A CONTENDER for John Baron’s parliamentary seat has called on the MP to go public with a written agreement he says he was given to remortgage his second home at taxpayers’ expense.

Last week, the Echo revealed a deal Mr Baron says he struck with the fees office in 2004, to re-mortgage his Noak Bridge property and claim the interest instead of submitting some other expenses, was outside official commons rules.

According to the fees office, re-mortgages are only allowed to cover home improvements.

However, he told Tory colleagues the re-mortgage which saw his monthly interest soar by 40 per cent, was done with Parliament’s agreement and he has it in writing.

Allan Davies, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Billericay, said: “If he has proof of this agreement in writing, then I challenge him to make this public to bring some transparency and resolution to this matter. I have written to him about the issue.”

Mr Baron is refusing to discuss the matter with the Echo, but meanwhile has removed an open letter from his website, in which he declared he had carried out no improvements at the second home.

According to local Tories, Mr Baron also says his expenses have been cleared by “various” Parliamentary watchdogs.

The Echo has learned that both Sir John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Standards and Privileges have not looked into his claims, as they have received no complaint.

Both the Legg Review and a Tory scrutiny panel are looking into his expenses, but the findings are not yet public.