No Expenses Spared: The Riveting Story of the Investigation That Bought the British Government to Its Knees

The Daily Telegraph's expose of MPs' expenses, which dominated the news agenda for more than six weeks, made history by leading to the resignation of the Speaker and several Cabinet ministers, as well as taking Gordon Brown to the very brink of losing his grip on power. It is a story which began in the unlikely setting of a Chilean vineyard, when Robert Winnett, the paper's deputy political editor, first learnt from Gordon Brown's controversial aide Damian McBride, that a disk containing details of every MP's expense claims may have been obtained by a whistleblower. Winnett was destined to become the reporter who would secure the disc and its contents for his newspaper, landing what has been described by some commentators as "the political scoop of the century". Together with Gordon Rayner, Winnett ran a team of reporters who pored through more than a million expenses documents. Astonishing details began to emerge: Gordon Brown's peculiar cleaning arrangements; Oliver Letwin's tennis court; Sir Peter Viggers' duck house; Douglas Hogg's £2,200 bill for cleaning his moat; house flipping and tax dodging; and the suggestion of deliberate fraud. No Expenses Spared is the riveting inside story of the biggest political scandal to hit Parliament for a generation. The Daily Telegraph 's expose of MPs' expenses, which dominated the news agenda for more than six weeks, made history by leading to the resignation of the Speaker and several Cabinet ministers, as well as taking Gordon Brown to the very brink of losing his grip on power. It is a story which began in the unlikely setting of a Chilean vineyard, when Robert Winnett, the paper's deputy political editor, first learned from Gordon Brown's soon-to-be-disgraced aide Damian McBride, that a disc containing details of every MP's expense claims had gone missing. Winnett was destined to become the reporter who would secure the disc and its contents for his newspaper, landing what has been described by some commentators as "the political scoop of the century." Yet it was only after several other newspapers had been approached, that John Wick, a former SAS Major turned whistle blower, made contact with the Daily Telegraph to offer the explosive material. It was the biggest political scandal for a generation. The Speaker of the House and 5 members of the Cabinet resigned. The Legg enquiry ordered MPs to pay back over £1 million of wrongly claimed expenses. 381 MPs will be forced to pay back an average £3,000. 3 MPs and 1 Lord face criminal charges. No Expenses Spared is the fascinating account of the journalistic scoop that changed the face of British politics. It tells the story of one whistleblower and a small team of dedicated journalists who worked in secret to pore through more than a million expenses documents, braved the threat of legal action and political pressure to reveal the truth. Offers an account of the journalistic scoop that changed the face of British politics. This title tells the story of one whistleblower and a small team of dedicated journalists who worked in secret to pore through more than a million expenses documents, braved the threat of legal action and political pressure to reveal the truth. It was the biggest political scandal for a generation. The Speaker of the House and 5 members of the Cabinet resigned. The Legg enquiry ordered MPs to pay back over GBP1 million of wrongly claimed expenses. 381 MPs will be forced to pay back an average GBP3,000. 3 MPs and 1 Lord face criminal charges.