Jeremy Wright MP on - his expenses

Jeremy Wright MP writes for the Observer

28 May 2009

FOLLOWING the stories about MPs’ expenses in recent days, I want to make my position clear.

I am fully content for the details of my expenses claims to be available for all to see and they will be made available and accessible to the public as soon as possible.

I am confident that those who look at them will conclude that I have spent taxpayers’ money honestly and responsibly.

However, in their current unedited form, my expenses claims and receipts contain not only personal information relating to me but, more significantly, also personal information relating to those who have worked for me and who have supplied services to my office.

That information includes bank account details, signatures and National Insurance numbers. It would be irresponsible and quite possibly in breach of the legal obligations I have under the Data Protection Act 1998 for me to disclose receipts containing that information, and common sense suggests that in a world where identity theft and bank fraud are all too common, this sort of data should be carefully guarded.

That is why I have not been prepared to circulate my receipts in their current form. Much as I would like to allay all concerns about the propriety of my expenses immediately, I will not put others at risk in the process.

What I have done, however, is to invite the local press and, indeed, BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, to review my receipts, unedited, save for the removal of the pages which contain personal information relating to others, as I have described above.

I am also happy to meet any constituent who wishes to discuss my claims in greater detail.

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