MPs in court fight to keep expenses secret
Michael Martin this afternoon launched a legal bid to block an order to reveal details of senior MPs' expenses.
The move by the Speaker of the House of Commons is expected to cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds.
It comes after a three-year battle to force the Commons authorities to publish details of how prominent MPs use public funds for second homes.
A special tribunal had ordered the Commons Commission to make public how 15 current or former MPs, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Sir Menzies Campbell and George Galloway, spent allowances to finance their lifestyle.
But the commission, chaired by Mr Martin, was today seeking to appeal in the High Court against the ruling to avoid having to reveal MPs' second home addresses. The legal challenge was condemned by campaigners, given that more than £52,000 has already been spent by the Commons authorities seeking to keep secret details of MPs' travel and second home claims.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "The MPs are just putting off the inevitable and in the process they are wasting thousands of pounds."
An information tribunal had concluded that MPs' addresses should be published except if there were security grounds such as a stalker or a terrorist or criminal threat.
But the commission claimed that publishing addresses could put MPs at risk and even "inhibit democratic debate" on a range of sensitive issues.
Mr Martin had sought the advice of the security services because of the "great concern" among MPs about the release of their second home addresses.
His spokesman said: "The threats that MPs can face are unpredictable and subject to change. Having received advice he's concerned that the information tribunal may have misdirected itself in law in deciding that home addresses of MPs should always be published subject only to limited exceptions."
The Commons Commission also considers that the tribunal gave " insufficient attention to the reasonable expectations" of the MPs concerned.
They also include former deputy prime minister John Prescott, shadow foreign secretary William Hague, shadow chancellor George Osborne, former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett, Lib-Dem MP Mark Oaten, Peter Mandelson, Labour MPs Barbara Follett, Ann Keen and Alan Keen and former Tory MP John Wilkinson.
Mr Cameron said yesterday that he had no problem with the details of his claims being released.
The information tribunal, which arbitrates on freedom of information disputes, dismissed the Commons' arguments last month that publication would be an invasion of MPs' privacy.
It gave the Commons 28 days to release the details of how the MPs use their £ 23,000- a- year additional costs allowance. MPs can claim up to £10,000 for a kitchen, £6,000 for a bathroom and £750 for stereos and televisions, as well as dozens of other household items, according to the recently released "John Lewis list".
Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, who has campaigned for greater transparency on MPs' expenses, said: "The Commons authorities could adhere to the rest of the judgment but not publish the addresses and see what happens."
