Tory lord milking TWO pots of taxpayers’ cash thanks to MPs’ office rent scandal

He has made almost £9,000 letting a constituency base to his local MP Rory Stewart - but insisted the arrangement was “entirely pukka”

Quids in: Baron Inglewood

A Tory lord is milking TWO pots of taxpayers’ cash thanks to the MPs’ office rent scandal.

Baron Inglewood has made almost £9,000 letting a constituency base to his local MP and fellow Conservative Rory Stewart.

The cash for the office on his Cumbrian estate comes on top of about £130,000 that the hereditary peer has pocketed in attendance allowance and expenses from the House of Lords.

The peer, who is the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Cumbria, and fellow Old Etonian Mr Stewart have not broken any rules.

Lord Inglewood insisted the arrangement was “entirely pukka”.

But it fuelled calls for changes to the expenses system.

It came to light the day after watchdogs revealed that one in three MPs are renting from their own parties, funnelling £3.6million of public money into their electoral war chests.

Matthew Sinclair, of the right-wing pressure group the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said voters were effectively paying Lord Inglewood twice.

Mr Sinclair said: “Too many MPs office arrangements already appear to provide a backdoor subsidy for political parties without politicians channelling taxpayers’ cash directly to each other.

“Clearly new rules are needed to prevent any suggestion parties or politicians are profiteering at the expense of taxpayers.

“The majority of MPs haven’t entered into these cosy little deals, but the authorities must move quickly before the public’s regard for politics takes yet another battering.”

Roomy: The mansion at Hutton-in-the-Forest, Penrith, Cumbria, England,

Lord Inglewood owns Hutton-in-the-Forest, a Grade 1 listed country pile just outside Penrith that has been in the family since 1605 and also lets out property on his estate.

One of Mr Stewart’s staff lives on one of the houses and another building has been converted into an office which the MP uses, he said.

“We converted a building into an office. We have an estate. We let property.

"This was part of that business and in order to see that the thing was entirely pukka we got a surveyor to set the rent.

“And from Rory’s point of view, if he did not hire this one he would hire another one. It happens to be particularly convenient.”

John Mann, who has campaigned to end the Westminster gravy train , said: “It is no wonder that Lord Inglewood can afford to own such property when he is receiving such largess from the taxpayer.

“Would not Rory be better off putting the money into the real economy?”

Ex-Army officer Mr Stewart failed to respond to inquiries.

The diplomat’s son worked as a tutor to Princes William and Harry and once walked across Afghanistan before being elected as MP for Penrith and the Border at the last election.

Mirror