Kemi Badenoch bills taxpayers for nearly £3,000 worth of electricity bills
The Tory leader claimed £1,800 worth of bills in February 2024, followed by another £1,000 a month later - both for her second home which is only just far enough away from London to claim expenses
Kemi Badenoch claimed nearly £3,000 of taxpayers cash to pay the electricity bills at her second home - months after her government scrapped assistance for struggling households.
The last government's Energy Bills Assistance scheme came to an end in June 2023.
But the following February, Ms Badenoch billed taxpayers for more than £1,800 worth of electricity bills.
And in March, she submitted a second claim for another £1,000.
Government records suggest it's the first time Ms Badenoch has claimed for energy bills since moving into her Kent country pile, which she shares with her banker husband Hamish.
The couple share a huge grade II listed farmhouse with six bedrooms - with rent paid for on expenses.
Her banker husband subsidises the rent - as it is over the limit for the amount she can claim - but the Mirror revealed earlier this year that Mrs Badenoch has landed the taxpayer with the full council tax bill.
The Mirror revealed earlier this year that Ms Badenoch claims the maximum level of Council Tax for her property - nearly £4,000 last year - despite it being just a stone's throw away from London.
Ms Badenoch made the 23rd highest accommodation claim out of 664 MPs last year and yet her Essex constituency borders the 'London area' where MPs are not allowed to claim any second home expenses at all.
The claims are within the rules but raises awkward questions for the outspoken right-winger, who says she wants a "smaller state" and champions lower Government spending.
At the time the electricity bill claims were submitted, Ms Badenoch was business and trade secretary, earning almost £160,000 a year - more than four times the national average salary.
Ms Badenoch's spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Ms Badenoch came under fire this week after calling for measures to drive down energy bills to be scrapped.
The Tory leader demanded an end to the windfall tax on oil and gas firms and for a ban on new licences in the North Sea to be lifted.
She was accused of being "on the side of oil and gas giants rather than working Scots".
The energy levy was brought in when Rishi Sunak was in power when profits exploded following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But in a speech to Scottish Tories Ms Badenoch claimed the windfall is "long gone" and claimed Labour is "killing this industry".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
SNP councillor forces Labour to take action against Israeli arms sales
SNP councillor Naz Anis-Miah's pro-Palestinian motion was passed by Fife Council despite opposition from the ruling minority Labour administration. Labour councillors dropped their amendment to the motion halfway through the debate. The full motion called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to UK arms sales to Israel, a commitment to upholding international law, and support for increased humanitarian aid to the region. READ MORE: Scottish Labour drop below Alba and Greens in Highlands by-election It also committed the leader of Fife Council, Labour councillor David Ross, to write to Keir Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds over ending arms exports and instead increasing humanitarian aid. 'Obviously [Benjamin] Netanyahu and Israel are not going to listen to what Fife Council are going to say, but what Fife Council can do is apply pressure to the British government,' Anis-Miah told The National. The debate on the motion was held on Thursday, with councillors going back and forth over Labour's amendment which Anis-Miah said would have 'watered down' the SNP's motion. Speaking in the Chamber, Anis-Miah (below) told fellow councillors: 'We can't claim to champion human rights abroad while fuelling destruction with our exports. 'We can't preach peace while we enable war. We cannot turn a blind eye to the death of innocent children while our industries build machines that kill them. If we can't stop the bombs let's stop building them. If we can't end the war let's refuse to fuel it. (Image: SNP) 'If we can't undo the suffering, let us not be the ones who prolong it. I urge every member of this chamber to support the motion. "Let's send a clear message to the Prime Minister and Westminster that the people of Fife and Scotland will not be complicit in supplying arms that cause genocide.' Ross told councillors that members of the Labour group were still 'uncomfortable' with some parts of the motion. 'I think undoubtedly we are all horrified and really totally concerned about what is going on and we recognise the need to make a statement,' he added. 'In the interests of speaking with one voice from the council we're prepared to withdraw our amendment with a slight concession on the wording from the SNP motion.' The SNP group agreed to remove a call for the motion to be shared with Cosla and other councils across Scotland. READ MORE: UK scrambles to charter flights out of Israel for British citizens 'We're comfortable that we can share it with our Cosla delegates at the SNP Council group nationwide, and we've also obviously got a network of Councilors across the country, so we're comfortable that we'll share the motion ourselves,' Anis-Miah explained. We previously told how in the last quarter of 2024, the Labour Government licensed exports of more military equipment to Israel than the Tories did for all of 2020-2023 combined. This led to Lammy claiming that The National's article was 'clickbait' as he dismissed the report, which was based on UK Government figures. Several high profile celebrities, including Paolo Nutini and Ncuti Gatwa, have joined calls urging Starmer to suspend arm sales to Israel.
