Prime suspects
Revealed Nine MPs claiming Amazon premium rate service on their expenses
NINE MPs have used their Parliamentary expenses to claim for Amazon Prime subscriptions, figures have revealed.
Members of the online retailers’ premium service pay £79 a year to get faster delivery and access to a massive streaming library of Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows including Jeremy Clarkson’s The Grand Tour.
Some MPs said they claimed for it by mistake or were caught in a “subscription trap” after agreeing to a free trial.
Some repaid the subscription to Parliamentary authorities.
But Lisa Cameron – one of three SNP MPs involved – defended billing taxpayers.
The East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow MP said: “With the opening of my constituency offices, on a number of occasions equipment was ordered through Prime membership offering longitudinal savings on timeous delivery costs.”
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, who handle expenses claims, said the subscriptions could be claimed but MPs must “justify that the subscription is primarily used for parliamentary purposes”.
Cameron’s fellow SNP MPs Stuart Blair Donaldson and Brendan O’Hara and Tories James Gray, Marcus Fysh and Craig Mackinlay submitted claims for the premium subscription this year.
Tory MPs Will Quince and Scott Mann submitted claims in 2015-16 and Labour’s Mary Creagh did so in 2014.
Consrvative MP James Gray has claimed for the service two years in a row. O’Hara’s claim was for £7.99, the monthly subscription rate but he says it was charged in error and he had paid the claim back in October.
He said: “IPSA have advised us that it will show up on the next round of accounts that were released.”
Donaldson said: “My office signed up for a free trial of Prime. Upon expiry of this trial, Amazon billed us for a subscription, however, as no services were accessed or required, IPSA were issued with a full refund.”
MPs have had to publish details of claims since the 2009 expenses scandal. MPs’ salaries are due to rise from £74,962 to £76,011 next month.