‘It’s a disgrace’ - Labour MP slammed for charging taxpayers £900 ‘pet rent’ for dog to live with her in London home
29 March 2025, 22:18 | Updated: 30 March 2025, 11:30
Labour MP Taiwo Owatemi has been called ‘a disgrace’ for using taxpayer money to pay for her pet cockapoo to live with her at her second home in London.
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Owatemi, who serves as Sir Keir Starmer's Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, had an expense claim of £900 per year in rent approved to keep her pet dog Bella living with her at her second home in London.
The expense form was submitted and approved just weeks after Labour won the 2024 General Election.
The claim, exposed in a new bombshell document, shows that parliamentary authorities paid the ‘pet rent’, a surcharge understood to be imposed by her landlord.
LBC has approached Taiwo Owatemi’s office for comment.
A Labour spokesperson said that some MPs need housing support, since they have to work in their constituency and in Westminster.
Owatemi, 32, regularly posts pictures of her with her dog Bella on social media, including christmas cards with the cockapoo and snaps of them campaigning before the election.
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It comes as the MP for Coventry North is helping to stem a government rebellion over the Treasury’s controversial plans to cut £5 billion in disability benefits.
Disability campaigner Hannah Campbell, 41, had to have her left leg amputated after she was in an explosion while she was serving in the Iraq War.
“This is a disgrace,” the mother-of-three told the Sun on Sunday.
“It’s one set of rules for them and one set of rules for everyone else. They are not leading by example.
“When disability money is being cut, to hear that an MP has received £900 for a dog really is shocking.”
She added: “As a disabled person, I know how vulnerable most people on benefits are - and I cannot support the cuts.
“I acknowledge that difficult decisions have to be made to balance the books.
“I’d suggest they start with the politicians and their dogs.”
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: “It’s surely enough for MPs to get the rent on a second home paid for without the need to pick up the tab for their furry friends as well.
“No one begrudges a politician wanting a pet, but they should pay for the cost themselves.”
A spokesman for the expenses watchdog IPSA added: “MPs are required to work in two places: their constituency and in Westminster.
“IPSA is committed to supporting a Parliament where people without the private finances to fund working from two locations themselves are not prevented from becoming an MP.
“That is why we fund accommodation costs, within strict limits. It is common for landlords to include additional surcharges in rental agreements."
