Labour MEP paid boyfriend £8,000 a month from expenses
Michael Cashman, a leading Labour MEP, has paid his boyfriend more than 8,000 pounds a month from his taxpayer-funded expenses, the Telegraph can disclose. Documents show that Paul Cottingham was given secretarial allowances worth £8,143 a month to administer in 2002. This was the maximum allowance available at the time. Euro-MPs can now receive an allowance for staff of £160,000 a year. Mr Cashman says that he currently pays his civil partner an annual salary of £30,000 inclusive of expenses. However, he has so far not disclosed how the rest of the allowance is distributed after being given to Mr Cottingham. It is known he employs at least one other Brussels-based assistant. The Euro-MP and former actor will now come under pressure to explain how the rest of his allowance has been spent. The disclosure will lead to accusations that the Euro-MP expenses scandal has spread beyond the Conservative Party. Several prominent Tories have been forced to step down from their positions after admitting paying large amounts of money to members of their family. The documents seen by the Telegraph refer to 2002 and last night Mr Cashman refused to discuss the matter. snip http://tinyurl.com/636xra Thought Labour we're being very very quiet about the Tory MEP expense fiddlers. I expect we'll be hearing about many more cases like this.
Michael Cashman, a leading Labour MEP, has paid his boyfriend more than 8,000 pounds a month from his taxpayer-funded expenses, the Telegraph can disclose. Documents show that Paul Cottingham was given secretarial allowances worth £8,143 a month to administer in 2002. This was the maximum allowance available at the time. Euro-MPs can now receive an allowance for staff of £160,000 a year. Mr Cashman says that he currently pays his civil partner an annual salary of £30,000 inclusive of expenses. However, he has so far not disclosed how the rest of the allowance is distributed after being given to Mr Cottingham. It is known he employs at least one other Brussels-based assistant. The Euro-MP and former actor will now come under pressure to explain how the rest of his allowance has been spent. The disclosure will lead to accusations that the Euro-MP expenses scandal has spread beyond the Conservative Party. Several prominent Tories have been forced to step down from their positions after admitting paying large amounts of money to members of their family. The documents seen by the Telegraph refer to 2002 and last night Mr Cashman refused to discuss the matter. snip http://tinyurl.com/636xra Thought Labour we're being very very quiet about the Tory MEP expense fiddlers. I expect we'll be hearing about many more cases like this.