In what has come as a surprising development we learn that MPs have abandoned their legal battle to keep secret the details of their expenses.

The Commons Members’ Estimate Committee decided that it would not seek leave to appeal against a ruling by the High Court ordering the publication of the detailed breakdown of their expenses claims.

It follows the Court’s ruling on Friday that the Information Tribunal acted within its powers when it demanded that details of MPs’ additional costs allowances must be provided under the Freedom of Information Act.

A spokesperson for the committee said that they would comply with the court’s order that the details of 14 MPs, including Gordon Brown and David Cameron, named in the original freedom of information (FoI) request should be released by a deadline of 4pm on Friday.

The details of remaining MPs – thought to number around one million individual items – will be published in the autumn, a spokesperson added.

Should we take this at face value or assume that our light-fingered Parliamentary “representatives” have a card or two, yet to play?

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