British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised Monday after days of revelations about lawmakers' expenses, including for dog food, as the spotlight turned on opposition Conservatives. Day four of the revelations in a newspaper showed expense claims for replacing lightbulbs, cottage decorations and repairs to a water pipe under a tennis court at a country home.
Brown issued the apology after an opinion poll showed the nature of the previously secret claims were eroding public trust in politicians. "I want to apologise on behalf of politicians, on behalf of all parties for what has happened in the events of these last few days," he said in a speech to a nurses' conference in Harrogate, northern England.
Parliamentarians "have a responsibility to show that people who enter our profession are there to serve the public interest, and not to serve themselves," Brown said.
The prime minister's 'sorry' over an issue which first hit the media on Friday came after the leader of the main opposition Conservatives, David Cameron, also urged lawmakers from all parties to apologise. Cameron, whose party holds a strong lead over Brown's Labour party in opinion polls, said it was "not good enough" for parliamentarians to claim they were simply following the rules allowing them to claim expenses.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper, which reportedly paid a six-figure sum to buy the CD containing details of the claims, turned its attention to the Conservatives Monday after three days of detailed revelations about Labour. It revealed Alan Duncan, the Conservatives' leader of the House of Commons, claimed 7,000 pounds (7,800 euros, 10,600 dollars) for gardening services over a two-year period.
Duncan received an official warning from parliamentary authorities over the claim, but still received more than 4,000 pounds over three years. David Willetts, the Conservatives' spokesman on innovation and universities, claimed more than 115 pounds for electricians to replace 25 lightbulbs at his second home in London.
The Telegraph noted that Willetts, nicknamed "Two Brains" for his intellect, "couldn't change a lightbulb (or all 25 of them)". Andrew Lawnsley, who speaks on health issues for the party, claimed 4,000 pounds for decorating a thatched cottage before selling it in an example of the practice of "flipping" properties designated as an MP's second homes.
The change in designation allows lawmakers to claim allowances for multiple properties from public funds. In other revelations, Cheryl Gillan, who represents Wales for the Conservatives, claimed back the 4.47-pound cost of three packets of dog food.
And Oliver Letwin, in charge of policy review for the party, claimed almost 2,150 pounds for repairs to a leaking water pipe under the tennis court at his country home. Letwin argued however that the water authorities had ordered him to fix the leak. Cameron himself emerged unscathed by the revelations, while Brown is still fighting off accusations that he abused the system by paying his brother Andrew 6,000 pounds for arranging cleaning services for his private home.
The prime minister's sister-in-law Clare Brown, writing in the Guardian newspaper Monday, said "the domestic front... wasn't his first priority". "He definitely needs a cleaner when in London, and it was part of his expenses entitlement," she wrote. The drip-drip of revelations has led to calls from Brown and Cameron for the expenses system to be overhauled.
Brown's spokesman told journalists Monday: "Of course we need to have a proper and through reform of the system for MPs' allowances." Fears that the expenses' claims have undermined public trust in politicians were supported by an ICM poll for the News of the World newspaper on Sunday which showed that 89 percent of respondents said the reputation of MPs had been damaged.