AN MP has apologised after he breached expenses rules by claiming a one-bedroom home in Colchester as his family home.

Harry Cohen, MP for Leyton and Wanstead in north-east London, was ordered to apologise on the floor of the House of Commons by the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee.

He told MPs he had the “greatest respect for Parliament” and “would not intentionally have wanted to do anything to tarnish its reputation”.

He added: “I am sorry if I have done so.”

The committee ruled last month that part of the £104,751 he claimed over five years by designating a former schoolhouse in East Stockwell Street as his main home was a “serious breach of the rules”.