Second standards MP faces questions over claims

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - A second member of the parliamentary committee that reviews the conduct of MPs is facing questions over his expenses, after the committee chairman stepped down last week.

Andrew Dismore, Labour MP for Hendon in north London, claimed 65,000 pounds in second-home allowances for two properties over eight years, the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday.

He also paid his girlfriend more than 1,000 pounds from office expenses for consultancy work including preparing the installation of broadband internet, the paper said.

Dismore defended the expenses claims, saying he had done the "right thing" and had saved the public purse money.

The paper said the MP claimed 34,000 pounds for a west London flat four miles from parliament between 2001 and 2003, before switching the allowance to a flat in his constituency and claiming a further 31,000 pounds.

MPs can claim expenses for the cost of running two homes to cover the additional cost of a working life split between their constituencies and the House of Commons in Westminster.

But the practice of "flipping" the designation of which property is the second home, often apparently to take most advantage of the allowance, has been seen as an abuse and will be banned under a proposed reform of Commons expenses.

Last week, Conservative MP David Curry stepped down as chairman of the Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges and referred himself to parliament's standards watchdog after the Telegraph said he had claimed 30,000 pounds for a property in his constituency his wife had banned him from using.