Tory leader David Cameron renewed calls for a General Election as he faced constituents in Witney over the expenses scandal.

The Witney MP said going to the polls was the only way for the public to be able to judge MPs who had exploited the system.

Mr Cameron also said he had ordered all Tory MPs to publish future claims on their second homes on the Internet.

More than 200 residents and local councillors grilled Mr Cameron over the scandal at the Corn Exchange yesterday, and the Tory leader pledged to hold further meetings in the town if constituents wished.

He began by clarifying what he had claimed for on his second home in Dean –– his main home being in London –– since becoming an MP in 2001.

He said: “From 2001 to 2007 the only thing I really claimed for was the interest on my mortgage –– £1,700 a month on a £350,000 mortgage and quite close to the maximum allowed. In 2007, I paid off some of the capital myself and the interest payments dropped to £1,000 a month.

“Between 2007 and 2009 I also claimed for straightforward household bills, for council tax and utilities and insurance.

“I only claimed for what I felt was reasonable – not food, decorations or furniture. I am not whiter than whiter or better than anyone else. It’s just the judgement I took.”

As reported earlier in the month, Mr Cameron said he had voluntarily paid back £680 he claimed for fixing a leaky roof and removing wisteria from his chimney.

He said: “It was for maintenance not decoration, but I felt I had to take a lead and pay back anything questionable.”

Answering more than a dozen questions from the public and press, Mr Cameron defended the need for MPs to have second homes, but he said people had the right to feel outraged over excessive and corrupt claims. He believed it was not enough for MPs to simply apologise – they must be judged at the ballot box.

He said: “The system was open to abuse – it was wrong and we have to sort it out.

“I have instructed my MPs to only claim for mortgage interest payments or hotel bills or rent and basic utilities, not for food or furniture, and every bill they claim for has got to go on the Internet.

“We must have total transparency. If people had known what MPs were claiming for we would never have got into this mess.

“The public are very angry and have every right to be.

“People want to be able to pass judgement on their MPs in a General Election. The country needs it.”

Mr Cameron opposes scrapping MPs expenses in favour of a pay rise or daily attendance allowance. He believes “cleaning up” the current system is the best way forward.

However, he said he would stand by the judgement of Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the committee on standards in public life, with respect to how the system is overhauled.

tshepherd@oxfordmail.co.uk