MPs: Set to reveal expense claims

MPs are this week set to reveal how they spend more than £78 million of taxpayers' money on second homes, travel and office costs.

Their expense claims will be published for the first time this week and the publication is likely to provoke a public backlash.

Some MPs have spent recent days paying back expenses wrongly claimed in order to avoid potentially damaging details becoming public on Thursday.

MPs are given an average of £125,000 to pay for a second home in London and to run parliamentary and constituency offices.

Many employ their spouses or partners as secretaries and researchers.

Some MPs whose constituencies are just outside the Capital claim the £21,000 housing allowance in order to fund the purchase of a London home in order to cash in on soaring house prices.

MPs are also allowed to claim for foreign trips and travel to and from the House of Commons.

The publication comes amid a leaked review from the Senior Salaries Review Board which proposes pay increases for both MPs and peers.

Whilst MPs are in line for a modest rise of two per cent, peers are set to see their daily allowance increased by 20 per cent to £295 for each sitting day.

Unlike MPs, who receive £57,485 a year as a basic salary, peers are not salaried and must instead make a claim for attendance, overnight accommodation, travel and secretarial support.