 | 'It emerged that nearly £50,000 of taxpayersÕ money had been spent on providing free air travel for Mrs Martin. She had been given permission to claim travel expenses when her husband became Speaker.' Frances Elliott, Deputy Political Editor in the Times, 18 th February 2008. |  |
Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, used air miles earned on official business to fly members of his family from Glasgow to London for a new-year break.
His actions contravene the advice given by a committee he chairs that oversees MPsÕ expenses. They will increase the unease among MPs regarding his inquiry into financial abuses, which has been prompted by the Derek Conway affair.
A spokesman for Mr Martin confirmed that the Speaker had used air miles earned on official business to help to pay for return flights in business class for seven relatives, costing £3,090.50.
Mr Martin spent £10,587 last year in parliamentary allowances to cover air travel on official business. Much of this covered journeys with his wife, Mary, between Westminster and their home in Scotland. According to the Sunday Mirror, he has amassed more than one million air miles, and he used 54,000 of them for the new-year trip by his childrenÕs families.
His daughter, Mary Ann, flew with her husband and son from Glasgow to London on December 28, returning on January 6. Paul, his son, travelled with his wife and two daughters on December 30, returning on January 2. A spokesman for the Speaker said that Paul paid £309 and Mary Ann £230.50 towards the cost of the flights.
Ministers are banned from using air miles for personal use, although MPs, including Mr Martin, are not. However, MPs seeking advice from officials working for the Commons Estimates Committee, which Mr Martin chairs, are told that they should be used only for "future business flights".
A friend of Mr Martin doubted that the Speaker was aware of the guide-lines. "I donÕt think that this was ever brought to his attention," he said. Mr Martin had decided to use the air miles to bring his family to London because he had to attend a parliamentary conference in the city over the new year, the friend added.
The Speaker faced criticism last year after it was disclosed that his wife had claimed more than £4,000 for travel within London by taxi. The Times reported in December that Mrs Martin had claimed £4,280.20 for taxis since May 2004, which was said to be "entirely in connection with household expenditure that supports the SpeakerÕs duties". The SpeakerÕs spokesman said that she needed to take taxis to shop for food for official functions. The wife of the Speaker has never had a formal role.
Subsequently it emerged that nearly £50,000 of taxpayersÕ money had been spent on providing free air travel for Mrs Martin. She had been given permission to claim travel expenses when her husband became Speaker.
Sir Christopher Kelly, the standards watchdog, said last month that there was a case for MPs to break their tradition of self-governance and to submit their use of public money to checks from an outside body. He said that the Commons had to introduce more transparent rules and a system of checks on how MPs spent their £144,927 allowances and expenses, excluding travel. If MPs failed to do so, he said, his Committee on Standards in Public Life would conduct its own review and publish recommendations.
Mr Martin received a damaging blow to his authority after the Conway affair, in which the Conservative MP was found to have paid his son Freddie for work that was not carried out. Both David Cameron and the Standards and Privileges Committee announced moves to tighten the rules without waiting for the results of the SpeakerÕs own investigation, which are not due until this autumn.
The Conservative leader ordered his frontbench team to publish, by July, full details of how they spend their expenses and to name, by April, any relatives who work for them. Mr Cameron made plain that he expects backbench-ers to follow suit.
Tony Wright, chairman of the Commons Public Administration Committee, said this month: "Club government has to end. Parliamentary privilege is about protecting unfettered speech, not defending the indefensible." He said that the Committee on Standards in Public Life should begin an immediate inquiry into expenses.
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP, said that the disclosures about Mr Martin would further damage public confidence in the system of parliamentary expenses. "A benefit accrued because of spending by the taxpayer should be returned to the taxpayer," he added.
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