Warning over MPs' expenses probe

Mr Martin is overseeing a "root and branch" investigation into expenses

The review into MPs' expenses would have had greater public credibility if it was independent, the watchdog which monitors sleaze says.

Commons Speaker Michael Martin is leading the inquiry after a series of revelations about MPs' allowances.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life said it was "prepared" to conduct its own inquiry if Mr Martin's review "fails to command public confidence".

And MPs' expenses should never be seen "as a substitute for pay", it said.

The committee called for Parliamentarians to be "as open and transparent as possible" when spending taxpayers' money.

It said they should only claim back "actual expenses", rather than seeking the maximum possible reimbursement available to them in any given area of the allowances system.

And it recommended that all expenses claims were backed up with receipts, which should be kept on file by MPs for three years.

Food bill

Last month it emerged MPs could claim household items such as kitchens, TVs and beds to an annual limit of �23,000 for their second homes.

The so-called "John Lewis list" - given that name as it was based on prices at the department store - was used by Commons officials to state the maximum amount permitted for individual items.

A week ago, at the end of a three-year Freedom of Information battle by the BBC, Mr Martin released details of top MPs' expenses.

These included an annual food and groceries bill of �4,000 for former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, and the revelation Tony Blair claimed �116 for a TV licence while at 10 Downing Street.

Mr Martin himself is the subject of a separate investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards into whether he has breached the rules on expenses.

It was reported that Mr Martin's wife spent �4,000 of public money on taxis for shopping trips.

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