These MPs all had debts written off by ignoring warning letters, says the expenses watchdog

The House of Commons expenses watchdog has published a list of 26 current and former MPs whose alleged unpaid debts have been written off.

Why are they saying that these amounts - totalling £2,105.43 - have been written off, you ask? Because, according to the watchdog, MPs ignored correspondence about them.

Yup.

As the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) said:

These are for amounts less than £500 where it is not cost-effective for Ipsa to pursue recovery of the debts any further. All MPs have been contacted several times about these outstanding sums.

Several of the MPs on the list, which includes two Tory ministers, have said they were not contacted and are unaware of any money owed.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said:

The Prime Minister's view is that he expects any ministers who owe money to pay it back.

I think a number of ministers are intending to do so.

In total, the expenses bill for MPs in 2014-15 was £105.9million, up £1.7million on the previous year.

More: These 19 MPs all had their parliamentary credit cards suspended