Tory MPs are to pay back another £125,000 of expenses to the Commons authorities "to atone for the mistakes of the past", more than doubling the amount the Conservatives have handed back in the wake of the expenses scandal.

Tory MPs are to pay back another £125,000 of expenses to the Commons authorities "to atone for the mistakes of the past", more than doubling the amount the Conservatives have handed back in the wake of the expenses scandal.

The repaid money brings the total to almost £260,000 returned to the Commons authorities and HM Revenue and Customs by Tory MPs since the revelations began in early May. In addition, the party said its MPs had agreed to forgo future second home allowances totalling £100,000.

Revealing the figures, David Cameron claimed the Conservatives were "taking a lead" on expenses by considering whether claims had been "disproportionate" and not just whether they fell within the rules.

"This is not about MPs that broke the rules - we all know the rules weren't good enough," said Mr Cameron. "It's about understanding the level of public anger, about a system that was broken, and the part we played in it. It's not good enough just to sort out the rules for the future - we need to recognise the mistakes of the past and these payments are an important part of that."

He added: "This is about having to recognise and somehow atone for the mistakes of the past."

Mr Cameron's tough stance stood as a presentational triumph in contrast with Gordon Brown's approach yesterday. The Prime Minister met with prospective Labour candidates who had all agreed to sign an eight-point pledge card that bound them to uphold "high standards of integrity", to commit to "prudence with public money", to comply with all Commons rules and to publish all allowances on line.

Mr Brown said that the "noise" surrounding the expenses scandal had drowned out Labour's efforts to reform the system and tackle the economic problems facing the UK but he believed that would now change.

The biggest single repayment announced by the Conservatives was £25,000 in capital gains tax returned by shadow justice minister Eleanor Laing. She was revealed to have made a reported £1m profit on the sale of a second home, which she "flipped" to her main residence.

Bournemouth West MP Sir John Butterfill is to pay back a further £14,478, claimed as the mortgage interest and council tax on an annexe to his house used as servants' quarters. Many repayments were for gardening and maintenance, including Mr Cameron's own wisteria removal claim. Former minister John Gummer, who claimed to have moles removed from his lawn, is to repay £11,538 received for gardening and household expenses. Sir Peter Viggers - who notoriously had a claim for a floating duck house rejected - is to repay £10,000 in claims for garden maintenance and repairs.

The Tory party said its scrutiny panel had now examined the claims of all 195 Tory MPs for the years from 2004-5 to 2007-8. The Conservatives said the claims of 186 MPs had so far been "resolved".

More than £350,000 has been paid back in total by MPs so far but Labour accused Mr Cameron of coming down hard on veteran backbenchers, while giving an easy ride to his allies.

Labour backbencher John Mann said: "David Cameron can't talk tough on expenses if he is going soft on the extraordinary claims from people like George Osborne. It looks like those close to Cameron - close friends like Osborne - are being given a free pass."

MPs last night accepted that they would pay £60 more a month towards their pensions, on top of the £60 extra they have already agreed to pay, after the fallout from the expenses scandal forced a change of heart in the Commons. A cross-party amendment limiting the taxpayers contribution to 18% was accepted without a vote. MPs, whose pay starts at £64,766 a year, will increase their own contributions from 10% of salary to 11.9% for the highest level of pension.