CANDIDATE JOINS FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN OBJECTING TO MPs CONCEALING THEIR EXPENSES (East Staffordshire Liberal Democrats)

East Staffordshire Liberal Democrats <info@libdems.org.uk>

CANDIDATE JOINS FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN OBJECTING TO MPs CONCEALING THEIR EXPENSES

January 28, 2009 12:49 PM
Originally published by West Midlands Liberal Democrats

Local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Richard Burt today joined a Facebook campaign that has already attracted over 8,000 signatures, objecting to plans to keep MPs expenses secret after all.

The proposal to exempt Members and Peers from the requirement to publish details of their expenses will be voted on in the House of Commons tomorrow.

The Order would provide an exemption for MPs and Peers under the Freedom of Information Act, making them the only public servants not required by law to publish details of their expenses.

Richard Burt said:

"The move flies in the face of a High Court ruling last May that required MPs' expenses to be published.

"Tomorrow, MPs are voting to change the law to keep their expenses secret after all, just weeks before publication was due and after spending nearly £1million and seven months on compiling the data.

"It seems that the Deputy Prime Minister, Harriet Harman has caved in to pressure from an unholy alliance of Labour and Tory backbenchers to conceal their expenses.

"I am proud that Liberal Democrat MPs will be voting against the Order tomorrow, and will continue to publish details of their expenses voluntarily.

"I can't believe that the government are trying to get this through again in the face of outright public opposition

"The Conservatives position is just as weak - they should be voting against the proposals on Thursday, not abstaining to allow the Order to go through.

"Every time Parliament draws back from disclosure, people will naturally think the worst and wonder what MPs have got to hide. Justified or not, this further breaks down trust between politicians and the public, already at a very low ebb.

"In my view it's quite simple - MPs spend public money in the course of their job, so how they spend it should be completely open to public scrutiny."

ENDS