Anthony Steen yesterday launched an extraordinary tirade, blaming public jealousy for the revelations that led to his decision to stand down at the next General Election.

Anthony Steen, the Conservative grandee caught up in the MPs' expenses scandal, yesterday launched an extraordinary tirade, blaming public jealousy for the revelations that led to his decision to stand down at the next General Election.

The 69-year-old, who has been an MP since 1974, spent nearly £90,000 of taxpayers' money over four years on his second home, a £1m country manor house, including paying a forestry expert to inspect at least 100 trees in the grounds.

"As far as I am concerned and as of this day, I don't know what the fuss is about," declared the MP for Totnes in Devon.

The back bencher said his critics were "jealous" because he lived in a large house that resembled the royal residence at Balmoral and had trees in the grounds that needed lopping.

Mr Steen insisted his behaviour had been "impeccable", saying: "What right does the public have to interfere with my private life? None."

He added: "We have a wretched government here, which has completely mucked up the system and caused the resignation of me and many others, because it was this government that introduced the Freedom of Information Act and it is this government that insisted on the things which caught me on the wrong foot."

After his outburst, he later issued an apology, saying he was "deeply upset" at the time he spoke to the BBC.

"I apologise unreservedly for some of the comments that I made in the interview on the World at One," said Mr Steen in a statement. "I was so deeply upset with the situation, which resulted in me overreacting."

Ex-Tory minister Douglas Hogg, who infamously claimed £2200 to have his moat cleared at his thirteenth century Lincolnshire mansion, became the first to announce he would stand down at the next election. Yesterday, Sir Peter Viggers, whose gardening claims of £30,000 included one of £1645 for a "duck island", followed suit at the "direct request" of David Cameron, who is said to have hit the roof when he learned about Sir Peter's claims.

Tonight in Berkshire, Andrew Mackay, who, along with his MP wife Julie Kirkbride double-claimed for two second homes, will face his local constituency association of Bracknell. The speculation is that he could follow suit and announce he will step down, after being seen having lunch yesterday with Andy Coulson, the Tory leader's media chief.

Mr Cameron is said to be quietly being urged to get rid of as many as possible of the old Conservative guard, or "bedblockers" as they have been disparagingly called.

The fraught mood at Westminster among MPs was illustrated starkly by Nadine Dorries, the Tory MP for Mid Bedfordshire, who described the atmosphere in the Commons as "unbearable".

"People are constantly checking to see if others are okay. Everyone fears a suicide. If someone isn't seen, offices are called and checked," she wrote on her blog.

"All because this country has never had a Prime Minister with the political courage to stand up to the British media and award MPs the pay rise proposed year after year by the Senior Salary Review Board," she added.

Meantime, Bill Wiggin, the Tory whip and Old Etonian friend of Mr Cameron, was on the defensive after it was disclosed he had claimed £11,000 in mortgage payments against the wrong property.

Mr Wiggin, the MP for Leominster near Hereford, insisted he had merely made an "administrative error" when filing his expenses and had gained "absolutely no financial advantage".

For now, it seems, his frontbench career is safe after the Conservative leader accepted his explanation, saying: "He made what I understand is an honest mistake, if it wasn't an honest mistake he would be out of the door as well, be in no doubt about it."

Meantime, in the stakes to succeed Michael Martin as Speaker, Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory prisons minister, threw her hat in the ring, saying several colleagues had offered her their support. A formal declaration would depend on how much support the Kent MP received from Labour MPs.

Alan Beith, the Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick upon Tweed, was the first to declare his candidacy but it seems that John Bercow, the Conservative MP for Buckingham, who has transmogrified from being a right-winger to a social liberal and moderniser, appears to be making the running with supposedly the tacit support of more than 100 MPs already.

Sir Menzies Campbell, the former LibDem leader who unsuccessfully stood the last time there was an election, is thought to be considering his options. He was unavailable for comment yesterday.