MPs hope to challenge the report from Sir Thomas Legg on the grounds that the remit has been distorted and extended beyond the Committee's original intent. The locus of this challenge is the Estimates Committee. Oddly, MPs expect that the public will accept and understand their concerns.
MPs have spent the past few days plotting retaliation against the new demands, which include six-figure sums, including by taking action in the courts. One member of the Members’ Estimate Committee, which oversees the running of Parliament and includes the Speaker, said Sir Thomas had been “overzealous, misdirected and has exacerbated a situation where we were hoping to bring closure”.
MPs plans also include evasion to avoid paying back the largesse they have obtained as a privileged dishonourable member.
The worst offenders, who have already announced they are standing down, may escape a fine altogether. They are discussing plans to refer their cases to Parliament’s own watchdog, Sir John Lyon, to reinvestigate Sir Thomas’s conclusions. A second investigation would drag on past the general election, after which there are no mechanisms to force them to pay up.
Those who challenge should be ejected.