Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill

That is exactly right, and I am afraid that those who want to change the present arrangements are unusually reluctant to make their case. Mr. Walker also said, at paragraph 25, that"““there had been a reduction in overall expenditure on MPs’ travel since the publication of the annual aggregate travel figure.?" So there we have it in black and white from the House of Commons’ own officer: the publication of figures drives down the cost. Yet we have here an attempt to exempt the House of Commons and the House of Lords from publishing MPs’ expenses, except on the basis of a convention that could be overturned at the flick of a switch. That is why it is important to ensure that the measure is written into law, rather than written out of it by the Bill. Amendment No. 9 seeks to ensure that it is not written out. The Scottish scheme has been mentioned, and it is worth pointing out in passing that the Scottish scheme allows far more disclosure of information in respect of MPs’ travel than does the present scheme, even after the Information Tribunal judgment. Those MPs who suggest that the present travel expenses declaration goes too far fail to appreciate that it does not go nearly as far as the Scottish system. That is a very Westminster-centric view, which fails to take account of what is happening in other Assemblies following devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It also fails to take account of how the public at large view matters, which is entirely different from the view of those who drafted the Bill.