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All around the world for £1.4 million
Ellen Widdup30 Dec 2008
GLOBETROTTING backbench MPs have received £1.4million of free trips in a year - flying first class, staying in five-star hotels and getting a daily cash allowance.
An Evening Standard investigation has found the taxpayer is funding the journeys of dozens of committee members abroad each month - many from groups concerned with domestic policy.
Destinations between last April and this included New Zealand, China, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and America. Details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show:
● The education and skills committee went to Australia, Hong Kong and China to investigate higher education, at a cost of almost £100,000.
● The health committee spent more than £50,000 visiting Nashville, Tennessee, to look at IT systems.
● Members of the science and technology committee took a £30,000 trip to Boston and Washington while "investigating the oceans". Their report made one mention of being in Boston.
● The home affairs committee went to Warsaw to look into "home affairs at European Union level".
● MPs on the culture, media and sport committee toured Canadian and American cities, including Vancouver and Seattle, "fact finding for 2012". The destinations have not hosted the summer Olympics.
● The Welsh affairs committee sent a delegation to China to look into "globalisation".
For each trip, MPs had travel and hotel bills paid and were given an allowance to spend each day on meals and travel. The allowance is based on rates issued by the Foreign Office.
There is no need to provide receipts for the money spent - or to return unspent allowances. Ten MPs from the work and pensions committee travelled to Los Angeles and Sacramento in California for a week in June, at a cost of £61,967. They flew Virgin first class plus transfers for £46,000 and spent three nights in the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Beverly Hills, which has hosted George Bush, Tom Hanks and Jack Nicholson.
The committee, there to look at the American benefits system, were given £65 a day spending money - despite being provided with lunch and dinner by the British Consulate General.
MPs on the trip included chairman of the committee Terry Rooney, MP for Bradford North. Mr Rooney, who claimed £126,000 expenses last year - £12,134 of which was for travel - said it had provided valuable international comparisons with British benefits policy.
His report concluded that the efforts made by the American government to simplify their system were interesting - but there were no current plans to reform the system in Britain. Mr Rooney said: "It's all in the report which we submitted after the trip. Read that. I don't have to justify it or comment further." The foreign affairs committee went on 12 trips in 12 months. The most expensive was worth £63,752, to New York and Washington for an inquiry into global security.
They spent two nights in the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, New York, for £4,995 and two nights in the Ritz Carlton Georgetown, Washington, for £7,384. Mike Gapes, committee chairman, said he would "make no apology" as he was doing his job. Members also spent more than £45,000 on a trip to New Zealand to investigate "employment".
Overall, select committees spent £1,418,280 on overseas trips during the last session. A Commons spokesman denied the amounts were excessive and said it was sometimes necessary to pay for interpreters, security or extra transport, which increased the cost.
Mark Wallace, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said he recognised the need for foreign visits but was "appalled" by the money being spent on each.
He said the number of trips at the taxpayer's expense was "clearly excessive and will raise a lot of eyebrows among hard-working taxpayers who can barely afford one holiday a year".
BRAZILIAN TRADE IN ARGENTINA, WELSH AFFAIRS IN CHINA ... WHERE THE MPS WENT
ADMIN COMMITTEE - £4,404
Lisbon: European conference on information technology £4,404
COMMUNITIES/LOCAL GOVT - £4,777
Netherlands: Inquiry into the supply of rented housing £4,777
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS - £59,775
Berlin: Inquiry into party funding £4,941. Canada and the USA: Inquiry into party funding £52,525.
Lisbon: EU Presidency Conference £2,309
CULTURE, MEDIA & SPORT - £76,185
Berlin: Conference £1,050.
Athens: Fact-finding on 2012 Olympics £11,356.
Ottawa, Vancouver, Seattle: Fact-finding for 2012 Olympics and tourism £63,188. Brussels: Conference £591
DEFENCE - £167,582
Riga: Conference £793.
Paris: Inquiry into future of Nato £1,191.
Madrid: Inquiry into future of Nato £3,448. Berlin, Germany: Inquiry into the future of Nato £2,865.
Rome: Inquiry into future of Nato £3,134.
Prague: Inquiry into future of Nato £4,293.
Copenhagen: Inquiry into future of Nato £3,651.
The Hague: Inquiry into future of Nato £2,750.
Brussels: Inquiry into future of Nato £5,647.
India and Afghanistan: Inquiry into UK operations £24,918.
Berlin: Conference £1,856
Warsaw: Inquiry into future of Nato £4,083.
Washington DC, Ottawa: Inquiry into the future of Nato £50,247.
Iraq and Kuwait: Inquiry into UK operations £22,973.
Paris, Toulouse: Defence Conference £745. Lisbon: Conference £1,823.
Tbilisi, Ankara: Inquiry into future of Nato £33,165
EDUCATION AND SKILLS - £93,983
Sydney, Canberra: Inquiries into higher education and post-16 skills £46,782.
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing: Inquiry into higher education £47,201
ENVIRONMENT - £11,128
Washington: Climate change meeting £7,355.
Brussels: EU emissions meeting £3,773
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS - £14,339
Stuttgart, Freiburg: Inquiry into climate change £13,729.
