MPs expenses revealed but truth isn't there in . . . black and white

THE full extent of Westminster's culture of secrecy was yesterday laid bare as four years of MPs' expenses were finally published - but heavily censored in an ocean of black ink.

THE full extent of Westminster's culture of secrecy was yesterday laid bare as four years of MPs' expenses were finally published - but heavily censored in an ocean of black ink.

Scotland's 59 MPs have claimed a total of £25,454,624 in allowances since 2005, with 48 of them billing the taxpayer for more than £400,000 each.

Critics pointed out that the severely-edited disclosure of the expense claims showed how the worst abuses of taxpayers' money would never have come to light without the full version having been leaked and published.

Last night it emerged that Labour's Jim Devine, the MP for Livingston who was deselected by the party leadership on Tuesday following queries over his claims for rewiring and shelving, faced more allegations that he billed the taxpayer twice in three months for wood flooring at his London flat.

The backbencher, who is said to have discovered claims made falsely in his name, was unavailable for comment.

The publication of the documents on the UK Parliament website was the result of a four-year Freedom of Information battle. The redaction of addresses and the exclusion of correspondence regarding disputed or rejected claims meant that the controversy over Ms Blears' claims, and those relating to MPs "flipping" second homes, as in the case of Alistair Darling, would never have come to light.

Nor would the public have known about the "phantom mortgages" of Elliot Morley and David Chaytor, the dry rot treatment at Margaret Moran's third home, the dredging of Douglas Hogg's moat or Sir Peter Viggers' duck house. In each of these cases, the MP concerned has either been deselected or is now not seeking re-election.

In other strange expenses, Christopher Fraser claimed more than £1800 for cherry laurel and red cedar trees, Fabian Hamilton £135 for an iPod Nano and Liberal Democrat Lembit Opik £20 for a wig for a charity event.

Despite the secrecy, some new details did emerge, such as how George Osborne claimed £47 for two DVDs of his speech on "Value for Taxpayers' Money".

Last night, it was confirmed that MPs have repaid nearly £500,000 following the public outrage. The amount includes just over £800 from Gordon Brown, mostly regarding a cleaning bill, and £4200 from Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary, over the rental of a building.

Yet despite all the talk of transparency from the Commons authorities, they confirmed MPs' expenses for 2008/09 would be published in the "same format" - ie, with the same censorship.

The Westminster Establishment spent more than £140,000 on the abortive effort to avoid revealing the expenses details before being defeated in the High Court in May last year.

The process of scanning and editing all the receipts from 2004 to 2008 has cost a further £2m and taken 13 months. As part of a desperate rearguard action against publication, the Commons passed a measure exempting MPs' addresses and other "security-sensitive" information from publication.

In a fevered day at Westminster, David Cameron announced he would repay almost £1000 to the taxpayer. The Conservative leader had already announced he would pay back £680 he claimed for repairs at his second home in Oxfordshire.

However, after reviewing his expenses, he wrote to the Commons Fees Office, volunteering the repayment of £947.29 - including the £680 for repairs - after identifying a series of over-claims.

John Lyon, Westminster's standards watchdog, is considering a complaint against the Chancellor over his flipping of his second home designation four times in four years, and one against the Shadow Chancellor over an allegation he mortgaged his constituency home for more than he paid for it yet billed the taxpayer to cover interest payments on the whole debt.

A decision on whether or not a criminal investigation will be launched moved closer with Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Commissioner, saying: "I do not think we are that far off."

Meanwhile in Scotland, Alex Salmond was condemned for charging the taxpayer £790 as part of a £14,000 bill, split among Scottish and Welsh Nationalist MPs, for legal advice in an attempt to impeach ex-PM Tony Blair over the Iraq war.

Lord Foulkes, the Labour MSP and former Scotland Office Minister, has asked Mr Lyon to investigate the "party political stunt".

It was also revealed that taxpayers face a bill of £2000 per month for the interest on a mortgage for Labour's Glasgow Central MP Mohammad Sarwar's apartment near Westminster.

Blears survives deselection vote

HAZEL BLEARS said the Labour Party had "rallied behind me" after she survived a deselection vote.

The former communities secretary last night kept the party's nomination for her Salford seat.

The voting was 33 against the deselection motion, 12 for and one abstention at a meeting in Salford, Lancashire.

Ms Blears angered party workers by quitting the Cabinet on the eve of local elections in England earlier this month.

In the days before her departure, Gordon Brown described her failure to pay capital gains tax on the sale of a second home as "totally unacceptable".

She made at least £80,000 on the sale of two properties - each of them subsidised by taxpayers - without paying capital gains tax.

Last month she voluntarily paid £13,000 to the Inland Revenue.

She also came under fire for wearing a "rocking the boat" brooch on the day she quit and taunting Mr Brown over his awkward appearance on YouTube.

Last night Ms Blears said: "We've had one of the most sensible discussions that I've had about this issue for weeks and weeks.

"Tonight is the first chance to explain myself properly to my party members."

In a fiery and passionate meeting, lasting almost three hours, some party members berated Ms Blears for coming within a "hair's breadth" of bringing down Mr Brown.

She gave an explanation of her expenses, citing inaccuracies in the way the media had reported the furore, and apologised again for the timing of her resignation.

Rent, desks, chairs ... and some teabags

By Stewart PatersonA FORMER Glasgow MP whose resignation sparked the Glasgow East by-election charged the taxpayer almost four times as much as colleagues for office rent.

The claims by David Marshall - who stepped down as Labour MP last year allowing the SNP to win the seat - reveal the rent he charged for his Glasgow office almost doubled in one month.

Until March 2006 he charged £500 a month to pay the Labour Party for a city centre office, despite his constituency being Glasgow East, but also conducted much of his constituency business from his home.

The following month he started paying rent to GEM workspace in Queenslie, who charged £987 every month.

He also put in a claim for almost £5000 to kit it out, with receipts for desks, chairs, filing cabinets, stationery and other equipment.

His items ranged from a 13p staple extractor to a £346 cupboard, but included a 500g tin of Nescafe Gold Blend at £11.22, 440 teabags at £6.60 and a 750g bag of sugar at £2.68.

He also charged more than £300 in removal costs.

A website for GEM workspaces show an ultra-modern office space, while many other MPs rent empty shop units or share with colleagues. Mr Marshall's Glasgow Labour colleagues managed to find office space for far less.

Last month the five Labour MPs in Glasgow voluntarily supplied the Evening Times with their expenses.

They show Glasgow Central MP Mohammad Sarwar charging £308 per month and Tom Harris of Glasgow South less than £250 a month. Ian Davidson of Glasgow South West claimed £440 a month from a local housing association, and John Robertson, in Glasgow North West, £266 a month.

A Labour party spokesman said everything was done according to the rules.

Mr Marshall could not be contacted.