MPs seek to exempt their expenses from FoI Act

When the Govt announced the third runway at Heathrow last week Justin Kerr-Stevens suggested that they had something to hide.  I doubt the announcement was made as a diversion, but someone decided that it was a good time to announce that Harriet Harman as Leader of the House (under lobbying from the Conservative's 1992 Committee and the Parliamentary Labour Party) has decided to exempt MPs expenses from the Freedom of Information Act.

I've used www.writetothem.com to write this letter to my MP.

Dear Andrew,

I noticed in the paper on Friday that the Government announced that MPs
expenses were to be mostly exempt from the Freedom of Information Act –
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jan/16/mps-expenses-exemption
on the grounds that the book-keeping is too onerous. I am appalled by
the move which seeks to create one law for MPs (and Peers) and a
different for me as a citizen. I fully agree with this letter written
to the Times –
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article5532685.ece.

I also find the timing of this parliamentary order particularly cynical
coming, as it did, on the same day as the announcement of the third
runway at Heathrow.

Please can you answer me some questions:

1. Do you support this parliamentary order? If so why? If not what do you plan to do to oppose it?

2. If the law is changed to exclude MP expenses, will you nevertheless
publish your expenses in full? If not why not? If so then I will be
very willing to help you do so at no cost.

Although I believe the issue of your expenses to be of minor importance
I very strongly believe that Parliament MUST abide by the same laws as
the rest of country and set an example to Government that public
expenditure should be accountable and transparent.

If you want to show your support you might like to join this Facebook
group: http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/group.php?gid=50061011231

I look forward to your reply,

Kind regards,

Shane

I really hope he does the right thing and opposes this order but seeing as his record on Freedom of Information is consistently "absent" I am expecting to be disappointed.