Fontainebleau: Protect Our Forests conference £610
EUROPEAN SCRUTINY - £58,733
Helsinki: Conference £3,843
Berlin: Conference £12,630
Berlin: Visit £2,183
Florence, Rome: 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome £2,678
Berlin: Meeting £3,518
Lisbon, Gibraltar: Visit £17,782
Lisbon: Meeting £2,042
Estoril: Meeting £4,635
Brussels: Meeting £1,234
Brussels: Meeting £5,839
Brussels: Meeting £1 ,115
Brussels: Meeting £1,234
HEALTH - £64,676
Nashville, Ottawa: Inquiries into electronic patient record system £54,585
Paris, Amiens: Inquiries into electronic patient record system £10,091
HOME AFFAIRS - £78,654
Kiev: Conference £1,741
Warsaw: Inquiry into home affairs at European Union level £13,137
Berlin: Symposium on criminal procedures £1,093
Lisbon: Conference £1,908
Washington DC: Surveillance inquiry £55,000
Brussels: Inquiry into home affairs at European Union level £5,775
HUMAN RIGHTS - £6,211
Copenhagen, Malmo: Inquiry into the rights of older people £4,755
Strasbourg, Geneva: Inquiry into human rights issues £1,456
INT'L DEVELOPMENT - £128,291
Ethiopia: Water sanitation inquiry £32,840
Cape Town: Conference £7,144
Berlin: Conference £2,098
Vietnam, Thailand: Human rights inquiries £39,867
Sweden: Visit £2,786
Lisbon: Conference £2,483
Afghanistan: Development assistance in insecure environments £35,000
Brussels: Inquiry into development and trade policies £6,073
N IRELAND AFFAIRS - £10,402
Dublin: Inquiry into tourism £6,291
Dublin: Inquiry into Irish prison service £4,111
PROCEDURE - £6,974
Berlin: Inquiry into public relations £6,974
PUBLIC ACCOUNTS - £8,043
Paris: 200th anniversary of French NAO £383
Copenhagen: Visit overseas audit institutions £6,738
Lisbon: EU scrutiny £922
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION - £32,596
Washington DC: Inquiry into lobbying £32,596
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - £41,722
Paris: Inquiry into space policy £3,772
Boston, Washington: Inquiry into investigating the oceans £30,883
Lisbon: Oceans inquiry £6,498.
Geneva: Inquiry into research council institutes £569
TRADE AND INDUSTRY - £77,702
Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo: Inquiry into trade with Brazil £45,949
Vilnius: Inquiry into Europe moving east £7,254
Budapest: Moving east inquiry £10,718
Bratislava: Moving east inquiry £8,596
Brussels: Conference £349
Brussels: Meeting £4,836
TRANSPORT - £11,270
Stockholm: Inquiry into local transport bill £11,270
TREASURY - £50,356
Dublin: Inquiry into unclaimed assets in the financial system £7,111
Berlin: Conference £1,866
Ottawa, Washington DC: Inquiry into Bank of England's monetary policy £38,484
Paris: Seminar £1,106
Lisbon: Conference £1,789
WELSH AFFAIRS - £43,389
Czech Republic, Poland: Inquiry into globalisation £15,261
China: Inquiry into globalisation £28,000
Strasbourg: Seminar £128
WORK AND PENSIONS - £108,495
New Zealand: Inquiry into employment £45,034
Paris: Conference £1,494
California: Inquiry into benefits simplification £61,967
Reader views (8)
The great sadness is that I am one of the few people to write a comment about these dreadful MP's. People should be in the street (like in France) giving it large.
The world has gone mad and we only have ourselves to blame.
The sooner that politicians stop self serving and serve the people the better.
Fat chance.
It is only a matter of time before the electorate rises up against these AWFUL MP's.
They are a disgraceful shower and must be shown the door at next election.
Please god.
- Mike, London, 30/12/2008 20:08
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Nu Labor has no moral feelings - the country is in the biggest recession of all big countries and we are in the worst situation. There is no denying that Crash Gordon and his bunch are involved with our country's problems.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 30/12/2008 19:27
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just when you think you cant be sickened any further by the greed and trough dipping of mp's you read this. Whats so typical is that not one of them seems to feel one iota of shame. they really are one of the most greedy self serving groups in society today, completely out of touch with the people who put them where they are.
- Maria, berks, 30/12/2008 17:24
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What the article doesn't mention is that the reports on their trips are full of really useful stuff, outstanding observations, life-enhancing recommendations and intelligent, positive action points. But they are difficult to get hold of......
- John Problem, Hackney Wick, London, UK, 30/12/2008 16:51
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If they want to inquire about the ocean in the United States, isn't it the same one off the west coast of the UK?
- John W, billericay essex, 30/12/2008 15:21
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Pigs with their snouts in our trough, make the scum pay it all back!
- Kerry, Purley, 30/12/2008 14:58
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Are we really surprised???? Legalised theft is what this is especially as there is no accountability.
- Nigel, Epsom, England, 30/12/2008 14:23
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So that's why the NHS can't afford all the cancer drugs. Much more important things to spend money on.
- Mikki, London, 30/12/2008 12:55
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