The Spectator’s Notes | 14 June 2008

It would be a lie to say that I feel sorry for the Tory MEPs who have been attacked for paying their staff allowances to companies of which they or members of their family are members, but they are not the most at fault. Giles Chichester, for example, and Den Dover, did at least follow the instruction which came from David Cameron after the Derek Conway affair: they disclosed. The information being used against them is information they have published. More interesting are those who are refusing to disclose. Roughly, the way the European Parliament’s system for staff allowances works is that an MEP can have the full amount (£15,000 per month) sent to his designated paying agent. But the parliament runs no check on whether all the money is in fact dispersed. Once you have retired for six years as an MEP, you can no longer be pursued for any debt to the parliament.