No secret repayment of expenses, says Speaker

MPs should not be allowed to repay wrongly claimed expenses in secret, the Speaker, John Bercow, said today after reports that some MPs have returned money behind closed doors. Bercow is taking the unusual step of taking up the issue with John Lyon, the parliamentary standards commissioner, who sanctioned 16 MPs to use the little-known "rectification" procedure last year as the expenses scandal broke. Bercow told a lunch with lobby journalists: "Do I basically take the view that where a repayment is required … [it] should be a matter of public record? The honest answer to your question is that I do." I do strongly believe ... in bringing about greater transparency.