news/480/cpsprodpb/4a31/live/a7fbed70-e9e6-11ef-bd1b-d536627785f2.jpg.webp” alt=”Sign showing Halifax”>
Rachel Reeves and her expenses before she became an MP
The whistleblower’s contact with us referred to concerns around gifts as well as expenses on restaurants. They were particularly exercised by what they claimed to be excessive spending on taxis compared to colleagues on the same pay grade but at the same time as hiring who they thought were junior staff. This was despite their roles in the department meaning they were not required to travel as much.
We have seen receipts for some of these expenses, and while we cannot independently verify their authenticity or legality, they show Reeves and one of the other accused managers using their cards for items including taxis to and from expensive restaurants and shops, and spending on £150 bottles of perfume and £500 handbags. The documents also show purchases at Jo Malone, Chanel, and in top London restaurants, with some items described as gifts.
The whistleblower said the trio appeared to “club together on occasion to reward each other with Motivation cards”.
The memo circulated by the planning and strategy manager in late 2008 raised similar issues.
Reeves’s response
Reeves strongly denies any wrongdoing in relation to her expenses at HBOS or her management of the company’s finances.
A spokesman for the Chancellor said she was not aware of the investigation and had never intentionally or knowingly broken the rules on expenses.
“She has always complied with expenses rules,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman said any gifts she gave were for a legitimate business purpose, such as thanking colleagues for their work. She said her spending on travel costs, including taxis, was in line with what was required in her role, adding that she often stayed in Yorkshire for weekends to be near to work.
The spokesman said that Reeves left HBOS in May 2009 to move back south from Yorkshire after her husband found work in London. She said the big move from London to Halifax earlier in her bank career was a “lifestyle event”.
“She left the bank on good terms and on the basis we agreed that commuting from London to Halifax was not sustainable,” the spokesman said. “Her departure was amicable and all parties agreed that the best thing to do was to go their separate ways.”
Reeves strongly denies any wrongdoing in relation to her expenses at HBOS or her management of the company’s finances.
A spokesman for the Chancellor said she was not aware of the investigation and had never intentionally or knowingly broken the rules on expenses.
“She has always complied with expenses rules,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman said any gifts she gave were for a legitimate business purpose, such as thanking colleagues for their work. She said her spending on travel costs, including taxis, was in line with what was required in her role, adding that she often stayed in Yorkshire for weekends to be near to work.
The spokesman said that Reeves left HBOS in May 2009 to move back south from Yorkshire after her husband found work in London. She said the big move from London to Halifax earlier in her bank career was a “lifestyle event”.
“She left the bank on good terms and on the basis we agreed that commuting from London to Halifax was not sustainable,” the spokesman said. “Her departure was amicable and all parties agreed that the best thing to do was to go their separate ways.”
Hustings expense review
The in-depth look happened as part of our scrutiny of politicians’ spending, as we approach a potential general election campaign dominated by the political fault lines around the cost of living, and the impact of what the parties say could be a decade-high tax burden.
During the general election campaign most parties are expected to set out their plans for public services, welfare spending, and all those taxes – income, sales, and stealth.
Our aim is to assess how the politicians proposing these changes manage and spend public cash in their private lives.
MPs in particular are likely to face scrutiny in forthcoming weeks given the potential general election campaign.
We have received figures from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and a string of Freedom of Information requests to look for patterns in politicians’ spending habits.
This can involve travel expenses on flights and transport, hotel bills, restaurant meals, as well as tax returns and other financial information.
Some of this information has been disclosed publicly in the Official Register of Members’
Interests, but other data is being obtained through direct or secondary sources.
An industry whistleblower also supplied information to us about the politicians they worked under, but – as with all information of this kind – we are taking steps to verify it and source it before using it in our articles.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
