The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, set up after the expenses scandal of 2009, is considering using a Freedom of Information request to allow the details of some MPs’ second homes to be released. However speaker John Bercow has opposed this move, citing the publishing of details of MPs’ landlords and second homes as a ‘security risk’
“I have no problem in MPs renting it out but the public is entitled to know that,” Labour MP John Mann said to The Daily Telegraph.
“There is a way to get the information out to satisfy the general public. The media will want to know if there are any scams going on.”
It is currently not against the rules for MPs to rent to each other.
MPs are allowed a second home to allow them to fulfil their duties in Westminster as well as in their constituency, too. Paid for out of public money, the use of second homes came under scrutiny in 2009 during the initial MPs’ expenses scandal, which led to an overhaul of the rules governing expenses and second homes.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper though, which broke the expenses story three years ago, claims that 27 MPs are renting London homes while claiming rental allowances for other properties in the capital, too.
Photo: Getty.
