Did all the British MEP's vote against?

By David Rennie in Brussels, The Telegraph
13th April 2005


Members of the European Parliament rejected moves yesterday to clean upscandal-ridden arrangements for their travel allowances and expenses. Theirdecision prompted anger and disbelief from British MEPs, who voted forproposed reforms.

In a series of votes carried by a margin of six to four at a full session ofthe parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs resisted proposals for audits of theiraccounts and turned down calls to impose sanctions on those found to havedefrauded the taxpayer.

The votes "gave an all-clear to embezzlement", said Chris Davies MEP, theleader of the British Liberal Democrats in the parliament.

Mr Davies expressed particular disappointment after his fellow MEPs voted tocontinue a trust-based system for payments into the parliament's privatepension scheme.

The scheme is wide open to fraud. MEPs who choose to join can pay up to £664a month into their pension plans, with their contribution deducted fromtheir office expense account, not from their salary.

In theory, MEPs then reimburse their office accounts for pensioncontributions but no checks are carried out.

"I reimburse my contribution every month but there is no need to presentreceipts for office expenses and there's no audit. You could use theallowance for any purpose you like," said Mr Davies.

The parliament also voted to maintain its travel allowance scheme. By buyingcheaper fares in advance, or using budget airlines, a British MEP couldeasily make up to £500 profit in a week.