REIGATE MP Crispin Blunt has defended his Conservative party colleague Helen Grant over her decision to claim the maximum second-home allowance while living in his constituency, even though he isn't eligible to do the same.
Mrs Grant, who was elected as the Member of Parliament for Maidstone and The Weald in 2010, is currently living in Tadworth, in a home reported to be worth £1.8million.
But it was revealed in a Channel 4 Dispatches report she is also claiming the £20,000 second-home allowance for a London flat.
Mr Blunt isn't eligible for the grant because it is deemed his Reigate constituency is too close to the capital – about 22 miles – compared with Mrs Grant's Maidstone constituency, which is about 37 miles away from Westminster.
The Maidstone MP was heavily criticised by Labour, who described her decision as "outrageous" and a "farce" and accused her of breaking the spirit of the expenses rules.
But coming to her defence Mr Blunt said: "Helen has a substantial ministerial portfolio, constituents, a constituency and family responsibilities to manage. Her arrangements are not analogous to mine.
"These are part of the trade-offs that MPs and ministers have to make all the time to try to meet all the competing demands on them. Frankly, I think this is a pretty cheap shot by Dispatches and I would hope you would be sympathetic to someone who has done a considerable public service, by moving from a successful professional service business into public service at significant expense to herself and her family."
According to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, the body that oversees MPs expenses, Mrs Grant is acting within the rules.