MPs accused of covering up most of their expenses claims

London: Members of Parliament were accused yesterday of a massive cover-up of their expenses after the Commons authorities released hundreds of thousands of claims documents and receipts with huge sections of detail blacked out.

Amid renewed public anger over the scale of Westminster's spending habits, the documents contained enough fresh information to create new embarrassment for senior politicians.

David Cameron was forced to pay back an extra £947 (Dh5,757), the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, was reported to the parliamentary commissioner for standards and Gordon Brown was revealed to have charged the taxpayer almost £6,500 to green his second home in Scotland.

Even Tony Blair found himself under the spotlight after the documents revealed that he had claimed almost £7,000 for roof repairs two days before leaving office and standing down as an MP.

With MPs reeling from public anger at the extent of their claims, Bill Cockburn, the chairman of the body responsible for setting their pay, chose yesterday to suggest that MPs deserve a pay rise of up to £10,000 a year, arguing that they were underpaid by ten to 15 per cent.

It was also disclosed that 184 MPs - over a third of the Commons - have agreed to pay back nearly £478,000 in inappropriate claims.

They include Brown and ministers Douglas Alexander, Alistair Darling, Yvette Cooper, David Miliband, Ed Balls, Rosie Winterton, Andy Burnham and former home secretary Jacqui Smith.

Sir Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, agreed to pay back £18,949, the culture minister Barbara Follett £32,976, Winterton £8,247 and Labour ex-minister Paddy Tipping £14,320.

Alexander, the international development secretary, paid back £12,600. The married couple Cooper and Balls together repaid £2,717.50. The shadow business minister, Jonathan Djanogly, agreed to pay back £25,000 and one of the candidates for Speaker, Sir Alan Haselhurst, agreed to repay £15,753. Parliament's website gives no explanation for the repayments.

The documents published yesterday show that MPs claimed an average of £154 each per month for food. Thirty-two members claimed the maximum £400 each month. None needed to show receipts.

Reform-minded MPs and freedom of information campaigners criticised the extent of the censorship of the 700,000 documents published on the parliamentary website. Large sections, sometimes most of a document, were blacked out, either on the advice of MI5 or in the belief that publication would be in breach of the Data Protection Act.