Diana Wallis slams MEP expenses reform

An attempt by the European parliament to clean up expenses led to acrimony on Thursday when a member charged with drafting reforms called its decision-making more shambolic than a village council.

Diana Wallis, a British Liberal Democrat, complained that proposals to force deputies to account for some of their €4,000 ($6,230, £3,185) a month office expenses were scrapped by senior MEPs in a closed-door meeting without warning.

Parliamentary sources said that the leaders of the two biggest political groupings, the centre-right European People’s party and the leftwing Socialists, had lobbied for changes just hours before the crunch meeting. Both are dominated by German MEPs implacably opposed to sweeping reform. [Financial Times]