MPs claim £420,000 to pay their energy bills as Brits increasingly struggle with soaring prices

#ScrapMPsExpenses is now spreading across Twitter

As energy bills are predicted to reach over £5,000 a year by 2023, the latest figures on MPs expenses and how they can claim back in gas and electric usage has left Brits outraged. First reported by Open Democracy back in April this year, the estimated figure MPs are said to have collectively claimed on their energy bills is more than £420,000 since 2019. Now this number is once again circulating online, people are understandably furious. https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/1557645448546029569?s=20&t=74gnqmkXYwkusByzjt0NIg https://twitter.com/Geordiesbird/status/1557756867698479109?s=20&t=74gnqmkXYwkusByzjt0NIg While most people have already had to come to terms with elected officials being able to claim expenses for all manner of things thanks to their political privileges, for many this is the first time they are hearing that something as simple as their monthly gas and electric bills can be claimed back. As a result, the hashtag #ScrapMPsExpenses is now spreading its way across Twitter. https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/1557447539867193345?s=20&t=74gnqmkXYwkusByzjt0NIg As alluded to above, this resurgent revelation comes just a day after Tory Mark Spencer urged the general public and UK media not to "scaremonger" over rising energy costs and the wider cost of living crisis. We probably wouldn't be worried if we could claim our bills back either. https://twitter.com/JOE_co_uk/status/1557635392173752320?s=20&t=OndG17hTCcd_8Ljnq1h1AA Spencer was grilled after Good Morning Britain presenter Adil Ray quizzed the Leader of the House of Commons on MPs being able to claim expenses on their energy usage if they have a second home so long as it is located outside of London. All of this while the everyday public are struggling to pay one set of bills, never mind two. According to the self-explanatory website MPs Expenses, UK MPs are said to have claimed a whopping £132,159,995.91 for a total of 117,258 different items between February 1, 2021 and January 31, 2022. Brendan Clarke-Smith of Bassetlaw is thought to have expensed the most with £267,512.51 to his name, while the least amount claimed back was by Eastleigh MP, Mims Davies, who hasn't taken so much as a penny back over that period.

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