Archive - Thursday, 28 October 2004


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MPs' spending revealed

THE FIRST declaration of MPs' spending habits brought news that Torfaen's MP Paul Murphy spent less than the national average Commons MP.

The secretary of state for Northern Ireland claimed a total of £107,777 in 2003-2004. The average amount for each member was £118,437.

Disclosure of members' spending patterns was due to be published in January next year, when the Freedom of Information Act comes into force.

But the claim at Westminster is that the reports early release was in the interests of an open democracy.

Mr Murphy said: "I welcome the publishing of these figures.

"As MPs, it is important that we strike the right balance between providing a good service to our constituents and representing value for money."

Locally, Monmouth MP Huw Edwards claimed £127,243 and Blaenau Gwent's Llew Smith took £93,253.

The expenses claimed by all MPs is in addition to the basic salary of £57,485 and for most, the majority of their expenses goes on travel and staff.

Mr Murphy didn't claim any money for travel, but £68,023 went to pay for staff and £18,779 funds the constituency office and £15,324 towards costs incurred when staying in London and carrying out parliamentary duties.

"This money is used to pay staff to deal with constituents' inquiries, to pay for things like the rental, rates, phone bills and office equipment in my constituency office, and to pay for staying in London when the House of Commons is sitting," said Mr Murphy.

The publication of these figures means the people of Torfaen can monitor what their MP costs them.

Mr Murphy added: "As MPs, we cannot always solve every problem, but we deal with a high number of inquiries from constituents.

"If we did not have a facility to enable constituents to see us at surgeries and help with their problems, we would not be doing our jobs properly."