James Arbuthnot, MP for North East Hampshire, is at the centre of the latest row over expenses after claiming £2,750 for tree surgery at his £2 million Berkshire mansion - despite the work being carried out during the previous financial year.
He is also under fire for putting in a bill for £43.56 for three "four-piece garlic peeling and cutting sets" from QVC, which is a satellite television shopping channel.
When challenged, Mr Arbuthnot said: "They tend to break".
Mr Arbuthnot ha
s also claimed £15,000 for other work on his property, including the painting of the summer house, and retiling of the roof, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, December 11.
Chairman of the defence select committee, Mr Arbuthnot argued that he was entitled to the payment as he had paid the bill for the work undertaken during the subsequent year.
The Telegraph also reported that Mr Arbuthnot had already claimed the maximum £23,083 for his second home in 2007/08, meaning that he would not have been able to claim any more money to pay for the tree surgery.
He said that both the invoice and his expenses claim form were annotated to say he had paid the tree surgeons' bill on April 21, 2008.
Mr Arbuthnot told the Telegraph: "Since it was paid for in the following month ... the claim could only have been made in the year 2008-09, rather than in 2007-08."
House of Commons rules state that MPs must claim only expenses "wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred when staying overnight for the purpose of performing Parliamentary duties."
Earlier this year, Mr Arbuthnot, was found to have claimed expenses for maintaining the swimming pool at his previous second home.
In April 2008, at the start of the last financial year, according to the Telegraph, he submitted a bill to House of Commons officials for work done to the trees at his £2 million Berkshire mansion, which he had bought without a mortgage.
The MP, a descendant of James V of Scotland and heir to a baronetcy, said in a statement: "The stories relating to my 2008/09 expenses cover matters which have been public knowledge for nearly six months. I posted receipts on my website in July of this year and issued a press release at the same time."
He added: "I asked to be first to take part in David Cameron's internal review of expenses and have fully participated in Sir Thomas Legg's review, agreeing to repay in excess of what was recommended. As I said in July, when releasing my 2008-09 expenses, the second homes allowance in the form which these receipts reflect, is gone, and we, both the public and politicians, are glad to see the back of it."
