MP Expenses - the public has a right to know (Eastbourne and Willingdon Liberal Democrats)

Eastbourne and Willingdon Liberal Democrats <office@eastbournelibdems.org.uk>

MP Expenses - the public has a right to know

May 12, 2009 7:11 PM

Commenting on the shocking media reports about MPs' expenses, Eastbourne campaigner Stephen Lloyd said, "I am not surprised the public feel a sense of disgust over the ongoing revelations about many MPs' expenses - I share those feelings.

"It's clear that we have reached a crisis point in our political system. The public has a right to know everything our MP's have claimed. Parliament must immediately publish, warts and all, every single claim made if it is to have any chance of re-gaining the trust of the public."

"MP's private addresses must also be put into the public domain, especially when some MPs were 'flipping' their second home allowance from property to property to maximise a subsidy at the tax-payers expense."

"The public has a right to know where their politicians stand. I pledge that if I am elected to serve as Eastbourne's MP, I will not claim an allowance to pay for a second home mortgage in London. I will not accept any paid directorships and I will not expect the taxpayer to cough up for my furniture, TV's, house repairs or any other of the every day living costs normal people expect to pay for out of their own pocket."

"I took a decision to become involved in politics because I wanted to change things for the better but even I had no idea just how awful the whole system had become. Bluntly, if I or any of the colleagues I've worked with in business over the last twenty years had claimed just a fraction of what some of our MP's claim, we'd have been sacked. And if they'd worked for me I would have fired them personally."