Freedom of Information and the MP’s quad bike
By Andrew Grant-Adamson • May 20th, 2007 • Category: Journalism, PoliticsOne of the MPs who voted on Friday to exempt parliament from the Freedom of Information Act bought a quad bike on his expenses, the People reports today. David Maclean spent £3,000 of taxpayers money saying he needed the bike to get around his constituency on the Scottish borders. Hiding their expenses from the press is said to be one of the main reasons they want the exemption.
Meanwhile, the Observer says some peers are planning to put forward an amendment to the bill exempting parliament from FoI, to ensure the House of Lords was still covered.
This could be a clever approach as it could not be interpreted as the unelected Lords confronting the elected Commons but would make the Commons look even more venal than they do already.
Andrew Grant-Adamson is Andrew Grant-Adamson is a journalist who now teaches a new generation of writers, subs and editors at the University of Westminster.
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The rumour that the British newspaper group, Newsquest, might be put up for sale by its American parent, Gannet, is beginning to look persistent. It first surfaced in December with a report in the … Freedom of Information and the MP’s quad bike One of the MPs who voted on Friday to exempt parliament from the Freedom of Information Act bought a quad bike on his expenses, the People reports today. David Maclean spent £3,000 of taxpayers mon…