Suella Braverman claims £25,000 in expenses for household bills after 'milking loophole'

Suella Braverman has 'milked' the expenses system to get taxpayers to foot her household bills while living rent-free with her parents when not there.

An investigation by the Mirror found the Home Secretary had claimed nearly £25,000 in five years for her London house. She claimed the expenses to cover energy and other costs for her main home while staying rent-free at her parents’ house when she visits her constituency, the investigation revealed.

Such handouts are designed to prevent MPs who live outside London from being out of pocket because they have to run two homes – but Ms Braverman used them to pay the household bills on her £1.2million family pad in Bushey in Hertfordshire. This is within the rules but not 'in the spirit' of them, one MP said.

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The hard line Tory, who earns £67,505 on top of her MP salary of £84,144, has been accused of exploiting a loophole in the system. Ms Braverman, who recently railed against a 'Benefits Street culture', told watchdogs she 'fully funds' the home she stays at in Fareham in Hampshire.

But she failed to mention it is her parents’ house and so costs her nothing in rent. Former Committee on Standards in Public Life chairman Sir Alistair Graham said: “This looks like an attempt to game the rules to maximise benefit.

“She says she ‘fully funds’ her constituency accommodation but does not reveal it is owned by her parents. Those are weasel words, she needs to explain what she means.

“Is she manipulating the rules to strengthen her household income? It has the smell of a conspiracy to do that.”

Lib Dem Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain added: “If these reports are true, this would seem