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Details of MP expenses blacked out
Thursday 18th June 2009, 9:24AM BST.
Details of MPs’ expenses claims were finally published by the House of Commons – but with much of the detail that led to a public outcry blacked out.
Click here to see the MP expenses details
The release of tens of thousands of claim forms and receipts on the Parliament website more than a year after the High Court ordered their publication is likely to lead to demands for greater openness.
It is impossible to identify many of the abuses which came out as a result of the earlier leak of the same material to the Daily Telegraph before crucial details were blacked out.
There are no addresses for MPs’ homes, meaning it would have been virtually impossible to identify so-called “flipping”, whereby MPs switch the designation of their second properties to maximise their claims.
Also redacted are the names and details of people and companies to whom payments were made using expenses, and correspondence between MPs and the Commons Fees Office has also been removed.
The disclosures in the Daily Telegraph about the claims have forced a series of MPs to announce their resignations in the past month.
Junior Treasury minister Kitty Ussher became the latest scalp last night when she quit the Government following allegations that she avoided paying capital gains tax by “flipping” her second home.
Thursday’s official publication covers printed documents and receipts relating to MPs’ claims between 2004/05 and 2007/08 for a series of parliamentary allowances, but with many personal details redacted.
These include claims under the £24,000-a-year additional costs allowance, which reimburses MPs for the cost of having to maintain a second home while serving at Westminster; the £22,000 incidental expenses provision, which pays for running an office.
Also, the £10,400 communications allowance, which covers the cost of newsletters and websites to inform constituents about their activities, as well as details of expenditure on stationery and postage.
Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Vince Cable claimed the heavily censored information had been”compromised”, saying: “Had it not been for the Daily Telegraph a lot of this stuff would not have come out.”
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Was anybody really expecting this load of trash to reveal anything if you were you live in la la land, now we can see why it was so important the media exposed it all.There is a lot more to come out yet.
Our campaign van is out on the road with the banners on it, yesterday an MP called out the police:)) as has been pointed out to the police you can’t prosecute the truth.
Why has the police not arrested and charged me for slander?? your children and grandchildren are left with trillions of debt for their futures all covered up by MPs like their own crooked expenses.
http://WWW.no-justice.org.uk go onto latest news to see the truth:))
WHY HAS NO MP OR MINISTER BEEN CHARGED?
Get snouts out the trough party
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The country is currupt at the top. The very people we are supposed to trust, MP’s, Bankers. etc are rotten to the core but what can you do about it?
People will say vote them out but what is the alternative?
The smug Cameron?
His party are EXACTLY the same, rotten to the core.
In Spain there are currupt MP’s but at least they are being charged, and if found guilty, jailed for long periods and their assets seized.
Why doesn’t it happen in the UK?
Because they are all in the same boat.
They will all get their gold plated pensions and YOU will pay for it.
What is the answer?
I am afraid I don’t know so I got out.
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Its nice to know that Syvia Heal (MP?) can claim hundreds of pounds for garden maintenance, window cleaning, tv licensing and even new window handles. yes, you read right, window handles (£16).Read the expenses claims on the PDF document. Disgusting, how can these people be allowed to claim for such things.
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I notice that Lynda Waltho has even blanked out the logo and address on her council tax bill so that you can’t tell which local authority it was paid to (and hence whether any ‘flipping’ might have been going on).
So much for transparency amongst our MPs. Thank heavens the Daily Telegraph got there first.
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Unlike these general comments I have taken the time out to check all of my MP’s – John Spellar – expenses in full.
in this case at least, all of the blacking out clearly referred to personal information, or information that could lead to identification, I was content to see it blacked out.
Surely no one wants to see criminals or terrorists abuse this information.
Unlike many MPs he has only claimed what you would expect to run an office (like stamps, phones, etc) and essentials for a second home (rent, council tax, utilities, etc). He did claim 100 a month for food, but that is not unreasonable extra cost for central London.
The only gripe some would have was he claimed for expenses for his annual tax returns, though personally I would like to see that as compulsory for all MPs to help ensure their stringency.
Personally I’m not happy he claims for the tv licence, it is a tax, and if MPs ha to pay their own perhaps they wouldn’t let the BBC run to such profligacy paying their staff many times the MPs wages with our money. But it is the norm for all of the MPs as far as I can see.
He even returned the council tax refund he got from Sandwell Council in 2004 that he got by virtue of the death of his wife, despite the rules being more lax at the time. Also no ‘flipping’ there.
I note he went and got a new kettle for less than 6 pounds when some of his colleagues happily paid small fortunes for their appliances.
We don’t want expenses abuse but we do want MPs that aren’t born to privelege being able to vave enough expenses that they can represent us like the grandees can already afford to, that appears to be what he has done, obeying the spirit as well as letter of the law.
So hats off to John Spellar, the fortunate people of Warley basically appear to have an MP with integrity.
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“He did claim 100 a month for food”
I and many others have to buy food out of our own pockets. Why should they be allowed to claim that?
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@ No5 Jonathan,
Your MP claimed £100 for food a month.
My MP, Ian Pearson Dudley South, sometimes tried to claim over £400 a month for food. This means he was billing the taxpayers for food alone, for a total which amounts to more than the state old age pension per month. This is also a lot more money than the unemployed have to live on. Good old Labour.
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I checked out my MPs expenses – Adrian Bailey of West Bromwich West.
Amongst other things there are claims for toilet bleach, toothbrushes, shampoo and conditioner and having his curtains drycleaned and rehung.
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I wish I could claim all of my life’s expenses back from my employer. My wages could be like a bonus! Hell, I’d work for free if everything I ever needed or used could be claimed for! Wouldn’t that be great if the rest of the country worked like that!
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