A Glasgow MP spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money getting taxis around his own constituency.
Chris Stephens, who represents Glasgow South West, spent £625.45 being driven around the area in one month alone. In August 2021, the MP took 58 taxi journeys with some costing just £6.
The month before, he took nearly 40 taxis at a cost of £394 to the taxpayer. From April 1, members of the House of Commons had salaries boosted by £2,212-a-year, which means they saw their pay packet rise to £84,144 from £81,932.
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Figures from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority show the SNP MP’s total business costs for the 2021-22 financial year were £42,577. He spent £17,333 of that on his London accommodation, £9,428 on travel - including £2,318 on taxis - and £14,420 running his constituency office. He paid £120 to have his office on Paisley Road West professionally cleaned.
MP for Glasgow North East Anne McLaughin charged £23,267 back to the taxpayer for her constituency office. The MP splashed out on new desks at a cost of £3,440, new waiting room chairs costing £387, and a coat rack priced at £49.99. She also paid £106.99 for a print of the constituency to hang in her newly furnished waiting area and a further £120 for office decorations.
A whole host of new electronics were on the bill including a TV costing £593.96, £199.90 docking stations, a fridge costing £169.99, a £349.99 printer, and a microwave priced at £67.97.
The MP's travel costs amount to £4,226 while footing the bill for her staff to travel costs the taxpayer £2,806. Overall, Anne McLaughin cost £63,836 for the financial year.
Following sexual harassment allegations against him, Patrick Grady continued to charge expenses back to the taxpayer.
Since May 2021, he has racked up an air travel bill of £1,808 and a £808 bill for travelling by train in January 2022 alone. His total rail bill amounted to £5,901 while his taxi expenses for the financial period amounted to just £93.84 - £2,222 less than his colleague Chris Stephens.
His office costs, however, cost the taxpayer £20,586 with £2,039 spent on Royal Mail and £2,223 spent on office equipment.
Overall, the MP amounts to the cost of £60,966.
David Linden MP, who represents Glasgow East, had the most expensive rent bill covered by the taxpayer. For April 2021 until 2022, his London accommodation expense bill cost £22,750.
On top of that, his air travel bill amounted to £6,298 and his rail fare cost £3,728. He charged £792.26 worth of car mileage back to the taxpayer including 50p for mileage within his constituency.
As well as flights, he charged back £772.90 for airport parking and £471.63 for taxis.
The MP cost taxpayers £55,261.
Stewart McDonald MP, who represents Glasgow South, expensed a travel bill of £9,686.44 back to the taxpayer which included a £90 railcard and just under £1,000 for flights in October 2021 alone.
The MP splashed out a new mobile at a cost of £1,181 and a further £999 at the Apple Store just months before.
The taxpayer also paid £5,771 for his staff to travel.
The MP cost a total of £48,976.
Carol Monaghan MP, who represents Glasgow North West, had a relatively small accommodation bill as she only stayed at hotels at a cost of £5,664. Her stays, however, amount to totals of up to £525 per trip.
Her travel costs amount to £3,819.66 for air travel, £285.30 for taxis, and £1,381.78 for train travel.
Carol Monaghan's overall cost to the taxpayer was £40,867.
As well as her London accommodation bill amounting to £21,445, Alison Thewliss charged the taxpayer nearly the same amount for her constituency office rent. The London Road office costs £1,636.85 a month with the utility bill costing £327 back in December 2021.
For the latest financial period, the office cost £3,030 in utility bills.
Overall, Alison Thewliss MP cost the taxpayer in £60,772.
A spokesperson for Chris Stephens MP said: "Chris Stephens MP deals with thousands of pieces of constituency casework and attends hundreds of constituency events every year. Parliamentary expenses are used to employ constituency caseworkers, rent a parliamentary office, and provide an excellent service for local constituents."
Anne McLaughlin told Glasgow Live: "I was re-elected in 2019 and shortly thereafter we went into lockdown. When we were coming out of it and able to start working in the office again, I bought equipment to enable us to do that. I could have bought the previous year, but it would have sat in an empty office and some of it had guarantees with it, eg the fridge, the guarantee would have been out of date without us ever using the equipment.
"The reason it’s more than the spending of my colleagues is because they all had established offices from 2015 whereas I had to start again from scratch when I was re-elected.
"The other thing to bear in mind is that some of my colleagues may have higher rent than I do for their offices. Rent comes out of the same budget we use to buy equipment. They are then left with less for equipment so they may find they cannot replace essential equipment because of their rent whilst others can."
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