A minister has criticised expenses rules after a Labour MP was able to claim £900 for “pet rent” for her cockapoo Bella.
Taiwo Owatemi – the MP for Coventry North West – made the claim after her landlord at her second home imposed a pet surcharge, according to The Times. The expense claim in August last year is listed as “pet rent” by the MPs’ expenses watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
IPSA approved the expenses claims, which is not in breach of the rules. A spokesman for the watchdog also told The Times: “On this occasion, Ipsa agreed to fund a surcharge but gave incorrect advice as to how it should be described. We have apologised directly to the MP and are sorry for any confusion.”
Security minister Dan Jarvis insisted the MP, who is also a government whip, followed the rules when she made the expenses claim in August last year. But he said the “rules can’t be right” and urged IPSA to change them.
Mr Jarvis told LBC: “I wouldn’t do that, haven’t done that. Therefore, I think it can’t be right that the rules allow any Member of Parliament to do that. That is why the Government will be making representations to Ipsa… to ask them to look very carefully at the detail of this particular rule.
BLUESKY: Follow our Mirror Politics account on Bluesky here. And follow our Mirror Politics team here – Lizzy Buchan, Mikey Smith, Kevin Maguire, Sophie Huskisson, Dave Burke and Ashley Cowburn.
POLITICS WHATSAPP: Be first to get the biggest bombshells and breaking news by joining our Politics WhatsApp group here. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you want to leave our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
NEWSLETTER: Or sign up here to the Mirror’s Politics newsletter for all the best exclusives and opinions straight to your inbox.
PODCAST: And listen to our exciting new political podcast The Division Bell, hosted by the Mirror and the Express every Thursday.
“It’s important to say that the MP in question, she hasn’t done anything wrong in that she’s followed the rules as they are at the moment, but we don’t think that those rules can be right and that’s why the government will flag it with IPSA.”
It was put to Mr Jarvis by LBC that a Labour MP claiming an expense for pet rent as the Government cut benefits was not a good look. He replied: “Yeah. That is why the Government will be raising concerns about this particular rule and we will pick that up with IPSA.”
A spokesman for IPSA told The Times: “MPs are required to work in two places: their constituency and in Westminster. Ipsa is committed to supporting a parliament where people without the private finances to fund working from two locations themselves are not prevented from becoming an MP.
“That is why we fund accommodation costs, within strict limits. It is common for landlords to include additional surcharges in rental agreements. On this occasion, Ipsa agreed to fund a surcharge but gave incorrect advice as to how it should be described. We have apologised directly to the MP and are sorry for any confusion.”
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.