A BID to make councillors reveal their expenses claims every month has been defeated.
At the moment, all Greater Manchester councils publish annual details of expenses - Lib Dems in Wigan put forward a motion saying the council there should publish them every month.
Tory and Labour members on the Labour-run council voted to kick out the idea saying it would cost too much.
But Tyldesley Lib Dem councillor Robert Bleakley accused them of missing a chance to `rebuild trust' in politics.
He said: "Labour amended the motion and deleted the relevant section. They said it was a waste of money.
"I thought it was all about being open and honest. All politicians, from Europe to national to local have been tarnished by the MPs' expenses story. We need to stand locally by rebuilding the reputation of politics.
"I would hope that the council would look at this again."
Councillors' expenses in Wigan have gone up 35 per cent since 2004/5.
Statistics released by the public sector union Unison revealed they were paid just over £1m between 2007/8 compared to £800,000 three years ago.
The figures released earlier this year showed Wigan to be one of the top five most generous of the 40 north west authorities, with Manchester paying out most at £1.83m.
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Expenses stay under wraps for 12 months
July 20, 2009
Showing comments 1 to 11 and replies | View All
Tezza, Tyldesley (20/07/2009 at 07:46)
Again we find the very people this will affect voting on the issue, so i'm not surprised that they voted against it.
If someone asked me to vote on giving myself a big pay rise guess which way i would vote?
Steve an alternative view (20/07/2009 at 09:19)
The thing that did it for me was the flipping of the second homes, and why when a building, paid for primarily by the tax payer, was sold the equity from that sale wasn’t returned to the public purse but instead went straight into the MP’s pocket.
This refusal to publish the details of their expenses for me just reiterates that they are trying furiously to cover up a system of condoned dishonesty.
If anybody else claimed expenses in such a manner then they would be investigated and if appropriate prosecuted for offences such as Obtaining money by Deception or Fraud.
Claiming expenses for the interest on a mortgage is just one perfect example.
For me the government are simply all one and the same, regardless of what party they represent, and that is dishonest. And the only way they can refute this belief is to become open and accountable and support investigations into those who aren’t.
Tezza, Tyldesley (20/07/2009 at 10:12)
“None of my family voted in either the local or the European elections as we believe that the majority of those in government are to say the least dishonest”
What a sweeping generalisation you make about all members of parliament , if you looked at the latest M.P’s expensive scandal then you would have found that less than 10% of the M.P’s were in fact involved so that is far from the majority.
And if you believe what you say, then the only way to get rid of these so called dishonest people is to vote them out, so by not voting you are in fact carrying on the very thing you say goes on.
And if you fail to vote then unfortunately you can’t expect to have a say in the way things work
readersdigest (20/07/2009 at 10:28)
Hopefully people will realise that Richard Leese and his companions are of no use to Manchester and vote them out at the first opportunity.
readers digest
Angie33 , Manchester (20/07/2009 at 10:35)
Is It Me? (20/07/2009 at 11:07)
john davis, Broughton, Salford (20/07/2009 at 11:32)
Is It Me? (20/07/2009 at 12:11)
Mad Welsh Scotsman, Cadishead (20/07/2009 at 13:23)
"But Tyldesley Lib Dem councillor Robert Bleakley accused them of missing a chance to `rebuild trust' in politics."
They're not interested in rebuilding trust, they're too busy hiding their perks from us.
red one (21/07/2009 at 16:58)
The need 12 months to hide the evidence and are hoping us plebs will forget all about it. Come on MEN get off the fence for once and do a Telegraph job on them if you have the guts. I would like to know where my money goes.
Incidentally I used the word plebs above because that,s how councillors see and treat us.
laddy, manchester (22/07/2009 at 11:10)