Ministers have defended their expenses claims saying all were made within the rules, as police are asked to probe how the details were leaked to a newspaper.
Lord Mandelson, who claimed £2,850 for his home, before quitting as an MP and selling it for a large profit, said the claims were for essential repairs. Justice Secretary Jack Straw said he had repaid £1,500 which he claimed to cover the full rate of council tax on his constituency home - when he was getting a 50% discount. He told the BBC he had acted "in complete good faith and within the rules" but regretted the "error" on council tax.
But asked how his colleague - Environment Secretary Hilary Benn - apparently managed to claim only £140 for the whole year under the allowance, Mr Straw added: "I will talk to Hilary about how he manages it."
Downing Street says there was "nothing wrong" with Gordon Brown's £6,500 claim to pay his brother for a cleaner.
His spokesman said any suggestion there was something wrong in the arrangement whereby Mr Brown paid his brother for a cleaner they both shared was "wholly unjustified".
The Telegraph revelations include Communities Secretary Hazel Blears claiming three different properties within a year were her "second home" - the first her Salford constituency, the second two in London. MPs can claim up to £24,000 a year towards the costs of their second home.
Ms Blears said the claims were "entirely in accordance with the rules" adding: "I have only ever had one small, one-bedroom flat at any time in London." But she did not answer questions about whether the claims were justified
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