Edinburgh Reporter
an hour ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Senior Edinburgh councillors back giving themselves a pay hike
Senior Edinburgh councillors have backed giving themselves a pay hike, with only one member speaking out in opposition. In February, Edinburgh Council agreed to freeze pay for senior councillors – including political group leaders and committee conveners – at the previous year's levels. But at Thursday's meeting all political groups except the SNP voted in favour of raising pay for senior councillors, with most getting an uplift of £4,637 to their annual pay packets – an 11.6% jump. Council committee conveners, as well as the SNP, Conservative and Liberal Democrat group leaders, will all get £4,637 added to their annual pay, bringing them to £44,644 per year, up from £40,027 from the previous year. And the depute council leader, Labour's Mandy Watt, will also get a £4,637 pay hike, bringing her total compensation to £52,669, up from £48,032 before. A council spokesperson said the increase in pay for senior councillors was intended to match the pay hike given to non-senior councillors by the Scottish Government. While local authorities have the power to set the pay of senior councillors, the rates for all other councillors are set by the Scottish Government, including the council's leader and Lord Provost, based on the fidings of the Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee (SLARC). Earlier this year, it mandated that the salary for most councillors be raised to £25,982 per year, up £4,637 from their previous pay of £21,345, which stood unchanged for several years. Labour councillor and council leader Jane Meagher is paid £71,519 per year, while Lord Provost Robert Aldridge is paid £53,640. Depute council leader, Labour councillor Mandy Watt, said: 'I sat down and read the guidance, and it does say that in your approach to this, you should be doing councillor remuneration from the bottom up, not the top down. 'I very much appreciate the support that I've had [from officers] to get all this together.' An SNP source said: 'Councillors have been chronically underpaid for decades, and normally I'd take the view that we remunerate the position held, rather than the individual holding it. 'But the current crop of administration conveners are so inept that we could not support them getting a pay hike.' A council spokesperson said: 'While we don't set the rates of pay for non-senior councillor roles it's appropriate that we publish them and provide elected members with the opportunity to scrutinise rates for full transparency. 'The increase in Senior Councillors' remuneration was agreed by Council yesterday, and now includes the increase to the Councillor basic pay set by the Scottish Government.' Only one member, Labour councillor Katrina Faccenda, spoke out against the pay hikes. She said: 'I think you should take note of which councillors are getting extra money, and you should work out whether you are getting value for money from those councillors. 'Since this is public money, and I don't think anyone in here would support the misuse of public money, I'd ask the public to have a look at that, and work out if they think that in Edinburgh Council, the extra money they have to spend to subsidise councillors is being used in the right way.' Cllr Faccenda, who will not financially benefit from the pay increase for senior councillors, voted to support the hike. Meanwhile, independent councillor Ross McKenzie voted with the SNP to oppose the pay hike. Green co-convener, councillor Chas Booth, said: 'Greens think it is right that people are paid appropriately for the work they do, and we welcomed the recommendations of the Scottish Local Authority Remuneration Committee around councillors' salaries. 'Pay is a significant barrier to people from marginalised groups entering politics, and if we want to see more diversity in our councillors to reflect the rich diversity of the communities we serve, then we need to ensure people without independent income can become elected representatives. 'However, we acknowledge that while so many people in Edinburgh continue to face a cost-of-living crisis caused by years of austerity which is now being continued by the Labour government at Westminster, the Labour council administration doesn't feel that big increases in senior councillor pay were not appropriate. 'Therefore Green councillors were happy to support their proposals around this.' By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
Edinburgh Reporter
an hour ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
East Lothian Council gets red card over parking meter plans
