Knowsley MP under fire on expenses.
July 5, 2008 12:00 AM
Knowsley South MP Eddie O'Hara has been attacked by the Liberal Democrats
for helping to vote down proposals for external auditing of all MPs'
expenses.
148 Labour MPs, 21 Conservative MPs and UKIP's only MP united on Thursday
night [3rd July] to vote down the proposal for an independent audit of all
MPs' expenses claims.
No Liberal Democrat MP voted against the audit plans.
Halewood North Cllr Dave Smithson said: "This decision by MPs is foolish and
wrong. It is a disaster for anyone who believes in cleaning up our politics
and improving Parliament's reputation. The House of Commons had the chance
to vote for proper auditing of everything MPs do with public money, but an
unholy coalition of Labour and Conservative MPs prevented it.
"I am deeply disappointed that Eddie O'Hara MP voted against allowing all
MPs' allowances to be externally audited. 52 of his Labour colleagues joined
the Liberal Democrats and some Conservatives in voting for independent
auditing. Eddie O'Hara MP must tell us - why did he vote to water down the
proposals?
"Rarely a week seems to pass without a story in the press about MPs
apparently fiddling their finances. The vast majority of MPs are not
corrupt. But so long as they resist having their expenses and allowances
subject to robust, external audit, the public can be forgiven for wondering
what they have got to hide.
"I welcome the announcement by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg that the
Lib Dems are committing to unilaterally introduce proposals rejected by
Parliament yesterday, including independent spot checks of the expenses of
the party's MPs:
"It is good to see Liberal Democrat MPs setting an example and showing that
they have nothing to fear from open, independent scrutiny of their expenses.
"I hope that the Labour and Conservative leaderships will follow Nick
Clegg's lead in implementing these measures, and we can begin to restore trust in politics."
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