FRI AM: Dewsbury MP in expenses scandal - latest

May 15 2009 By Andrew Jackson

Mr Malik was inside his Dewsbury home this morning.

The house is part of converted outbuildings next to a derelict manor house on the edge of the town.

The property, which has the date 1685 on the lintel above the door, can only be accessed down a private road off the main Heckmondwike Road.

The converted block stands by itself on land opposite the Dewsbury Moor council estate, which hit the headlines last year following the disappearance of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews.

Mr Malik claimed that much of the reporting about his expenses claims was "absolute nonsense''.

Speaking from Dewsbury, he insisted he was "as straight as they come" and said nearly every other MP in the country had spent the same amount as him.

But he pledged to donate £1,050 he claimed for a television to worthy local causes in his constituency.

He told Sky News: "I will not be giving it to the authorities in Parliament because it is legitimately mine.

"But as a gesture I am giving that to good causes in my constituency, and I think it will be appreciated by those who receive it."

Mr Malik alleged that the focus on his expenses was politically motivated.

He told Sky News: "You are running with the Conservatives’ agenda, and obviously the way that they have played this has been more detrimental to Labour than to anybody else."