Tatton MP George Osborne claimed £47 expenses for DVDs of his speech on "value for taxpayers' money" (From Knutsford Guardian)

Tatton MP George Osborne claimed £47 expenses for DVDs of his speech on "value for taxpayers' money"

2:20pm Thursday 18th June 2009

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TATTON MP George Osborne claimed £47 for two copies of a DVD of his own speech on "value for taxpayers' money" in 2005, it emerged today.

The information was revealed in MPs' expenses documents that were released this morning.

TO SEE THE DOCUMENTS WITH MR OSBORNE'S CLAIMS CLICK HERE.

Mr Osborne reportedly said he bought the DVDs after a request from a member of the public for a video copy of the speech.

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Mr Osborne has also been accused of ‘flipping’ homes to claim expenses on a £450,000 mortgage.

But the Shadow Chancellor said he had not changed the designation of his second home for personal gain.

“There has been absolutely no impropriety and any suggestion of such is wrong,” said his spokesman Chhabra Ramesh.

Mr Osborne bought a farmhouse in Rainow, near Macclesfield, before he became MP for Tatton in 2001.

He funded the move by increasing the interest-only mortgage on his London home, where he lived with his family.

The heir to the Osborne and Little wallpaper fortune was then elected to represent the constituency.

He told House of Commons officials that his London property would be his second home.

That meant he could claim taxpayers’ money for the monthly mortgage interest payments.

“The representative of the fees office advised him to claim the additional costs allowance against that mortgage until he could change the mortgage arrangements,” said Mr Osborne’s spokesman.

In 2003 Mr Osborne changed the mortgage and secured a deal against his constituency home, Harrop Fold Farm.

He then told Commons authorities that the house in Rainow was his second home.

Since then he has reportedly claimed up to £100,000 to cover interest payments on the property.

However, last week Mr Osborne’s spokesman said – thanks to the tracker mortgage deal - those monthly claims were now close to nothing.

“His actions have been entirely reasonable, as all the costs are associated with his need to have a second home in Cheshire,” he said.

“His arrangements have always sought to minimise the interest costs to the taxpayer.”

Mr Osborne - a close friend of Tory leader David Cameron - recently held an open meeting in Knutsford to talk about expenses and politicians’ behaviour.

Last month it emerged he had claimed £440 expenses for a chauffeur from his constituency to London in November 2005.

The Shadow Chancellor usually travels by train, but he missed the last service to London because of a constituency function in the evening.

Mr Osborne said he had to pay for the chauffeur because he had a meeting early the next morning in the capital.

He has since paid back the money.

Tatton’s MP also received £30 of taxpayers' money to fund his personal website.

But since the website was redesigned between 2006 and 2007 he has funded it himself.

He also claimed £430 for cleaning services over three months last year, which he said was a ‘reasonable rate’.

The revelations were revealed last month as part of several stories published in the Daily Telegraph about MPs’ expenses.

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