Luton South MP, Margaret Moran, has been attacked by the Liberal Democrats for failing to vote for external auditing of all MPs’ expenses.

148 Labour MPs, 21 Conservative MPs and UKIP’s only MP united on Thursday night [3rd July] to vote down the proposal for an independent audit of all MPs’ expenses claims.

Commenting, Cllr Qurban Hussain, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Luton South said; “This decision by MPs is foolish and wrong. It is a disaster for anyone who believes in cleaning up our politics and improving Parliament’s reputation. The House of Commons had the chance to vote for proper auditing of everything MPs do with public money, but an unholy coalition of Labour and Conservative MPs prevented it.”

“I am deeply disappointed that Ms Moran did not vote for allowing all MPs’ allowances to be externally audited. 52 of her Labour colleagues joined the Liberal Democrats and some Conservatives in voting for independent auditing. Ms Moran must tell us why she failed to support the proposals.”

“Rarely a week seems to pass without a story in the press about MPs apparently fiddling their finances. The vast majority of MPs are not corrupt. But so long as they resist having their expenses and allowances subject to robust, external audit, the public can be forgiven for wondering what they have got to hide.”

Cllr. Qurban Hussain, welcomed the announcement by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg that his party is committing to unilaterally introduce proposals rejected by Parliament, including independent spot checks of Liberal Democrat MPs expenses.

“It is good to see Liberal Democrat MPs setting an example and showing that they have nothing to fear from open, independent scrutiny of their expenses. I hope that the Labour and Conservative leaderships will follow Nick Clegg’s lead in implementing these measures, and we can begin to restore public confidence in politicians.”