Cameron 'U-turn' over MPs' secret expenses

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The Tory leader said his party would try to block the legislation - which would allow MPs' expenses to remain secret - in the House of Lords.

But his intervention was just days after he failed to speak out against the Bill in the House of Commons.

Mr Cameron's decision came after Ed Balls, a close ally of Gordon Brown, hinted on his website that the Government could water down the proposals.

An amendment would force MPs to reveal how much they spend but keep their correspondence with their constituents a secret.

Some 18 Tories and 78 Labour MPs voted for the original Bill last Friday.

Mr Cameron abstained from the vote and did not order his backbenchers to oppose it.

But at a Press conference in Westminster yesterday, the Tory leader said: "We will act to stop the Bill in its current form in the House of Lords."

Mr Cameron said there was a "real question" about protecting the confidentiality of MPs' correspondence with their constituents but added it could not justify the new legislation.

The Liberal Democrats will also oppose the legislation in the Lords - meaning it has little chance of surviving in its current form.

LibDem constitutional affairs spokesman David Heath said: "If David Cameron's MPs had not helped to push this Bill through last week there would be no need for him to now be promising to try and stop it.

"Perhaps he should be doing fewer staged photocalls and paying more attention to what his party is actually doing."