Moaning MP Mark Simmonds used expenses system to help buy £1million mansion for his family The Tory MP who quit as a Foreign Office minister saying his salary and expenses werent enough to live on made a £537,000 profit from the sale of his taxpayer-funded home Moaning Mark Simmonds used a massive windfall from the sale of his taxpayer-funded home to buy a £1million mansion for his family. Top Tory Mr Simmonds resigned as a Foreign Office minister this week and is also quitting as an MP, claiming the clampdown on MPs’ expenses has made his life “intolerable”. But it has now emerged he used the expenses system to help buy himself a luxury seven bedroom mansion with 15 acres of land, tennis courts and a heated swimming pool. Mr Simmonds, the MP for Boston and Skegness, claimed thousands of pounds each month from 2001 to cover the mortgage interest payments on a five-bedroom house in Putney, south London. When the expenses clampdown kicked in in 2009, he sold the property at a £537,000 personal profit. Luxury: The seven-bedroom former abbey with outdoor pool He then ploughed the cash into a £900,000 seven-bedroom luxury mansion in his Lincolnshire constituency, where he now lives with his wife and three children. The 17th-century property is set in 15 acres of land on the site of an historic abbey and features formal gardens, a three-car garage, pool and tennis court. It is now valued at £1.25million. Mr Simmonds has been criticised as “out of touch” for claiming that his £90,000-a-year salary plus £27,875 allowance for a second home in London are not enough to live on. Splashing out: The propertys outdoor pool He said he could not afford a large enough flat near Westminster and that commuting from outer London “is not the lifestyle I want”. Campaigning MP John Mann said his claims were ‘total nonsense’. “The £28,000 he can get is more than the average salary in his constituency,” Mr Mann blasted. “It’s simply untrue that you can’t rent in London for that much. Insult: How the Mirror reported the story Fellow Labour MP Grahame Morris added: “I think his comments will gain little public sympathy. “Under his government, most working families are facing a cost of living crisis.” “Perhaps as a minister he is also lamenting the loss of previous paid directorships which can be very lucrative.” Mr Simmonds previously earned £50,000-a-year on top of his hefty MP’s salary as an adviser to private healthcare firm Circle. The Daily Mirror revealed yesterday he is line to scoop a £5,500 pay-off from taxpayers following his resignation on Monday. mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/moaning-mp-mark-simmonds-used-4046258
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 17:15:24 +0000
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