Taxpayers landed with £27,000 legal bill for MP’S £23.90 expenses claim

SNP says Mcgovern should pay all costs after losing his case

AS COTTISH Labour MP has landed taxpayers with a £27,000 legal bill after a Commons expenses dispute over a £24 train ticket. Jim McGovern tried to claim the fare from his Dundee West seat to a Labour party meeting in Glasgow by saying it was the first leg of a two-part trip to Westminster.

But the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority ( IPSA) rejected his expenses claim, arguing the detour was unconnected to McGovern’s official work as an MP.

Last month, in the first case of its kind since new legislation was brought in after the 2009 expenses scandal, McGovern appealed IPSA’s decision to a tribunal and lost.

IPSA has now revealed its bill for defending McGovern’s appeal was £27,000 – which ultimately falls on the taxpayer. McGovern’s costs were met by his union, the GMB.

IPSA said each side in the appeal had to pay its own costs, and it would not pursue McGovern for its £27,000 bill. The SNP last night called for McGovern to reimburse IPSA for its legal bill.

The watchdog said it hadn’t wanted a tribunal but was glad to have won the test case.

IPSA has now changed its rules on diverted journeys, capping the amount MPs can claim to the standard fare between the start and end points of each journey.

McGovern claimed £ 23.90 for a single rail fare from Dundee to Glasgow in September 2011 to attend a Labour Party meeting. He then claimed £249.45 for a business class flight on to Heathrow to fulfil his parliamentary role.

McGovern charged both journeys to a card supplied by IPSA, but the