Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east Tory MP apologises after wrongly claiming back train fare

Andrew Bowie.
Andrew Bowie.

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie has apologised after claiming back a £202 rail fare that was not connected to his Commons work.

The Conservative told the Press and Journal it was a “genuine mistake” and was being rectified.

“I’m obviously sorry,” he said. “It was a genuine mistake. It went in in error. It came as a complete shock that this had been approved.

“It’s being rectified.”

Mr Bowie claimed for a journey from London to Northallerton in Yorkshire where he spoke at a Richmond Conservatives dinner in April.

Claiming back money spent on party events and campaigns is not allowed under Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) rules.

An SNP spokesman said Mr Bowie had been “caught red handed trying to charge the taxpayer for political campaigning”.

He added: “It’s an incredibly serious matter, which will cause constituents to question their trust in the MP.

“It’s entirely right that Andrew Bowie should reimburse the public purse. But he shouldn’t have been embarrassed into this – it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

The Press and Journal understands the ticket was booked through the parliamentary travel office but should have been paid for by the MP rather than claimed as a parliamentary expense.

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “This was an administrative error.

“It has been corrected to ensure there is no cost to the taxpayer.”

IPSA, which doesn’t comment on individual cases, requires MPs to make repayments for any amounts that are claimed incorrectly.