COMMONS authorities are hunting for a mole who is trying to sell the expenses records of all MPs for £300,000.
The search was launched after highly embarrassing details became public of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith’s Parliamentary allowance claims, including adult films watched at her home.
Sir Stuart Bell, a member of the ruling Commons Commission, said: “All of the receipts of 650-odd MPs, redacted and unredacted, are for sale at a price of £300k, so I am told. The price is going up because of the interest in the subject.”
Asked who was trying to sell the information, Sir Stuart replied: “We have a pretty good idea of not the person, but the source, and that is a subject of a House of Commons investigation.” He branded the action a “breach of trust”, adding: “It may be a theft, but we will get to the bottom of it.”
Commons authorities have been working flat out to prepare around 1m receipts filed by MPs for publication, after losing a long-running freedom of information battle to keep them secret.
