Expense details to be revealed tomorrow (sort of)...

According Harriet Harman, the 14 dirty MPs that tried to keep their expense details secret will get their comeuppance sometime tomorrow. Unfortunately, it appears that some of the juicier details of how the public funds were spent will remain undisclosed.

Although Harman has stated that the addresses of the MPs in question will be released, as per the instructions of the High Court, the degrees to which this will happen remain dubious. This is due to Harman saying that this would be "subject to individual consideration of security issues", which has been interpreted by some to mean that information may be withheld.

"As far as publishing the addresses of all members is concerned... I am determined - as we all are - that MPs should be able to speak in this House on controversial issues without looking over their shoulder because their home address is in the public domain."

This does seem to be an argument that holds some degree of reason, especially considering the number of ardents these days that like to get out and get even with the people that they've seen on TV. Westmonster must express a little disappointment though as, like you no doubt, we were quite looking forward to searching for MP's houses on Google Maps in order to count the number of swimming pools that they have, or cars in their garden, etc.

The debate has caused Labour MP David Winnick to suggest that the public should be given more information as to why MPs are given such extravagant living allowances:

"Would it not be useful if more was done to explain why we claim this money, why it's essential in order to carry out our duties, and that really there's no need for apology."

Although we don't necessarily agree with the 'essential' part, it might be nice if somebody somewhere explained the fundamentals of what's going on...

Tomorrow we may at least learn a little more.

Written by Oli Anderson on 22 May 2008 3:05 PM. Permalink