Page 2 of yesterday's Sunday Telegraph pictured and featured the Keens as follows:"MP couple claimed £40,000 without receipts" by Ben Leapman, Home Affairs Correspondent"A married couple, both Labour MPs, claimed almost £40,000 of household expenses in a year without submitting one receipt."Alan and Ann Keen were paid the money from the public purse even though they gave no explanation of why they needed it."The payout emerged as details of MPs' expenses were released to The Sunday Telegraph by the House of Commons three years after they were requested under freedom of information laws. The Speaker, Michael Martin, will go to the High Court to challenge a tribunal ruling that further disclosures should be made."The money paid to the Keens came from the additional cost allowance (ACA), which is intended to help MPs meet the cost of maintaining a second home. The Keens have two homes: a flat in central London and a constituency home nine miles away in the west London commuter belt."While other MPs submitted detailed accounts of how they spent their ACAs, the Keens, who have been branded "Mr and Mrs Expenses", each put in monthly claims for £1,640, a figure calculated as one-twelfth of the annual permitted total, without stating what the money was for. Each received the maximum payout of £19,681.75 during 2002/3 - a total of £39,363.50 between them."There is no suggestion the Keens broke the rules. Their claims highlight the lax Commons expenses regime at the time, which was tightened the following year to force MPs to account for their spending. In 2003/4, when the new regime took effect, the Keens received £4,000 less than they had done the previous year."The other five MPs whose 2002/3 expenses were disclosed - Tony Blair, Margaret Beckett, Peter Mandelson, Barbara Follett and John Wilkinson - all provided the Commons authorities with full explanations of where the money went. For example, Mr Mandelson's claim for £12,588 included £3,850 for rent and rates, £2,100 for food, £1,050 for cleaning and an £812 newspaper bill, among other specified costs."Ann Keen, 59, is a health minister and has been MP for Brentford and Isleworth since 1997. Her husband, 70, a former football scout, has been MP for Feltham and Heston since 1992, and chairs the all-party football group. Neither was available for comment."
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