Letter to Speaker on Expenses | |
Mr. Speaker Martin House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Our Ref: DW/MART02003/02081316 7th July 2008 Members’ Allowances I wanted to explain to you why I voted for Don Touhig’s amendment on MPs expenses last week. Having read parts 1 and 2 of the Members Estimates Committee report, I was concerned that a flat £19,000 to cover rent/mortgage, plus £30 per day attendance allowance would be less transparent for my constituents than the current system of receipts. In addition, the daily allowance system is used in the European Parliament and has been open to abuse. I cannot see that it would be any different in the House of Commons, leading to further lack of public confidence. Secondly, I was gravely concerned about the estimated cost of external audit of MPs’ offices which would be in addition to the huge increase in internal auditing this year. I agree that transparent and accountable auditing is an absolute necessity, but it also has to be at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer. I would support a much wider and deeper review in future to draw not only from outside evidence but also involve outside experts in its formulation. I would also welcome a citizens’ jury on this issue because public confidence is the most important aspect of any reform.
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