MPs' expenses: Former Labour MP Frank Cook claimed for DIY items bought in USA - Telegraph

MPs' expenses: Former Labour MP Frank Cook claimed for DIY items bought in USA - Telegraph: "Frank Cook, a former Labour MP, claimed twice on his expenses for DIY equipment bought in America where his second wife, an exiled princess from Laos, lives.

Mr Cook, who represented Stockton North until this year’s election, billed the taxpayer for carpet underlay, a universal saw, wall hangings and a swivel cleaner that he said were for his constituency office.

Instead of receipts, he submitted a credit card bill that showed that the items were bought in the United States. At least one item was purchased by Princess Somsangouane Baldinger, who lives in Arizona, on their shared account. Five weeks later, the MP submitted a second claim on his parliamentary expenses for the same items – this time on his additional costs allowance (ACA), which was intended to pay for the upkeep of the London flat he designated as his second home."

No doubt he wanted some shag pile to deal with carpet burns