"The public will soon be able to see regular updates of every detail of Holyrood expenses published online, in an attempt to draw a line under the taxi scandal that brought down David McLetchie as the Tory leader.The Scottish Parliament's ruling body yesterday backed a move to an unprecedented level of openness about expenses, amid fears that the entire institution has been brought into disrepute by a relatively minor series of unexplained taxi journeys.
George Reid, the presiding officer, has told MSPs they have to move on from the old Westminster-based systems for freedom of information (FoI), and create rules that make politics more open than anywhere else. Mr Reid has moved swiftly in the wake of Mr McLetchie's resignation, aware that the impression of profligate expenses is rebounding on all MSPs.He also faces frustration from members, including non-Conservatives, that the parliament did not do more to protect Mr McLetchie from being singled out. While most MSPs shunned publicity on the McLetchie saga, some say the parliament should have done more to explain that most of his expense claims over the past six years were within the rules.
Mr Reid wrote to members yesterday to tell them of a new regime of openness that will see not only the totals for their expenses published online, but all supporting receipts and vouchers as well."
If readers of this blog expect me to trawl through MSPs' expense claims in the hope of finding some minor infelicity, then they would be better off reading the dead tree media.
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