UK Parliament releases details of lawmakers’ expenses, censors most scandalous details

Expenses blackout: UK lawmakers’ claims censored

LONDON — Britons won the chance on Thursday to see the lawmaker expenses claims that sparked a political scandal — but found the most outrageous details hidden by the thick black strokes of a censor’s pen.

Parliamentary authorities posted online details of four years worth of legislators’ claims following a lengthy legal battle, though thousands of pages were obscured amid concerns over privacy and security.

Items blacked out include addresses of lawmakers’ second homes, destinations on train tickets and the names of hotels used on business trips. The heavy deletion marks make it impossible to determine what many of the claims are — or whether there was an attempt to manipulate Parliament’s rules.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper has published detailed reports on the expenses since May, after it was leaked an uncensored copy of the documents — meaning many of the most damaging details were already known. But omitting the most notorious claims — such as a 1,645 pound ($2,666) charge for an ornamental duck house — from publicly available documents will likely stoke further outrage over parliamentary secrecy.

“There is material that should have been produced and has not been,” opposition Liberal Democrat lawmaker Norman Baker told Britain’s Sky News.

But the censored documents do make interesting reading. Senior opposition Conservative lawmaker George Osborne charged 47 pounds ($77) for two DVDs of one of his own speeches, entitled “Value for Taxpayers’ Money.”

One lawmaker charged 1 pence (1.6 cents) for a 12-second phone call.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown claimed the cost of a satellite TV package, and charges to have his shirts ironed.

Opposition leader David Cameron charged to have weeds removed from his chimney. But he said Thursday he would repay about 1,000 pounds ($1,636) of the mistakenly claimed expenses. He had already pledged to repay 680 pounds ($1,112).

The records show Brown paid back just over 800 pounds ($1,300) for what a spokesman said were “inadvertent errors” in cleaning and utility bills. In all, lawmakers have returned almost 500,000 pounds ($816,000) to the public purse — some before the scandal broke, and some in the face of voter anger since then.

“I don’t think we are at the end of this story at all,” Alistair Graham, a former chairman of a parliamentary scrutiny committee, told the BBC. “We may not even be at the beginning of the end. I think this is going to run and run.”

Revelations over the expenses have led dozens of lawmakers to quit ministerial jobs, or announce they’ll soon leave Parliament. An outraged British public scolded the country’s major political parties by voting in large numbers for fringe groups in recent local and European elections.

Some details disclosed by the newspaper were comical: like claims for porn movies, cookies, horse manure and maintenance to the moat of a country mansion. But the Telegraph also revealed how some lawmakers manipulated rules to furnish or upgrade homes, avoid taxes, or claim for mortgage payments on home loans that had already been paid off.

Addresses of lawmakers were not included in the newly released data — an omission that is important because of concerns some have abused rules that allow legislators based outside London to claim expenses for a property closer to Parliament. Without addresses, it is not possible to properly trace housing-related claims.

The Telegraph has said it will publish some of the uncensored documents in full on Friday.

House of Commons authorities said addresses were deleted because of security concerns. They often cite the case of Harriet Harman, a senior legislator who woke last year to find demonstrators sitting on her roof and demanding rights for fathers in custody disputes.

Police and prosecutors said they will not pursue criminal investigations into allegations against most of the lawmakers, but confirmed some allegations must be reviewed further. London’s Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said a final decision will be made within weeks.

On the Net:

news.parliament.uk/2009/06/mps-allowances-published-online/