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Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 16:44 GMT

Sleazebuster's high-profile scalps


Keith Vaz
Vaz: hired solicitors to fight allegations
From the start, Commons sleazebuster Elizabeth Filkin made MPs uncomfortable with her uncompromising style.



Filkin made it clear that she believed MPs who earned large sums outside the House should disclose their earnings in detail and that there were many members of the public who think it should be compulsory
Lady Boothroyd

Former speaker Betty Boothroyd has summed up why she ruffled so many feathers.

Writing in her autobiography, Lady Boothroyd said: "Filkin had a high profile and journalists had never enjoyed such easy access to a senior Commons official.

"Her independence and specific responsibility for policing the Register of Interests made her a prime news source."

She went on: "I did not mind her being no respecter of persons in the way she conducted her investigations.

"My worry was that MPs were put in the dock by the press on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations made against them.

"Filkin made it clear that she believed MPs who earned large sums outside the House should disclose their earnings in detail and that there were many members of the public who think it should be compulsory.

"But the rules she was paid to operate do not provide for that and she was speaking out of turn."

Here are some of the high-profile names who clashed with Ms Filkin:


Related to this story:
Cook defends Filkin job decision (25 Oct 01 | UK Politics) Sleaze watchdog faces axe (19 Oct 01 | UK Politics) Anti-sleaze investigator 'must go' (28 Jun 01 | UK Politics)


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