A DORSET MP and government minister has defended his use of a colleague’s husband to give him tax advice.

It was revealed yesterday that Dennis Bates, who is married to former foreign office minister Meg Munn, was paid more than £5,000 in Parliamentary expenses to provide tax advice to at least five ministers.

South Dorset MP and schools minister Jim Knight said he used Mr Bates to make sure he paid the right amount of tax on running his MP’s office.

Mr Knight told the Echo: “Basically all that Dennis does, and somebody did a similar job for me previously, is ensure that I was paying the right amount of tax. At no time has he has given me tax advice on my personal affairs or on minimising tax liability.

“It’s something that I was advised to do when I became an MP and most other MPs that I spoke to at the time and since get some advice on this.

“Initially I employed an accountant that others had recommended to me and in 2005 the cost of that was £760 once a year, so I thought I should shop around and Dennis was considerably cheaper – £340 in 2006 and now £345.”

It also transpired over the weekend that nine members of the cabinet, including Chancellor Alistair Darling, had used their expenses to pay for personal tax advice.

Mr Knight defended his Labour colleague’s actions.

He said: “As is common with most MPs, getting someone to advise him on paying the right amount of tax is the right thing to do.

“As a minister he is working 70 to 90 hours a week, so this needs the proper amount of attention to make sure it was done properly.”

Mr Knight said that, as the rules were revised, there was a question as to whether the costs should be reclaimable, but he said he had a “clear conscience” over using the practice to make sure the right amount of tax was being paid.