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Driffield MP Greg Knight wants change on expenses
DRIFFIELD'S MP will pay back any money he is asked to as part of the continuing review of Parliamentary expenses claims.
The assurance from Greg Knight came as he confirmed he had been asked to provide more information to the inquiry into the saga which has rocked British politics over recent months.
Mr Knight told the Driffield Post this week he was still waiting to hear the review's verdict on his claims after being asked for the extra details.
But he added: "If I am asked to pay back money, I will do so."
The expenses issue returned to the top of the political agenda on Monday when MPs received letters from the review body on their return to Westminster after the summer recess.
Mr Knight said he had been asked to provide more information and extra documents to the review, headed by retired civil servant Sir Thomas Legg, within the next three weeks.
He added that the documents requested related to a mortgage and had previously been submitted to Commons officials, but appeared to have been lost.
Mr Knight also stressed any requests for repayments were not accusations of wrongdoing and criticised some tabloid newspaper coverage that he believes has attempted to tar anyone asked to repay cash, including the Prime Minister, as being "crooked".
He said: "I don't support anything Gordon Brown has done policy-wise but I don't believe he is a crooked man."
So far, only one East Riding MP, Haltemprice and Howden's David Davis, is known to have been asked to repay money as a result of the review.
He has agreed to repay around 2,300.
But the inquiry has sparked anger among some MPs amid reports of possible legal challenges to its findings and claims that Sir Thomas has applied retrospective rules to claims which were in line with regulations in force when they were made.
However, Mr Knight said that, while a "tighter audit" was being applied and a "different set of rules' imposed", there was a widespread view among MPs that the rules had to change.
He believes an independent body should be set up to rule on both MPs' salaries and the numbers of MPs sitting at Westminster.
And he added that friends in other professions had told him: "I wouldn't have your job if they doubled the salary."
He said: "That is why it has to be sorted out, otherwise we're going to have a dearth of good people coming into politics."
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Weather for Driffield
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 3 C
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