Rochdale Euro-MP strikes against expenses cheats

Chris Davies MEP

A Rochdale Euro-MP has managed to finally convince the European Parliament that it has to insist upon members accounting for their expenditure.

Chris Davies, Liberal Democrat, has been a campaigner for financial transparency in the use of the public money for a long time now - and he has finally managed to push the vote through the European Parliament, in the wake of a court judgment.

This required former Conservative MEP Den Dover to pay back £345,000 of claimed cash for staff expenses.

Mr Davies said: “Cases like that of Den Dover have emphasised the need for public money to be seen to be spent properly. Anything less than full and open accounting can no longer be acceptable."

“Although this vote has established the principle that declarations must be made I anticipate that attempts will be made to frustrate agreement on the exact procedures. The fight is not yet over.”

All MEPs receive an allowance of £42,144 each year to meet the routine costs of running their offices. The money is paid into a bank account controlled by the MEPs, and there is no legal requirement for them to produce any evidence of how it is spent.

Most British representatives publish details of their office expenses on websites but the majority of MEPs from other countries do not.