will this afternoon address a hastily-arranged meeting of the parliamentary party in the House of Commons.
The meeting comes amid speculation that the row could lead to Tory MPs being required to repay some of their expenses or even resigning from frontbench positions.
A party source declined to discuss what action Mr Cameron might take, saying only that "nothing can be ruled out at this stage".
