Duck proofing and garlic peelers - MORE MP Expenses
How many garlic peelers does one man need? One for each house presumably.
Hampshire MP James Arbuthnot asked us to pay £12.22 each for THREE sets according to the expenses receipts released today.
You can see them here. He ordered from the shopping channel QVC and claimed them in April as "kitchen equipment". At least he only asked for second class postage.
Mr Arbuthnot also claimed £1870.83 to paint a summer house, £2749.50 for tree works (despite claiming a chain saw in a previous year) and £451.88 to mend his mower.
The Telegraph hammered his previous expenses so Mr Arbuthnot's website proudly declares that he has now put his receipts for 2008/09 on line himself, earlier than required. Strangely I can't find the garlic peeler....
Meanwhile in Gosport you couldn't make it up.
Sir Peter Viggers took a huge hit on the latest claims. You'll remember the Duck Island MP had his bill turned down (so to speak)
This time a claim for £10,526 only resulted in £299.16 of taxpayers money. This is the explanation written alongside.
"Spoken to Sir Peter. Not appropriate to claim interest on increased borrowing taken to free equity of house. Agreed to re-imburse interest equivalent to original borrowing."
I spoke to Sir Peter this morning and he explained "I have always consulted the fees office, and taken their advice."
He won't say whether he will or won't pay back the money ordered by Thomas Legg. It must be in the tens of thousands and he's having to stand down. The latest claim includes another whopping home insurance bill of £4555.70.
MPs are groaning at the shame and embarrassment of their old receipts being turned out again in public, with little consolation in the fact that they have now put their house in order.
The reduced level of censorship in this batch mean you can spot things like married couple Andrew Mackay and Julie Kirkbride claiming for different second homes.
And there are some debatable decisions. Poole MP Robert Syms had £359 for a bunk bed rejected with the explanation "living costs for any one other than yourself are not permitted."
But Wantage MP Ed Vaizey was allowed to have £680 for a carpet in the Master Bedroom and nursery, and three black out blinds, which along with other curtains came to more than £200.
One final insult in the whole sorry saga. Sir Peter followed up his claim for a Duck House with a £115 invoice from a pest control company who specialise in "bird proofing and cleaning."
Really, you couldn't make it up.
Welcome to the hustings! I'm Peter Henley, the BBC's political reporter in the south of England. From parish councils in Sussex, to European politics in Oxford, this is the blog for you. 
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