Commons Loses Expenses Court Case

12:07pm UK, Friday May 16, 2008

Details of senior MPs' expenses will be revealed after the House of Commons lost its court battle to keep them secret.

House authorities went to court

The Commons challenged the Information Tribunal's demand that a detailed breakdown of MPs' second homes allowances must be provided under the Freedom of Information Act.

Led by the Speaker Michael Martin, the Commons authorities went to the High Court to fight against the "unlawfully intrusive" release of the expenses details of 14 MPs and former MPs, including Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Sir Menzies Campbell.

Commons authorities are yet to decide whether they will appeal against the High Court ruling.

A spokesperson for the Members Estimates Committee, the body which challenged the tribunal, said they will consider the judgement next week.

The Commons also attempted to overturn the tribunal's decision that MPs' addresses should be disclosed, arguing they should be kept secret for special security reasons.

But Sir Igor Judge, Lord Justice Latham and Mr Justice Blake ruled that they could not interfere with the tribunal's decision and dismissed the challenge.

Sky's political correspondent Joey Jones said from outside the court: "There will be many people pointing the finger at Michael Martin over this and asking why did they allow this to draw on for so long,

"A tortuous process on a principle that many people felt they could not win, details that many people felt should have been in the public domain from the start."

The legal challenge instigated by the Speaker is expected to cost more than £100,000.

Pressure group The TaxPayers' Alliance have welcomed the ruling, as chief executive Matthew Elliott said: "This is a victory for taxpayers and democracy in Britain".