Hyndburn MP Graham Jones has said he saves the taxpayer thousands of pounds a year after his expense claims last year topped £150,000.
Labour MP Mr Jones claimed £51,646 in expenses last year, up 10.8 per cent on the year before.
His overall cost to the taxpayer – including staff salaries but not his MP’s salary – rose to £150,026, up 24.4 per cent, largely due to an increase in the size of his office’s payroll.
Mr Jones said the increased staffing salaries were due to him employing more staff than his predecessor Greg Pope.
He said: “Greg didn’t have a member of staff in Westminster.
“We are absolutely drowning in casework and my staff are having to put in extra hours to deal with all the correspondence that we are receiving, both in Westminster and Hyndburn.
“From my point of view I save the taxpayer thousands because there’s thousands I could claims for in my political life, but don’t. I make a damn good effort and sacrifice to keep them down.”
Mr Jones added: “I don’t think MPs expenses are the issue.
“I think Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority are the issue with the amount of money that’s wasted on that organisation.
“It’s the biggest bureaucratic organisation I’ve ever experienced and they’re costing the taxpayer millions.”
The average claim by MPs inclusive of staff salaries was £137,500, although higher claims by MPs in the north of England and Scotland reflect higher travel expenses between constituencies and London.
Overall, MPs expenses including salaries rose from £71 million to £89 million last year, just less than the amount claimed before the expenses scandal of 2009.
