David Cameron put more than £21,000 in mortgage interest for his Oxfordshire home on expenses, the House of Commons revealed yesterday.

The most detailed breakdown to date of MPs’ second-home allowance has revealed that the public footed the bill for successive prime ministers’ television licences, Tony Blair’s dishwasher, Sir Menzies Campbell’s laundry and £415 a month for cleaning Gordon Brown’s flat in 2005-06. Mr Brown is understood to have used a contract cleaner supplied by the building, pushing up his cost for cleaning and food to more than £7,000 in a year. He also put “TV subscriptions”, which includes payments to Sky, on his expenses.

The figures show that John Prescott, who was then Deputy Prime Minister, claimed the maximum £4,000 for food, an allowance for which MPs do not need to submit receipts, in 2003-04 and £2,882 in 2005-06. He also drove exactly 1,000 miles in his constituency in 2003-04, for which he was reimbursed £561.50. The Green Book, which sets out the rules, says that MPs can claim only for out-of-pocket expenses and should not automatically claim the maximum.

Some MPs spent their allowance on a number of different expenses, but Mr Cameron and George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, used almost their entire £21,634 Additional Costs Allowance on mortgage interest, spending £21,293 and £18,360 respectively. This is substantially higher than the other MPs, whose details were released yesterday. A Tory spokeswoman said: “They are part of the 2001 MP intake so property prices were higher. They are their second homes and this is completely legitimate and above board.”

William Hague had the third-high-est mortgage interest claim, at £13,626 in 2005-06.

The information emerged after the Commons released further details of six MPs’ second-home allowance from 2003-04 and nine MPs’ figures from 2005-06. A number of other MPs will follow and the rest are expected at this level of detail in the autumn.

The Commons authorities, guided by the Speaker, have spent tens of thousands of pounds trying to prevent this level of detail on MPs’ expenses becoming public, and are still fighting in the High Court to prevent information being published item by item rather than under the broader headings used yesterday.

The figures show that, as Chancellor, Mr Brown claimed nothing for food in 2003-04 but then charged £2,385 in 2005-06. Over the same period he stopped claiming the £2,450 for mortgage interest on a Westminster flat because he had paid off the outstanding amount. He charged £3,269 on repairs and maintenance in 2003-04 and £2,132 in 2005-06, which are understood to be service charges. The £4,918 on repairs was to accommodate the arrival of his son, John. The Browns still own the flat even though they now live in Downing Street, but do not rent it out: they use it to accommodate visiting friends and relatives.

In 2003-04 Mr Blair and Michael Howard, who were facing each other at Prime Minister’s Questions, both spent £4.32 on an A4 folder.

The figures show starkly differing attitudes to spouse travel: Mrs Brown claimed nothing, but Charles Kennedy’s wife, Sarah, spent £6,167.

Margaret Beckett, the former Foreign Secretary, charged the taxpayer £13,763 for service and maintenance, despite using an official residence, as well as £2,520 for food.

Heather Brooke, a freedom of information camaigner who secured the information with the BBC, said: “I welcome the disclosure, although the way it has been handled has been a farce and a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

How the party leaders fared

Gordon Brown
Mortgage: £2,450 (03-04) £137.50 (ground rent 05-06) Cleaning: £2,380 (03-04) £4,982 (05-06) Repairs: £4,916 (05-06 – partition for son’s arrival)

David Cameron
Mortgage: £21,293 (05-06)

George Osborne
Mortgage: £18,360 (05-06) Food: £2,300 (05-06)

William Hague
Mortgage: £13,626 (05-06) Service/maintenance: £4,083 (05-06)

Charles Kennedy
Mortgage: £12,869 (03-04) Spouse travel: £6,167 (03-04)

Tony Blair
Mortgage: £3,958 (05-06) Cleaning: £1,331 (05-06) Other: £642.24 including TV licence and dishwasher (05-06)

John Prescott
Food: £4,000 (03-04) £2,882 (05-06)

Margaret Beckett
Service/maintenance: £13,763 (05-06) Source: House of Commons, via BBC and Heather Brook

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