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UK NEWSEXCLUSIVE: COME CLEAN MINISTER
EMBARRASSING: Purnell’s flat looked like ‘a pigsty’ says his landlord 
Sunday April 26,2009 By Julia Hartley-Brewer and David JarvisCABINET Minister James Purnell left his taxpayer-funded second home “looking like a pigsty” despite claiming more than £1,600 for cleaning and repairs.
The Work and Pensions Secretary abandoned the once-smart, £1,820-a- month apartment with wine stains on the wall, a grimy kitchen, rusty sink and filthy carpets which had to be replaced, according to his landlord. Our pictures inside show the shocking state of the London flat when Mr Purnell and his girlfriend Lucy Walker vacated it. Electrical wiring was exposed, the washing machine looked dirty, work surfaces were filthy, there appeared to be damp patches on the carpets and the walls were stained. Mr Purnell’s tenancy resulted in a bitter exchange of legal letters between his solicitor and the landlord’s lawyers over unpaid bills amounting to £4,000 for cleaning and repairs. In one letter Mr Purnell’s lawyers admitted the flat had not been properly cleaned when he left. But during his tenancy the Minister, tipped as a future Labour leader, claimed £1,050 for cleaning, averaging £100 a month, and a further £586 for repairs from taxpayer-funded expenses.
Mr Purnell did not submit receipts for the cleaning and repairs as he was not required to do so for expenses coming to less than £250 until last year. He also left a three-piece suite in the flat despite claiming a further £1, 541 in second home furniture allowance between 2004 and 2008. When he eventually left the flat he forfeited his £2,520 deposit which the landlord used to pay a £2,587.25 decoration and repair bill. According documents obtained by the Sunday Express he still owes £1,523.12. including £910.63 for alarm repairs, £307.74 for cleaning, £47.50 inventory charges and £190.00 for changing the locks. Bachelor Mr Purnell, 38, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde in Greater Manchester, shared the third-floor flat with Miss Walker between 2004 and 2006. The landlord claimed the carpets were beyond repair but didn‚t charge the MP for their replacement choosing instead to only charge him for their disposal. The affair will be extremely embarrassing for Mr Purnell, who is the bookies‚ favourite to replace embattled Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. The Sunday Express revealed earlier this month (April) how Mr Purnell also charges the £400 a month for his household groceries, an expense which has cost the taxpayer £9,094 in the past five years.
He has claimed more than £145,000 in expenses for running his second home since he became an MP in 2001. A source close to the company which managed the flat said: „He left the property in an absolutely dreadful condition. It looked like a pigsty. „We were holding a deposit of about £2,500 but the total damage came in at £5,000. „We had to have that whole flat deep cleaned and redecorated. „There were red wine stains up the wall and coffee stains everywhere. There were big splash marks on the wall. The lining wall paper had to be stripped and re-papered.
„The kitchen sink was disgusting. It looked like it had never been cleaned for the duration of the tenancy. „The kitchen floor was a rusty orange colour and it should have been white. „I‚d be surprised if a Hoover had ever been switched on in that flat.‰ Mr Purnell‚s lawyers denied the landlord‚s claim that the property was damaged but accepted that it had not been cleaned before it was vacated. The landlord has since taken no action to settle the outstanding bills. A spokesman for Mr Purnell said: „There was a dispute between tenant and landlord which reached a conclusion a long time ago.
„James felt frustrated that the landlord refused to return the deposit. He initially pursued the matter through legal channels but let it rest as the costs of fighting it further would far outweigh recouping the deposit. „It‚s not true that he did not clean the flat regularly during his tenancy. He had a long-standing arrangement with a professional cleaning company.‰ Mr Purnell‚s second home expenses show he claimed £1,820 in May 2006 to cover the rent on the flat, £1,210 in June 2006 and £1,310 in Oct 2006. It is unclear why the amounts vary though it is thought Miss Walker may have made a contribution to the monthly rent which altered Mr Purnell‚s overall claim. The couple moved into the duplex flat with a roof terrace overlooking Covent Garden in December 2004 though Mr Purnell moved out in December 2006, seven months before Miss Walker who stayed on until June, 2007. In one letter to his landlord Mr Purnell‚s lawyer said: „Our clients accept that they did not clean the property when vacating on June 25, 2007. „They do however reject any suggestion that there was damage to the property beyond „fair wear and tear‰ to an extent that total redecoration of the property was required.‰ After leaving the flat Mr Purnell moved to a flat in Islington and in 2007 moved again to another flat in Islington. The Sunday Express revealed earlier this month (April) how Mr Purnell claims in full for his utility and council tax bills and has also claimed thousands of pounds for furnishing and cleaning his London home. His £1,541 bill for furniture included £220 for a chair and £153.75 on bedding. The MP, who has a reputation as one of Westminster‚s snappiest dressers, also claimed £220 for a mirror. Mr Purnell submitted claims totalling £618 for kitchenware, £543 for electrical goods, including two televisions and £134.70 for lights for his flat. Mr Purnell claims more than £20,000 a year in second homes allowances yet in the past five years he has submitted only one receipt, a £34.50 bill for a bouquet of flowers. Since 2001, when he was elected as a Labour MP he has claimed more than £145,000 in expenses for running his second London home.
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COME CLEAN MINISTER
27.04.09, 11:10pm
This typical, greasy pole climbing, career politician, who doesn't appear to have ever had a job outside politics is typical of what we don't want running the country.
He is my MP at the moment and I think I'll keep this article handy for when the election comes, if Brown decides we can actually have one, and use it to remind people in my area just what type of a character Purnell is. Dubious expenses claims and living in squalor. Just about sums up this corrupt, odious Labour government.
To paraphrase Cromwell, "In the name of God go."
• Posted by: alfalan • Report Comment
COME CLEAN MINISTER
27.04.09, 11:09pm
This typical, greasy pole climbing, career politician, who doesn't appear to have ever had a job outside politics is typical of what we don't want running the country.
He is my MP at the moment and I think I'll keep this article handy for when the election comes, if Brown decides we can actually have one, and use it to remind people in my area just what type of a character Purnell is. Dubious expenses claims and living in squalor. Just about sums up this corrupt, odious Labour government.
To paraphrase Cromwell, "In the name of God go."
• Posted by: alfalan • Report Comment
LIVING LIKE PIGS
27.04.09, 9:21pm
Labour ministers'' domestic standards are as filthy as their politics. He must be made repay the £1600 which he claimed for cleaning as clearly this money was not spent on cleaning.
• Posted by: RF • Report Comment
"LOOKING LIKE A PIGSTY"!!??
27.04.09, 1:03pm
....hardly surprising as the LiarBore in their entirety are 'pigs at the trough" !
• Posted by: moorlok • Report Comment
BE FAIR CHAPS
26.04.09, 8:15pm
This is Labour the party of the great unwashed working class masses. These oiks don't know how to be clean. Look at the litter strewn grafitti covered streets of Britain.
Japan is clean and tidy but they don't have a working class in the sense that Britain does.
This Purnell fellow is just a reflection of the people he represents.
They can't run the economy and they can't keep the places they occupy clean. No surprises there then.
• Posted by: Mikex • Report Comment
THAT'S A BIT HARD.
26.04.09, 5:49pm
I say, that is not called for old man, You will have fleas complaining about that. I mean being compared to a member of parliament.
May i say to all the fleas out there, that i apologise. We have cockroaches called labour minsters , that bleed the U.K. tax payer dry and look at porn, then put it on the bill, so we can pay for it....Nice!
• Posted by: Tinman • Report Comment
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