MPs’ expenses

What have they got to hide?

Published:

MOST people will, we suspect, be bewildered by the determination of MPs to prevent taxpayers knowing how they spend almost £90million a year on expenses. Having yesterday lost a High Court appeal against a tribunal’s decision that detailed accounts of expense claims should be made public under the Freedom of Information Act (an act passed by the very same government which is now attempting to curtail its use), MPs are now considering whether to launch a further appeal. Having squandered somewhere in the region of £100,000 so far, it would be a scandal if the members estimate committee, which is chaired by House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin, decides to continue the legal battle.

This determination to keep expense claims secret, whatever the cost to the public purse, has inevitably created the widespread belief that a sizeable number of MPs have something to hide. The disclosure earlier this year of the so-called John Lewis list, which stipulates what politicians can claim for the purchase and maintenance of a second home, served only to fuel this belief in the existence of a Westminster gravy train of staggering proportions.

The salaries of MPs, together with additional payments for ministers, are already public information, and anyone with access to a phone or computer can find out in minutes how much the prime minister is paid. That being the case, why are they so coy about their expenses? In the absence of facts and the presence of such determination to withhold the information, the only conclusion a reasonable person can draw is that there will be public outrage once the figures come to light. It is time for MPs to come clean.