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The black ink of transparency

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Graham Stewart | 08:54 UK time, Friday, 19 June 2009

MP's blackened-out expense form

We'll it's all clear now, isn't it? Westminster's culture of secrecy has been laid bare with the official online .

It's just that there's an ocean of blank ink over any details deemed to be private or against the interests of security.

What we do know is that Scotland's 59 MPs have claimed a total of around £25m in allowances since 2005, with 48 of them billing the taxpayer for more than £400,000 each.

The politicians are doing their best to make amends. The across the UK now stands at nearly £50,000 and rising. But the country's most expensive MP, Eric Joyce, isn't prepared to add to the pot. I don't know if you saw Newsnight Scotland last night. If you did you'll have heard the Labour MP for Falkirk West engaged in a heated exchange over whether he'd paid capital gains tax on the sale of either of his two properties.

Links




³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Open Secrets blog
Censored: From pergola to dishwasher
Filling in the blanks
MPs: The missing information

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