Now, how’s this for timing? With the Jacqui Smith row rumbling on, Parliament has released expenses details for every MP from April 2007 to March 2008 – you can access them here and here. There are no receipts yet, so we can’t see the devils that surely reside in the detail. But, in the meantime, we know that Gordon Brown claimed £124,454 in total, while David Cameron claimed £148,829. ConservativeHome have pulled out some more figures here.
In other pay-related news, it’s been announced that MPs will receive a 2.33 percent pay rise as of April, with Sky revealing that Brown is “ordering” his ministers to take a pay freeze. Although Brown’s demand is heading in the right direction, there’s a strong case that it doesn’t go far enough. Given the fiscal landscape – and the looming scandal of those expense receipts – the political class will have to do a lot, lot more to restore the public’s faith in them.
P.S. If CoffeeHousers come across any other noteworthy expenses figures, please do give them a mention in the comments section.
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