Afternoon:
11°c
With a single dessert and just two glasses of wine our bill was kept in check - but the effort of doing so was not much fun
EXCLUSIVE: David Cameron reveals his faith in God, his fear of failure and his dread that another of his children could die
More...
The Lords destroy bid to keep MPs' expenses secret
Last updated at 00:52am on 14.06.07An attempt to hide MPs' expenses from the public was in tatters last night.
Tory MP David Maclean's controversial Bill to exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act failed to win the support of a single member of the House of Lords by a deadline of 5pm yesterday.
The collapse was hailed by opponents as a triumph for democracy over the self-interest of politicians.
Scroll down for more...
MP David Maclean has until today to find House of Lords support for his bill
It followed an outcry at the prospect of
denying constituents the right to see how much their MP was spending on travel expenses and other allowances.
Nearly 100 MPs, including at least 20 Ministers, voted last month in favour of the Private Member's Bill, which would have shrouded details of their taxpayer-funded expenses in secrecy. Just 25 MPs opposed it.
Mr Maclean needed just one willing peer to sponsor his Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill in the Lords by yesterday - but the support was not forthcoming.
Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords, Lord McNally, said that it was now highly unlikely that 'this squalid little Bill' would ever reach the Statute Book.
'We are happy that this Bill will not become law. It speaks volumes that no member of the House of Lords was prepared to support this legislation,' he said.
Even if it had found a sponsor the Lords would have defeated it in a vote, he added.
Labour MP and civil liberties campaigner David Winnick said he was 'absolutely delighted' that the Bill had failed to find a sponsor.
'It is unfortunate that it has been left to the second chamber to hopefully bury this nasty Bill. I only hope that no further attempt will be made to revive the measure,' he said.
Reader views (14)
Would all MPs in favour of not disclosing their travel expenses and other allowances be prepared to make such a declaration public to their constituency prior to the next election.
- Laurie, Yarmouth UK
No wonder the Commons is trying to abolish the Lords. The Lords have the sense and intelligence which is dangerously lacking in the money-grabbing parasites in the Commons.
- Lezli Taubler, London, UK
I withraw previous criticisms of the House of Lords. It just earned its keep.
- R M, London, UK
Any MP who voted for this bill must have something to hide and therefor should be blackballed from the house. Well done the Lords... Lordy, Lordy...
- Epimethean, Divided Kingdom
Re: W Joseph's comment "all we need to do now is kick out the Blarite croonies who were put into the house and return the hereditary peers."
An astonishing suggestion. The hereditaries represented only themselves, a small group within society with very specific interests. Doesn't W Joseph remember how they flocked in to vote themselves massive reductions in the rates on their estates, to pass the burden onto less well off people in the poll tax? We now have a House of Lords where no party has an absolute majority, where once the Tories had an in-built supermajority.
- J David Morgan, Rugby, UK
Thank you House of Lords... all we need to do now is kick out the Blarite croonies who were put into the house and return the hereditary peers. Paradoxical as it may seem, they protect democracy as they're impartial because of the fact that their position in the upper chamber is unassailable whereas the life peers, well, we all the cash for peerage scandal.
- W Joseph, British Expat
How ironic (don't ya think) that our un-elected House is so much better than at holding our elected representatives to account than MPs are themselves!
So when will GB announce his plans for reforming the Lords?
- Al, Reading
Is an MP's motto "No expense spared... especially when the public are paying for it". Hiding expenses would have been an abuse of office as far as I am concerned.
- Dan, Manchester
Good Lords.
- Frederico, Westminster
A very good case for keeping the House of Lords as it is.
- Mike Melbourne, Bedford
Good, certain MP's seem to spend their time spending taxpayers money on frivolous and pointless items and journey's.
- Trevor Roll, London
No wonder Bliar wanted to abolish the Lords.
- Givenuphope, London
David Maclean - the man with the crook!
Typical of him to try and hide what MP's have been up to.
Well done to the House of Lords.
- Peter Hooper, Windsor. Berkshire.
Now one can understand why the Government wants to reform the House of Lords.
- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark
