"I believe it is wrong. I believe it is against the interest of parliament. I believe we are in danger of bringing ourselves into disrepute. The House of Commons should set an example to the country of honesty and integrity, not find some squalid little way in order to get out of the law."
David Winnick (Labour)
Virtually unnoticed by the country at large, our members of parliament this afternoon voted to exempt themselves from the Freedom of Information Act by 96 votes to 25. The small turnout masks a momentous decision: under the guise of protecting their constituents' confidentiality MPs can now hide potentially embarrassing information such as expense claims and allowances. This grubby, anti-democratic, self-serving bill, proposed by a former Tory chief whip and backed implicitly by both the Labour and Conservative front benches now goes to the Lords.
It must not pass.
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