Rachel Reeves used £10,000 of taxpayers’ money to pay for second home council tax bill.H
Rachel Reeves has been salmmed for “morally questionable” behaviour after expensing a whopping £10,880 on council tax bills for her second home.
New analysis by The i has revealed 41 Labour ministers have expensed their second homes’ council tax bills since 2019.
Coming out on top was Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, claiming £14,821. Other senior Cabinet figures doing the same were Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner (£7,822) and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (£7,240).
Despite backlash, their conduct is entirely within the rules that help MPs cover the cost of working in two different locations.
Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices Pensioners’ group, told the outlet: “MPs don’t have any real inkling of what the cost of living crisis is like for people on modest incomes, because they are partly protected from the increases in council tax and other things.
Rachel Reeves expensed a council tax bill for a second home. (Image: Getty)
Deputy PM Angela Rayner’s bill came to £7,822 since 2019. (Image: Getty)
“There’s a rather odious stink that comes from claiming for so much, especially with cabinet members and other ministers who are well paid. What they do might be within the rules, but it’s morally questionable.”
MPs for constituencies outside of London are also allowed to expense rent and other bills related to one rented home, whether it’s in their constituency or not.
There are 316 MPs who expense their council tax bills, and according to analysis of Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) data, their bills rose from £480,000 in 2022-23 to £506,000 in 2023-24.
Since 2019, taxpayers have footed the staggering £2.6 million council tax bill for MPs’ rented accommodation, including £300,000 for 2024-25 so far.
In the 2023-24 period, 41 Labour ministers racked up more than £58,000 in expensed council tax bills, with 15 being members of Keir Starmer‘s Cabinet.
On the other side, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has expensed £11,900 in council tax since the start of the last Parliament, and Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride £11,100.
They are two of the eight Shadow Cabinet members who claimed their council tax bills in the 2023-24 financial year, amounting to roughly £13,000.
A Labour spokesman told the Express: “As the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority makes clear, the accommodation costs budget is designed to meet costs incurred by MPs as a result of working from two permanent locations.
“MPs of all parties are entitled to this, and they continue paying their utility bills for their own homes like everyone else.”
