A tight-fisted Tory MP was left red-faced yesterday (Mon) after it emerged he had made a travel expenses claim of — just NINE PENCE.
Rob Wilson MP has been reimbursed for almost 160 travel claims of less than £1 since 2010.
The Conservative, who describes himself as an entrepreneur and lives in a £700,000 home, is given a generous 45p-per-mile taxpayer-funded fuel allowance.
And he has been taking advantage of it over the past five years – submitting a number of startlingly small claims.
Last year Wilson, MP for Reading East, was reimbursed 9p after covering the 0.2 mile car journey he made for a ‘constituency engagement’.
The claim, on March 29, 2014, appears to be for a return trip from his home to the NEXT road.
Wilson, 50, could have have covered the 160 metre distance to get there on foot in just a matter of minutes.
The MP could have cycled the distance in less than this – but he may also have claimed for that. In November last year he was reimbursed 60p for riding his bicycle to work.
He also claimed 13p for a 0.3 mile business visit and was paid back 36p for a 0.8 mile trip on two occasions.
The MP, whose constituency office is less than one mile from the train station, claimed mileage for 52 trips between the two locations in 2010.
On a number of occasions, he then claimed more than £18 to park at the station.
Mr Wilson, married with four children, hasn’t broken any rules with the tiny claims, which were approved by IPSA.
The penny-pinching claims come after it emerged Labour leadership favourite Andy Burnham had made 63 travel claims of less than #1 including one for just 22p.
