How we are now “forbidden” from knowing about MPs' foreign trips

Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has started a new row over Parliamentary secrecy by blocking the release of information about foreign trips for MP’s.

The dispute started after the Commons Registrar of Members’ Interests, decided that MPs should not have to declare details of trips they make abroad as guests of the British Council, which is a taxpayer-funded body.

Since February 2007, 12 MPs have travelled overseas with the British Council to destinations including Thailand, India and Malawi, often at a cost to the taxpayer of thousands of pounds.

MPs are required to declare any hospitality they receive from outside organisations, and the British Council does not appear on a list of bodies whose gifts are exempt from the requirement.

When The Sunday Telegraph attempted to use the Freedom of Information Act to ask the Commons authorities why the trips were not being declared, Mr Martin, the Speaker, took the highly unusual action of issuing a certificate preventing the release of any information about how the decision was reached.

The document claims Parliamentary privilege to avoid releasing the information. The certificate even prevents any further investigation by the Information Commissioner, who would normally have the power to intervene.

The Speaker’s decision not to allow the release of information that campaigners claim should be in the public domain has been condemned by MPs from all parties as well as civil liberty experts.

Mr Martin has been previously criticised for trying to suppress details of MPs’ expenses, and for trying to exclude some of their work from the Freedom of Information Act.

It is not the first time that the Speaker has used this controversial certificate, as in 2006, he also issued a certificate which prevented the release of a list of MPs’ staff under Freedom of Information laws, claiming that identifying the employees would “prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs” despite the Information Commissioner ruling that there were no legitimate grounds for witholding the names. Last year, The Sunday Telegraph revealed that two MPs and a peer travelled to Bangkok with the British Council for a two-day conference, two flying first class and the other flying business class.

Documents obtained from the British Council under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that other MPs have enjoyed business and first class flights. They show that the British Council spent £5,018 on business class flights for Mark Lancaster, the Conservative MP, who travelled to Malawi in 2008.

Sally Keeble, the Labour MP, who went on the same trip, flew out economy class and returned business class at a cost of £2,452. In May 2007, Derek Wyatt was flown to India business class by the British Council at a cost of £2,142. Other MPs who have received hospitality from the British Council in the last two years include Phyllis Starkey, Tony Baldry, Denis Macshane, Charles Clarke, Edward Garnier, Patricia Hewitt and Paul Keetch.