Research firm boss MP defiant about £50,000 expense claim

by Noelle McElhatton, Brand Republic 18-Jun-09, 16:00

LONDON - Brian Binley, the Tory MP caught up in the expenses scandal and owner of database and market research firm BCC Marketing Services, said he would refuse to pay back the £50,000 he claimed in rent for a flat owned by BCC.

Yesterday the Daily Telegraph revealed that Binley claimed more than £50,000 from the taxpayer to rent a flat from BCC, the database-building firm he founded in 1989.

Binley remains chairman of BCC, which employs 100 people and uses telemarketing to build databases and do market research for clients.

Yesterday Binley declared that if he was asked to repay the money by the Tories' scrutiny panel, he would refuse to do so.

He faces becoming the first Tory to lose the whip if he carries out his threat.

Binley, in the Independent, said: "I signed a rental agreement for £1,500 a month, which is a very good price in Pimlico -- I felt a very good deal for the taxpayer, a very good deal for my family.

"I did it honestly and properly. This place is not going to criminalise me. I am perfectly happy with everything I've done. I've been honest and open in everything done."

In a letter to his constituents yesterday, Binley defended his £50,000 claim by outlining how the cost of the mortgage on the Pimlico flat was not covered by the amount he claimed back from the taxpayer in rent.

Binley is a successful entrepreneur who, aside from setting up BCC, co-founded Beechwood House Publishing Company in 1993 to publish directories.

He entered politics at the relatively late age of 63 as MP for Northampton South.