Mr Cameron, who will return £680 paid for repair work at his Oxfordshire house, said it was “time for MPs to start setting an example”.
…
Mr Cameron has gone further by establishing an independent scrutiny committee to investigate expense claims made by backbench Tory MPs. Those who refused to co-operate with the committee and repay expenses claims deemed to have been excessive would be expelled from the party, said Mr Cameron.

The Tory leader said any of his MPs guilty of it would be punished by the panel he has set up to examine claims.

“I don’t think it is right to get money from the taxpayer for what you nominate as a second home and then to sell it and not pay capital gains tax,” said Mr Cameron.

“I put a stop to that immediately, even before the House of Commons, with my MPs.

“That applies for the future. For the past we go through the scrutiny panel and if people have got it wrong then money will have to be paid back.”
…
[Cameron] said: “Where appropriate, others will be removed from the front bench if they do not behave appropriately. I want to very tough [sic] but I also want to be consistent and fair.”

Douglass ‘Moat Clean’ Hogg
Sir Peter ‘Duck Island’ Viggers
Anthony ‘You’re All Just Jealous of My Big House’ Steen
Christopher ‘215 trees on expenses a necessity’ Fraser
Andrew McKay
Julie Kirkbride
Sir Nicholas Winterton
Ann Winterton

The arrangement also enabled Mr Osborne to reduce the loan on his London home, which he later sold for £1.45 million, to less than £200,000.

Mr Osborne said last night that he had made no personal gain from the flip and that there was no impropriety or suggestion of wrongdoing. He said that after being elected an MP he had been advised by the Commons’ Fees Office to declare the London house as his second home so that he could claim expenses for his mortgage interest payments until he was able to change his loan arrangements.

However, the disclosures will lead to further questions for the Shadow Chancellor after David Cameron said that it was “not good enough” for MPs simply to claim that they had abided by the rules on expenses. The Conservative leader has banned the practice of “flipping” and of avoiding capital gains tax. Since his election Mr Osborne has claimed close to the maximum limit for MPs’ second homes under the Additional Cost Allowance (ACA).

David Cameron’s right-hand man claimed the move, which allowed him to avoid capital gains tax, was “entirely reasonable”.

The Shadow Chancellor claimed mortgage interest on his London pad for two years before selling it for £1.45million.

But because he “flipped” his second home allowance to his Cheshire farmhouse before the sale, he avoided paying the tax.

The multi-millionaire had already reduced the London mortgage to £200,000, billing taxpayers for the interest.

The Liberal Democrats argue that Mr Osborne should pay £54,948 in capital gains tax, which they say he should have been under a moral obligation to pay had he told the tax authorities that for two of the eight years he lived in his London home it was designated as his second residence. They base their calculation on the claim that under the spirit of the rules, Mr Osborne should be liable for capital gains tax on a quarter of the gain of his house sale profit.

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said: “This is a real test of Mr Cameron’s leadership. He blackballed his country gentlemen with their moats and duck houses before their feet could touch the ground. But will he make his shadow chancellor pay back this tax?’’

George Osborne was the target of a complaint to the office over his claims for the mortgage on his constituency home. The Shadow Chancellor was revealed by The Times as having “flipped” the designation of his official second home after taking out a £450,000 mortgage on the Cheshire property.

John Lyon, the Standards Commissioner, confirmed yesterday that he was considering a complaint that Mr Osborne had claimed interest payments on a debt greater than the cost of the home. The Shadow Chancellor’s spokesman dismissed that allegation, however, insisting that Mr Osborne’s mortgage had included costs of essential repairs to the property.

George Osborne is still Tory Shadow Chancellor.

Two Questions for Tory Backbenchers and grass-roots activists:
1) Has Mr Cameron been consistent in his claim that: “I don’t think it is right to get money from the taxpayer for what you nominate as a second home and then to sell it and not pay capital gains tax”?

2) Has Mr Cameron honoured his declaration that: “Where appropriate, others will be removed from the front bench if they do not behave appropriately. I want to very tough [sic] but I also want to be consistent and fair.”?

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Article written by a contributor who has to remain anonymous for professional reasons.