MEPs face row over allowances secrecy

British MEPs have come under fire after voting against a move to reveal how they spend their taxpayer-funded allowances.

A controversial meeting of the European Parliament saw the UK’s representatives vote by a margin of more than 10 to one against publishing how staff, office and travel allowances worth more than £220 million a year are spent.

Only five MEPs two Greens, two SNP and one from Plaid Cymru supported the greater scrutiny during the vote.

Moves to force MEPs to account for where they spend a £38,000-a-year general expenditure allowance, which is paid without any need for proof of expenditure, were also blocked.

SNP MEP Alyn Smith, who was one of only 74 MEPs to vote for the full transparency, said: “The Scottish Parliament is a globally-recognised leader in transparency and the European Parliament is manifestly not.

“This needs to change.”

Conservative, Labour, Ukip and Liberal Democrat groups who represent 64 British MEPs voted to overturn a proposal demanding ‘an end-of-year public report’ on their use of allowances which are worth an average of around £300,000 each.

But a spokesman for Labour’s MEPs blamed horse-trading on amendments for Wednesday’s vote, insisting his party is in favour of increased transparency.

He said: “We support the stronger rules proposed last week and should have been allowed by the parliament authorities to vote for them.

“But had the alternative proposals not gone through we’d have been left with nothing at all, which would have done nothing to improve accountability.”

Meanwhile a Tory spokesman said: “We voted to apply genuine pressure for greater transparency instead of voting for proposals that had no chance of being adopted.”

Last week, MEPs awarded themselves an extra £13,000 a year in allowances for assistants, despite concerns the funding worth £142m a year is being abused.

MEPs are also paid a daily “subsistence allowance” worth £220 in cash a day without having to prove how they spent the money.

Pawel Swidlicki, of the Open Europe think-tank, told The Times that MEPs were “exhibiting a lack of sensitivity to public opinion, specifically when it comes to their own behaviour”.

He added: “Ukip’s self-serving stance is not surprising, it is hugely disappointing that the Tory, Labour and Lib Dem MEPs closed ranks to vote against greater expenses transparency.

“It is not consistent to talk up the need for EU reform at home but then obstruct it within the European parliament.”