Councillors behind plans to introduce parking charges in an East Lothian town centre have been given the red card by angry residents. More than 100 people attended a community meeting on Thursday to share their views on proposals to introduce meters as part of a county wide move by the local authority to manage parking in towns. The audience were handed green and red cards to hold up after questions were answered to show their support or rejections of the answers given. And Provost John McMillan, who made the case for the council's proposals found himself faced with a sea of red cards in response to his comments during the meeting. East Lothian MSP and former Scottish Housing Minister Paul McLennan addresses meeting about introduce parking charges in Haddington town centre It was claimed the charges would drive away customers from the town centre and penalise the sick. Former Housing Minister Paul McLennan MSP, who recently stepped down from the post to spend more time with his East Lothian constituents, told the meeting he could not support the parking charges plan for the town. He said the council had provided no evidence of the impact they would have on local shops and businesses and no costing for introducing the new system. He said: 'I can't support the current proposals when no impact assessment has been carried out and we don't know how much it is going to cost. We do not know how it will impact our high streets and trade.' The meeting heard from Garry Clark from the Federation of Small Businesses, who said its East Lothian members had raised concerns that the charges would drive away customers and were not fair. He pointed to similar schemes which had been introduced in Angus and Inverurie which he said had damaged town centres with councils having to go back to the drawing board. Mr Clark said: 'When you have retail parks on the edge of town with free parking and online shopping where people aren't having to park anywhere, it is unfair to charge customers who want to go into the town centre to shop.' Provost McMillan, who lives in Haddington and is the council administration's economic spokesperson, insisted the proposals, which have been included in a parking management scheme first put forward by the Labour administration in 2018, aimed to keep cars moving in the town centre with funds raised going back into the roads. However he drew criticism from members of the public who questioned why there was a free car park for East Lothian Council staff at the local authority's Haddington town centre headquarters. One resident asked: 'Whey are council staff able to park for free while everyone else has to pay?' Councillor McMillan also drew gasps from some members of the audience when he told them that it has, in his opinion, become 'inbred that you can park anywhere you want in Haddington'. Haddington and District Community Council, who organised the meeting in the town's Knox Academy, described a council survey carried out as part of the public consultation into the proposals as 'bias' saying it carried out its own questionnaire which received hundreds of responses for the town's residents, visitors and traders. They said when asked if there were parking problems in Haddington over 85% said no with the number who were against the introduction of meters rising to the high nineties. Mr McMillan stressed that the consultation was ongoing and the views of people in the town would be considered. He told the meeting: 'I am here to listen, I am here to answer questions and I am here to collaborate with you.' However his responses to questions about the staff car park in the town centre and explanations about trying to make people less dependent on cars to travel into the town saw red cards raised in response almost unanimously by the audience. The council proposes changing the town centre parking in Haddington, which currently offers 90 minutes before drivers have to move on, to 30 minutes free and then charges being introduced. However people at the meeting questioned whether it was possible for people, who travel into the town from outlying rural communities, to come into town and carry out appointments in the new 30 minute limit. East Lothian MSP Craig Hoy who has been a vocal opponent of the council's ongoing plans to introduce parking charges across the county, said it would mean charging the sick. He said: 'I have my constituency office in Haddington town centre and know how long a chat with a constituent who comes in to see me can take. 'What happens when they come in for GP appointments or have to collect prescriptions? This can't be done in 30 minutes so we are charging people who are sick to come and get help.' By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
