LEYTON/WANSTEAD: MP’s expenses set to be revealed

9:39am Saturday 17th May 2008

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THE expenses claims by Leyton and Wanstead MP Harry Cohen look set to be revealed this week, after the House of Commons lost a High Court battle to keep the details of its members' allowances secret.

Mr Cohen, who currently claims the maximum £22,110 in additional cost housing allowance to pay for his constituency home, has come under increasing pressure to reveal what exactly he is spending the money on.

The ruling means the details must now be released by 4pm this Friday.

Chingford and Woodford Green MP Iain Duncan Smith, who claimed over £500 last year for the same allowance, will also have his details revealed.

Legal teams for the House of Commons had argued that the "intrusive" information should be kept secret because it could reveal the home addresses of MPs and put them at risk.

Mr Cohen too has argued he has a "right to a private life" and repeatedly defended his right to withhold "sensitive financial details."

But on Friday the High Court ruled: "An individual who is determined to discover the residential address of an adult, law-abiding citizen is likely to be able to do so by one legal means or another.

"And where the person concerned is a holder of public office and in the public eye, an inquiry is likely to be easier."

However MPs still have a last chance to keep the details secret.

The Members' Estimates Committee, who oversee MPs' pay and allowances, are to meet on Monday to discuss whether to launch a final last-ditch legal challenge to the ruling.

They have until 12pm on Tuesday to decide.

For more, see this week's Guardian out Thursday May 22.