Steen: Jealousy forced me out
The veteran backbencher launched an astonishing defence of using Commons expenses for the upkeep of his million-pound property, which he likened to Balmoral where the Queen spends her summers.
And he suggested his expense claims should never have been made public, insisting the public has no right to "interfere with his private life".
Last night he was forced into issuing a public apology as a senior Tory source said David Cameron would kick Mr Steen out of the party if he does not "shut up".
A few hours later William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary and Mr Cameron's deputy, branded Anthony Steen's interview remarks "ridiculous".
Speaking on a special edition of the BBC's Question Time debate programme, Mr Hague said: "I don't agree with anything he said."
And shedding new light on the meeting between the Tory leader and the embattled MP, he said: "David Cameron was most insistent that he would resign because this is one of the things he found unacceptable."
Asked if Mr Steen should have the whip withdrawn and be kicked out of the party, Mr Hague said it was ultimately up to Tory chief whip Patrick McLoughlin. But Mr Hague added: "We haven't finalised all of the decisions. I don't exclude anything. This really does have to be sorted out."
It was also confirmed yesterday that Mr Steen will receive an extra £100,000 from the public purse by waiting until the next election to retire, instead of standing down immediately. The money is available in an extra year's salary and special allowances offered only to MPs who leave Parliament on polling day.
His son Jason also emerged as a front- runner to succeed him as the Totnes Conservative candidate, in the wake of the expenses row which Mr Steen said had culminated in a "kangaroo court".
The comments came less than 24 hours after saying he would step down at the next election, fearing his £88,000 claims over four years would "distract" from Mr Cameron's bid for power.
His position became untenable over the revelations he used taxpayers' money to hire a tree expert to inspect 500 trees and laurel and rhododendron bushes.
Other work included stopping rabbits nibbling his shrubs, fixing a private water supply, sowing grass seed, fencing off fields near stables and buying a new fireplace.
Mr Steen told BBC Radio 4's World at One: "I have behaved, if I may say so, impeccably. I have done nothing criminal, that's the awful thing.
"And do you know what it is about – jealousy." He compared his "very, very large" 19th century pile to Balmoral, adding that while not attractive, it has "room to plant a few trees".
His comments have made headlines across the national media.
At the weekend, Mr Steen insisted local people in Totnes were "extremely supportive". But he told the BBC he decided to stand down after "the pressure came from the constituents" who are "absolutely beside themselves with anger". He said on the radio that Mr Cameron had been "shocked" by his decision to stand down – a claim he was forced to retract as Tory sources made clear that had the grassroots movement in Totnes not forced his hand, the leadership would have acted.
In a rambling interview, broadcast yesterday lunchtime, Mr Steen said it was a "failure on his part" not to have predicted the public backlash over his claims, but blamed the Government for making the details public. "We have a wretched Government here which has completely mucked up the system and caused resignations of me and many others because it was this Government that introduced the Freedom of Information Act."
Details of all expense claims by MPs over four years were due to be released in July after legal battles between Commons authorities and anti-secrecy campaigners. The Daily Telegraph has obtained an unedited version of the receipts and first revealed Mr Steen's use of public money on his Devon house.
Asked if the information should ever have been released, he replied: "No. What right does the public have to interfere with my private life? None."
But his comments sparked a furious reaction from Conservative high command, with Mr Cameron understood to be especially concerned about the potential damage caused to the party's reputation.
Last night a statement was issued in which Mr Steen "apologised unreservedly for some of the comments".
It said he in fact "entirely supports" the Freedom of Information Act and may have "given a misleading impression of the agreement I reached with David Cameron in our conversation yesterday".
In his letter of resignation to Mr Cameron on Wednesday evening, Mr Steen wrote: "I have sometimes been described as unconventional, but I believe I am a principled and independent thinker, one of my fundamental aims being to stick up for the underdog."
But last night it was clear Mr Cameron was not willing to tolerate more "independent thinking" over the next year. "He has been given one more chance," a senior Tory source said. "If he doesn't shut up, if he says anything like this again, he will lose the party whip." Such a move would force Mr Steen to see out his final months in the Commons as an independent MP.
Earlier this week, Mr Steen caused consternation when he told the WMN he had "set his own rules" in deciding to claim for gardening at maintenance on the property which he bought for £1 million in 2000.
He said "morally" he did not want to claim for mortgage interest costs, but admitted his duties as an MP did not depend on caring for his 500 trees, as the Commons rules demand.
And on Wednesday, Mr Steen told the BBC: "I've been too transparent, I've been too honest and I've been victimised for it. I should have claimed the interest on the mortgage and we'd all be having a good cup of tea now."
WMN London Editor Matt Chorley will be on BBC Somerset this morning discussing how the expenses scandal has rocked Westminster. Tune in from 9am-10am at 95.5FM, 1566AM or online at bbc.co.uk/somerset
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