Labour MP Frank Cook claimed on expenses for a £5 church donation he made at a Battle of Britain memorial service, the Sunday Telegraph reports.
The MP for Stockton-on-Tees submitted the 2006 claim with a handwritten note, but it was later rejected by the Commons Fees Office, the paper says.
Mr Cook said he did not recall the claim and described it as "a mistake".
He is undoubtedly a tight fucker to even consider such a claim, but at least the target of Cook's donation was a worthy one. It's good to support charities which look after our war veterans. It's just a shame Mr Cook didn't think of them when he voted for the smoking ban that kicked such people out into the street if they wanted a cigarette in the country which they risked their lives to defend. Against overbearing authoritarianism, ironically.
Like Cook, Labour have been very comfortable about throwing our taxes around on charities. £3.26bn at the last count. Poor old Frank may well endure moths flying out of his wallet, but his paltry claim is small beer compared to the colossal stealing of our taxes that his party have nodded through to dubious causes, with the enthusiastic approval of their never-ending quangoes and civil servants.
If you haven't read about the extent of the fraud being perpetrated on you, the taxpayer, you might like to have a perusal of fakecharities.org - I'm sure you will be ecstatic to know that £191,000 of your money was funnelled into ASH and £515,000 into Alcohol Concern last year, amongst other businesses posing as charitable, who like to spend your money in lobbying the government to do exactly what the government wants to do anyway.
Cook has described his attempt at using £5 our taxes for a charity as 'a mistake'. We will eagerly await (no doubt, in vain) the day when his parliamentary colleagues admit the same about the other billions of our money that they are using to pay their righteous bretheren to sanctimoniously harangue us.
Tax free, natch.
