UK's Brown under fire as lawmakers repay expenses

By Adrian Croft

LONDON (Reuters) - British politicians under attack from the public over their expense claims lined up on Wednesday to start paying back thousands of pounds of public money in a bid to assuage voter anger over the scandal.

Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron appeared to have outmanoeuvred Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown after he was first to announce, on Tuesday, that his top lieutenants would repay thousands of pounds of questionable expenses.

Some Conservative lawmakers claimed taxpayers' money for cleaning moats and swimming pools, repairing tennis courts and installing chandeliers in their houses, according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

On Wednesday Cameron sought on to drive home the political advantage over Brown, some of whose own MPs, including cabinet ministers, have also been accused of misusing the allowances.

"Isn't it time to stop the talking, stop the endless committees and start showing some real leadership to deliver some real change?," Cameron told Brown during their weekly jousting at parliamentary questions.

Brown, his ruling Labour Party trailing badly in opinion polls ahead of an election due by mid 2010, accused Cameron of point scoring rather than trying to reform a flawed system.

"Leadership is me saying to all the political parties that they've got to act now and immediately to change the system," Brown retorted.

Brown's Labour Party and Cameron's centre-right Conservatives have both been damaged by embarrassing revelations about how their politicians have filed expense claims for large sums spent on gardening, home furnishings, repairs and security.