The Government has been accused of “disgraceful” behaviour after another bid was launched to sidestep a ruling ordering publication of details of MPs’ expenses under Freedom of Information law.
The Commons authorities have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds scanning and redacting about a million receipts from claims since losing a lengthy FoI battle last May.
But none of them will be released under plans set out by Leader of the House Harriet Harman Image by Getty Images via Daylifethis afternoon.
Instead, the law will be changed retrospectively so that MPs’ expenses are published annually under 26 categories, rather than the current 13.
“The public will have more information than they ever have before and we will take it back to 2005 so that for all members, each year their allowances against 26 headings will be made public,” Harman told the Commons.
A spokesman for the Commons leader confirmed that if parliament approved the measures, the receipts would not be published – although the Information Tribunal and High Court had ordered that they should be.
But the House authorities said the process of redaction would continue at least until the proposals were passed.
Matthew Elliott of the TaxPayers‘ Alliance said: “It is an absolute disgrace that the Government are going to such absurd lengths to keep MPs’ expenses secret from the very people who pay the bills.
“This is taxpayers’ money, these are elected representatives and the people have a right to know how their money is being spent.
“These desperate measures will only harm Parliament’s standing by making people wonder what it is that politicians have to hide.”