JESS Phillips Claimed £61k Expenses In One Year – Even Claiming Back Refugee Charity Event Ticket

LABOUR MP Jess Phillips claimed a whopping £61,000 in expenses on top of her generous salary between 2019 and 2020 – beating even MP Zarah Sultana’s splurge of £45k.

Her claims include over £5,000 on stationary and printing alone, with many identical claims repeated numerous times during the same period.

The outspoken Member of Parliament also shockingly claimed back the cash she spent on tickets for a charity event – charging the public £28 for her attendance at the National Refugee Women’s Conference in February of this year, rather than donate the money from her own overfilled pockets.

The charity supports female refugees facing destitution, whose website described the event, which sought to raise much needed cash for their work, as “the third National Refugee Women’s Conference, this time in Birmingham… We will be coming together for an inspiring programme of workshops, discussions and performances to build our energy and skills to create change. The conference is hosted by Women with Hope, WAST Manchester, CARAG, Refugee Women Connect, Women for Refugee Women and other grassroots groups.”

“We will be launching new research that documents the experiences of over 100 destitute asylum-seeking women” they said. “This evidence shows that destitution is a deliberate policy designed to harm vulnerable women and prevent them from rebuilding their lives with dignity.”

It is a shame that an MP cannot spare what is essentially spare change to her to attend such an event, rather than greedily demand it be repaid by the taxpayer.

These claims are on top of her long list of financial backers who donate to support her MP work and local Labour activities, including her register of financial interests listing a donation totalling £6,000 from Court Consultants, paid in monthly instalments until next July.

Court Consultants is controlled by Birmingham property developer Anthony McCourt. He is a longstanding financial backer of Jess Phillips. In 2017, Anthony McCourt gave £3,000 to Philips to help with the running of her local Labour party.

McCourt runs his developments through his other company, Court Collaboration, which has raised eyebrows over its controversial business dealings and criticised for not producing enough affordable housing.

If Jess receives so much financial aid on top of her hefty wage and expenses, where is that additional money going, and why can she not at least pay for charitable donations herself rather than out of the public purse?