How, exactly, did Labour peer George Foulkes manage to rack up £45,000 in overnight expenses to stay in a London flat he inherited, mortgage-free, from his mother? The expenses cover a two-year period. During the same two-year period Foulkes - according to this - managed to buy £600,000 of property in cash deals. He's quoted in the Sunday Herald thus:

Foulkes said yesterday: "This is beneath contempt. I have stayed there since 1980. I still have costs in London. I claim for having a flat and overnight stays, including food, travel and taxis. On whether he planned to reduce his overnight costs in the future, he said: "I don't know. Let's hope the cost of electricity and other things is maintained at the current level."

The London flat doubles as a business address for a directorship that nets him £50,000 a year. Presumably, then, that particular business isn't claiming utility-related expenses when it files tax returns.

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