LONDON (AFP) — A fresh wave of revelations about British MPs' expense claims on Saturday revealed that one spent thousands of pounds on security gates, as the middleman behind the leaks said he was "proud" of his role.
The latest lawmaker targeted by the Daily Telegraph newspaper is Conservative business spokesman Jonathan Djanogly, who will now pay back 25,000 pounds (28,000 euros, 40,000 dollars) of expense claims out of more than 77,000 pounds he reportedly spent at his property.
Djanogly had automatic security gates installed at his constituency in Huntingdon, eastern England, at a cost of nearly 5,000 pounds.
In a statement, the MP (member of parliament) said this was on police advice because of threats from animal rights activists.
The son of a multi-millionaire businessman and philanthropist also spent nearly 13,000 pounds on gardening and nearly 14,000 pounds on cleaning expenses, the paper reported.
In the last two weeks, The Telegraph has published the expense claims, paid for from the public purse, of over 200 of Britain's 646 lawmakers, prompting a furious reaction from commentators and the public.
The most high-profile casualty was House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin, who said this week he would quit, while several other MPs will not now stand at the next general election.
Saturday's Telegraph also carried the first interview with John Wick, a former special forces officer who acted as middleman between the anonymous source of the story and the newspaper.
"I have played my part in history. It is now for others to decide on the best way to move forward and punish those who have been exposed," Wick, a Conservative supporter, told the paper.
"I feel proud to have played my part in what The Telegraph rightly describes as 'a very British revolution.'"
He also criticised "lax and unprofessional" security among House of Commons administrators which had allowed the information to emerge.
"The protective classification given to this project was described to me by one of those involved as offering the same protection as a wet paper bag," Wick said.
Many lawmakers returning to their constituencies late Friday for a 10 day recess faced an angry reaction over the expenses scandal, highlighting the furious mood of voters.
One Conservative backbencher, Nadine Dorries, has said there are fears of a suicide in the House of Commons and described The Telegraph's campaign as "almost a McCarthy-style witch-hunt".
"The atmosphere in Westminster is unbearable. People are constantly checking to see if others are OK. Everyone fears a suicide," she wrote on her blog this week. Her party has distanced itself from the comments.
Two-thirds of voters want Prime Minister Gordon Brown to call a general election before the end of the year, according to Saturday's Guardian/ICM phone poll of 1,010 people conducted on May 20 and 21.
The poll also predicted that 27 percent of voters would reject the major political parties in favour of smaller parties like the Greens at next month's European and local elections.
Meanwhile, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams questioned on Saturday the impact the revelations were having on British public life.
"Many will now be wondering whether the point has not been adequately made," he wrote in The Times newspaper.
"The continuing systematic humiliation of politicians itself threatens to carry a heavy price in terms of our ability to salvage some confidence in our democracy."
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