David Cameron to pay back expenses mistakenly claimed

Conservative leader David Cameron, tipped to be Britain's next Prime Minister, said yesterday he would repay almost £1,000 in expenses he had mistakenly claimed.

Mr Cameron, who has sought to take the initiative in a long-running expenses scandal affecting all parties, had already said he would pay back a £680 maintenance bill. But he promised to repay £267.29 more after making further checks on his claims.

"I would like to make clear that these were discovered as a result of a thorough review by my office, not as a result of media enquiries," he wrote in a letter to parliamentary officials.

Members of Parliament (MPs) from all parties have been tarnished by weeks of disclosures in the Daily Telegraph newspaper about claims for everything from dog food to cleaning a moat.

The scandal has effectively ended the careers of more than a dozen MPs who have said they will not stand at the next general election, due by mid-2010.

The small sums involved in Mr Cameron's case, and his prompt action, looked likely to limit the fallout for him. His announcement came hours after the expense details of all MPs for the last four years were released online, although with some key information blacked out.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's ruling Labour Party has suffered most from the scandal because it has been in power since 1997 and has failed to clean up a discredited system.

On Wednesday, junior finance minister Kitty Ussher quit little more than a week after rejoining the government following reports that she had avoided tax on the sale of one of her homes. She denied doing anything wrong.

The opposition Conservatives are tipped to win the election but analysts say voters could switch to supporting fringe parties or independents, potentially crimping their majority.

Campaigners have fought a long battle for the release of details of MPs' expenses and claims can now be viewed on parliament's website: http:// news.parliament.uk/2009/06/mps-allowances-published-online/ .

However, many details have been redacted to protect the security of MPs, and commentators said they were less startling than the uncensored information leaked in advance to the Telegraph.

Critics said the absence of addresses prevents voters from seeing who has been changing the designation of their main home to maximise allowances - one of the most contentious issues.

"The information on MPs' allowances published by the House of Commons today would have made it impossible to detect the most serious abuses revealed by the Daily Telegraph over recent weeks," lobby group the Campaign for Freedom of Information said in a statement.

Mr Brown has pledged to try to reform Parliament and pull Britain out of its deepest recession since World War II before he calls a general election. His spokesman said that the release of the expense claims was a step in the right direction.

"In general, the Prime Minister believes there should be as much transparency as possible," the spokesman told reporters.