Open government: Cameron pledges to lift the lid on Whitehall secrecy

David Cameron has pledged to remove the "cloak of secrecy" from government as ministers sought to reassure the markets that the departure of David Laws would not derail plans to tackle the deficit.

The Prime Minister is promising the public greater access to

information including hospital superbug figures, street-by-street crime data, and itemised lists of Whitehall spending.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But he also faces the continuing fallout from the resignation of former investment banker Mr Laws, the highly-rated Chief Secretary to the Treasury who was seen as having made a successful start to the government's cost-cutting drive.

There have been fresh claims that Mr Laws' successor, Danny Alexander, had dodged capital gains when selling a property he designated to Parliament as his second home.

Aides to the Lib Dem MP insisted he had never "flipped" designations and simply followed tax rules, meaning people are not eligible for CGT if they own two homes, but sell one within three years.

Mr Alexander, a former PR chief for Cairngorms National Park Authority, is said to have owned the south London flat for six years before becoming an MP in 2005, when he told the parliamentary authorities it was his second home.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

At around the same time he purchased a constituency home in Scotland.

He is said to have claimed more than 37,000 in expenses on the flat before selling in June 2007.

But because that was still within the three-year period, he was not eligible for CGT. The Daily Telegraph said he was likely to have saved thousands of pounds as a result.

"I have always listed London as my second home on the basis set out in the parliamentary rules as I spent more time in my constituency than I did in London," Mr Alexander said in a statement.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I sold the flat in 2007 and moved to another flat but was advised that CGT was not payable because of the operation of final period relief, which exempts homes from CGT for 36 months after they stop being the main home.

"I paid all the taxes required but CGT was not payable on the disposal of my flat.

"I have already publicly declared that I will pay capital gains tax if the time comes for me to sell my (new) second home."

Ex-minister laws may quit politics

David Laws is considering whether he should quit politics altogether following his Government resignation.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Colleagues have tipped him for a swift return, but Cathy Bakewell, chairwoman of his local party in Yeovil, said his future as an MP

was "on his mind" but that she had urged him not to do anything "precipitative".

"His mood is one of deep depression. He is hurting and he needs to find a way forward."

The local party has been "inundated" with thousands of messages of support, she added.