THE House of Commons has been ordered to reveal a breakdown of MPs' expenses – including those claimed by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – after a landmark ruling from the information watchdog.
The order from Richard Thomas, the UK Information Commissioner, will end the secrecy surrounding Westminster expenses.
Last year, The Scotsman revealed how the Commons' authorities were forced to back down over an attempt to block a breakdown o
f the travel expenses of Anne Moffat, the MP for East Lothian.
The move yesterday – this time involving a Freedom of Information request involving the expenses of six MPs – reinforces the Information Commissioner's determination to make Westminster more accountable and will set a precedent.
Mr Thomas has called for figures for claims on staffing, incidental expenses and stationery to be broken down for publication.
In a statement, Mr Thomas's office said: "In the Commissioner's view the legitimate public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the prejudice to the rights, freedom and legitimate interests of MPs."
The decision, based on the Freedom of Information Act, follows a request for the detailed spending between April 2003 and March 2004 of Mr Blair, Mr Brown, John Prescott, Michael Howard, Charles Kennedy and Jonathan Sayeed.
It goes much further than previous rulings by the Information Commissioner for the details of spending on travel and the costs of staying away from home to be released.
A source said that while the ruling applied to only six people, it was indicative of how Mr Thomas was likely to treat requests applying to all MPs.
His decision is made on the grounds that such expenses arose from MPs' role as public representatives and were reimbursed by the taxpayer.
"The Information Commissioner has ruled that a breakdown of the total amounts claimed by some individual MPs for travel, incidental expenses, staffing, central IT provision, centrally purchased stationery and additional cost allowance should be released under the Freedom of Information Act," the statement added.
MPs have faced sustained criticism for the size of their expenses claims, which averaged £135,800 each last year and are not explained in any detail to the public. A similar ruling by Mr Thomas on the additional costs allowance (ACA) – covering the costs of second homes for MPs with constituencies outside London – has been appealed by the Commons.
The full article contains 388 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
