I'm staying put, vows expenses row Cash

Staffordshire MP Bill Cash today declared he was staying put - as he prepared to pay back the £15,000 of taxpayers' cash used to pay his daughter rent.

It came as Tory leader David Cameron said the Stone MP had "very serious question to answer".

Mr Cash designated the apartment owned in London's Notting Hill by his daughter Laeticia as his second home during 2004 and 2005 and paid her rent despite owning a flat in Westminster.

It came at a time when he was allowing his son to live rent-free in his own flat.

Shortly after the MP, whose main home is Upton Cressett Hall, near Bridgnorth, moved out of the flat in Notting Hill, his daughter sold the property for a £48,000 profit.

In a statement today, 35-year-old mother-of-two Laeticia offered to repay funds if it was considered there had been wrongdoing.

Ms Cash, who is seeking selection as a Tory candidate for Parliament, said: "Any figures of public record fail to take into account the considerable expense I undertook to renovate the flat. This renovation was undertaken before my father moved in and entirely at my own expense."

Mr Cash says the tenancy agreement was cleared by the Fees Office in advance.