Osborne denial on 'flipping'

GEORGE Osborne last night angrily denied "flipping" homes to milk his Commons expenses.

The Shadow Chancellor switched the designation of his second home after taking a £450,000 mortgage - but he insists he made no personal gain.

Mr Osborne bought a Cheshire farmhouse as a constituency home ten months before becoming MP for Tatton in 2001.

But instead of taking out a loan, he paid for it by increasing the mortgage on the London pad where he and his wife had lived since 1998.

Mr Osborne said he told Commons officials the Cheshire residence was his main home - and claimed on expenses the interest payments.

Two years later, he took out a £450,000 mortgage on the farmhouse - saying it was his second home, allowing him to claim £100,000 on exes.

In 2006, Mr Osborne was able to slash that loan by £200,000 after selling his London property for £1.45million.

But Labour MP John Mann said: "George has serious questions to answer. What was the capital gains tax position?"

Mr Osborne's spokesman said: "It is his second home. No rules have been broken."