According to the former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, you can trace the parliamentary expenses disaster back to a vote in the Commons on 5 July 2001. Until then the second home allowance (or additional costs allowance, ACA, to give it its formal name) was relatively modest. But, shortly after the general election, the new House of Commons voted to increase it enormously. As Livingstone explained this afternoon on BBC News:
The real scandal came in 2001 in a vote when half the MPs weren't even in the house and, overriding both the Tory and Labour frontbench advice, backbench MPs voted to double [the second home allowance]. Before that it was £10,000, to cover the mortgage. After that, you got enough money to put your mock Tudor gables in, clean your moat. I was in parliament 14 years. I never heard of an MP "flipping". People did not even use the word in those days. Then you got so much money you could play the property market.
Livingstone was wrong about one point. MPs did not vote to double the ACA. They voted to increase it by 42%. They were supporting an amendment tabled by the Labour MP for Sheffield Attercliffe, Clive Betts. Betts argued that the ACA was supposed to be equivalent to the overnight allowance for members of the Lords and that, since they were getting a 42% increase (to reflect the increasing cost of staying in London), MPs should get the same. You can read Betts's speech in full for more details.
The late Robin Cook, the then leader of the Commons, was not impressed.
I fully understand why some members demand parity with the new overnight allowance recommended for the House of Lords and define parity as 144 nights at £120. However, under the amendment as drafted, we would end up with £2,000 more a year than such parity with the House of Lords allowance would afford. This, I suspect, would be challenging to explain to members of the House of Lords, let alone to justify to members of the public.
Cook offered to review the ACA if MPs rejected Betts's amendment. But they didn't. They voted in favour, by 229 votes to 117. If you want to know whether your MP backed the 42% increase, you can check the division list.
