Shop! The year's ending

London: A labour MP ‘maxed out' his expenses by going on a spending spree at the upmarket department store John Lewis in the days running up to the deadline for claims.

Former defence minister Doug Henderson, who is standing down at the next election, was one of 60 MPs to claim the maximum £24,006 (Dh143,354) in second-home allowances last year.

In February and March this year he racked up bills totalling £2,128 at the flagship London branch of John Lewis, which is famed for its no-quibble returns policy.

The revelation came as Defence Minister Quentin Davies fought for his political career amid fury at his £20,000 invoice for repairs to the bell tower at his £5 million country home.

Cheery greeting

At the Ministry of Defence yesterday, staff were joking about their boss' predicament with cheery greetings of ‘ding dong!' to each other.

But despite the fresh public anger over MPs' extraordinary claims, Commons Speaker John Bercow said the latest revelations showed there had been a ‘great improvement' in the expenses regime.