Welsh Secretary David Jones repays £81k expenses profit

David Jones has paid back the largest sum out of 29 politicians

Welsh Secretary David Jones paid back £81,000 to the taxpayer on profits made on his second home in London with parliamentary expenses.

Parliament's spending watchdog has revealed he is amongst 29 politicians due to repay a total of £484,000.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) moved to ban mortgage interest cost claims in May 2010.

Transitional rules allowed MPs elected before then to claim until August 2012 if they returned any capital gain.

During the transition period 71 members received nearly £1m in allowances for mortgage interest.

The properties were formally valued at the beginning and the end of the period, and the MPs were given until 31 November 2012 to repay the difference.

Ipsa has arranged longer repayment schedules extending to 2015 where returning cash quickly would "create hardship".

Mr Jones, Conservative MP for Clwyd West, has paid back the largest sum of £81,000 made from the sale of his London flat.

Legal proceedings

Labour Aberavon MP Hywel Francis has also paid the £9,000 capital gain on his London property.

Ipsa confirmed it has issued legal proceedings against the Conservative MP for Peterborough, Stewart Jackson, over his expenses claim.

Figures show that Mr Jackson should have paid £54,000 in capital gains to Ipsa which has not so far been paid.

But Mr Jackson says the watchdog's actions are "heavy handed and disproportionate and are clearly intended to bully me into submission".

He disputes valuations of his property done in 2010 and 2012 and says they assume his property rose by almost 20% in value, while others in his constituency fell by 3% over the same period.

He still lives in the house and says that he is being asked to repay more than he claimed.

"IPSA have negotiated with 70 other MPs in a secretive and arbitrary manner but in respect of my case, regrettably, they have refused to negotiate.

"I am merely seeking fair play and consistency and will pursue legal action to receive it."

The decision to end claims for mortgage interest cost was made in the wake of public anger over the parliamentary expenses scandal.