WESTMINSTER'S sleaze watchdog is to investigate a complaint that shadow chancellor George Osborne overclaimed on his MP's allowances for his constituency home.
John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, yesterday accepted a complaint made against Mr Osborne by a Labour activist in his Tatton constituency in Cheshire.
By contrast, Mr Lyon's office also made clear he would not be acting upon
a similar complaint made against Chancellor Alistair Darling.
Mr Darling, MP for Edinburgh South West, had faced accusations that he had "flipped" the designation of his second home four times in four years to maximise the amount he could claim from public funds.
That was lodged on the same day as the complaint against Mr Osborne, amid signs of a tit-for-tat row and had been denied by the Chancellor.
Mr Osborne was "relaxed" about Mr Lyon's decision – which was ratified by a committee of senior MPs – but it is embarrassing for the Tory high command, as it threatens to undermine the shadow chancellor in the run-up to the General Election.
Mr Osborne is among 90 Conservative MPs to have repaid money to public funds, returning £1,195 that included £440 for a chauffeured late-night journey.
He is accused of claiming for monthly interest repayments on a £450,000 mortgage, despite having bought the property for cash – by extending the mortgage on his London home – for £445,000. He had bought the Cheshire farmhouse ten months before being elected an MP.
Mr Lyon confirmed in a letter to Laurie Burton, chairman of the Tatton Labour Party, that he had decided to investigate this aspect of his complaint.
However, he said no action would be taken on allegations that Mr Osborne had "flipped" between properties and avoided paying capital gains tax. The latter was an issue for HM Revenue and Customs, Mr Lyon said.
Mr Burton yesterday denied his complaint was politically motivated, insisting he was acting as an ordinary voter feeling "outrage and disgust" over widespread abuses of the system.
"When they (expenses details] were published I was extremely concerned at the way he flipped his mortgages on his first and second homes in order to claim the maximum amount possible on mortgages and also to avoid paying capital gains tax," he said.
A spokesman for Mr Osborne said the total cost, including repairs, of moving into the farmhouse had been in excess of £480,000. He said Mr Osborne currently claimed "close to zero" on the property because interest rates were so low.
He said: "George has never switched designation for personal advantage. There has been absolutely no impropriety.
"His actions have been entirely reasonable, as all the costs are associated with his need to have a second home."
• Some 264 MPs have repaid a total of almost £650,000 in expenses in the past three months, it was revealed yesterday.
