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Robinsons’ £73 per week food expenses challenged
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson with his wife Iris at his desk at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Northern Ireland
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DUP couple Peter and Iris Robinson have been challenged for claiming that their Parliamentary food expenses worked out at an average of £73 per week each.
Critics have argued that this calculation does not take into account lengthy Parliamentary recess periods and their partial attendance records at the Commons.
It was revealed by the Daily Telegraph yesterday that Mr and Mrs Robinson claimed a combined total of £30,525 for MP food expenses between 2004 and 2008. It also reported that they each regularly claimed the maximum £400 monthly figure from the Commons.
In a statement Mr Robinson said the £30,525 total equates in reality “to an average of £73 per week”.
The Commons is in recess for more than a third of the year, including close to three months in the summer.
When the House has been sitting Mr and Mrs Robinson have had to divide their time between its business and their high-profile jobs at the Northern Ireland Assembly.
An Ulster Unionist Party website yesterday cited independent research stating that Mr Robinson had attended 37.4% of Commons votes since 2005 and Mrs Robinson 28.4%.
The website also said: “By the way, the average UK family food bill is calculated to be £100 per week for a family of four, equating to £5,200 per year.”
Defending the food claims for 2004 to 2008, a DUP spokesman said: “During the particular period in question from 2004 onwards Mr Robinson was in London on a regular basis on Parliamentary business, negotiations, meetings with Government ministers and senior officials.
“Commonly, such business spanned between two and four days per week at its most intense.”
The food expenses were claimed under the second home allowance for MPs, which is now worth £24,000 a year per member.
Mr and Mrs Robinson, like other husband and wife MPs, are each entitled to claim the full figure.
The material leaked to the Daily Telegraph also showed that they have claimed £2,172 per month in mortgage interest under the allowance. The mortgage is for a flat in the Docklands area of London they jointly purchased in 2001.
Mr Robinson has emphasised that all expenses money paid to his wife and him by Parliament was “legitimately claimed”.
He described the current allowances system for MPs as “shambolic” and in need of urgent replacement.
As First Minister, Mr Robinson’s combined salary from Westminster and Stormont is now close to £150,000 a year.
Mrs Robinson currently earns some £95,000 from her roles as MP, MLA, Assembly committee chair and Castlereagh councillor.
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Typical of all politicans, of whatever party
Posted by m moore | 19.06.09, 12:52 GMT
Robinson is leader of the DUP. This reflects on the other DUP MP`s. I would not now vote for any of them. The next election is for MEP`s and DUP will not figure with me. These two have no understanding of how other people live. Most people have to buy food cheaply and cook it themselves.
Posted by Sam | 17.05.09, 21:19 GMT
It is disengenous for Peter Robinson to say that the claim for food made by him and his wife amounted to £73 each per week, an amount averaged over a 52 week year, since their attendance at the House of Commons is very infrequent. For how many days have they been in London on parliamentary business?
Further since the Robinsons have a flat in London for which we taxpayers have been paying the mortgage, why do they need to eat out. Presumably the flat has a kitchen!
Posted by Elizabeth | 17.05.09, 19:31 GMT
With earnings such as those, I suppose you can pay for your food. Wish they knew what it means to stretch your £6k a year for a decent living...
Posted by Nicole | 17.05.09, 13:56 GMT
Dont they earn enough money without the tax payers paying for their food and home in London. ITS TIME the people of NI demanded more of their politicians. Why should we vote these people in again, its time they got a wake up call. My son is currently unemployed and he live s on forty nine pounds per week, the more you have the more you get, its just not fair.
Posted by siobhan | 17.05.09, 13:35 GMT
if mr robinson thinks the current claims system is "shambolic", why did he and his wife make claims up to the maximum of their allowance? they didn't have to. they earn plenty.
Posted by jennifer | 17.05.09, 12:31 GMT
The fact that the Robinsons would try to minimise this amount by dividing this colossal sum by the total number of weeks that this spans (even if they were not in London most of that time) is proof that they think the average punter is a moron....
The House of Commons needs to open a self-service canteen
Posted by Punter Joe | 16.05.09, 20:21 GMT
Talk about life on the dole. Here's to you Mrs. Robinson, heaven holds a place for you, and Peter. (The other venue is full).
Posted by Ed | 16.05.09, 18:11 GMT
If I turned up for work 28.4% of the time I would be sacked. The Gourmet Family Robinson don't live in the real world. Shame on them.
Posted by Roger | 16.05.09, 17:30 GMT
As the food allowance rate is twenty pounds per day (Mon-Fri, hence max of 400 per month) the Robinsons would EACH have had to spend an average of three working EVERY week between 2004 to 2008 to claim that amount.
Posted by Nate | 16.05.09, 16:11 GMT
Perhaps Mrs Robinson will be a little less inclined to preach morals after this.
Posted by Ciaran | 16.05.09, 16:02 GMT
The Robinsons travel details must be available. A check through these will throw some light on these enormous claims.
They appear to be eating even more than John Prescott!
Posted by disgusted of tunbridge wells | 16.05.09, 15:48 GMT
If they were at home they would have to pay for their own food. Why should we pay for them to eat in London. Isn't that what they get paid for and if we are paying their mortgage would that not equate to us owning their houses.
Posted by Bill | 16.05.09, 10:41 GMT
“During the particular period in question from 2004 onwards Mr Robinson was in London on a regular basis on Parliamentary business, negotiations, meetings with Government ministers and senior officials.
“Commonly, such business spanned between two and four days per week at its most intense.”
The food expenses are supposed to be directly connected with the times MPs are in Commons. So, this, once again is a nonsense attempt at a whitewash.
Posted by Frustrated taxpayer | 16.05.09, 09:05 GMT
They should give them all a debit card already topped up to a maximum and then they could use it as they go,no one should be entitled to money they haven't used that would be left over at the end of the year and there would also be a record of genuine transactions.
Posted by MIK | 16.05.09, 04:59 GMT