Bloody Sunday fat cats scandal

The astonishing sums of money earned by individual barristers working on the Bloody Sunday inquiry are disclosed today, prompting calls for the Government to cap spiralling costs.

Leading barristers including Michael Mansfield QC and Sir Louis Blom-Cooper have already earned an average of more than £400,000 each, according to Northern Ireland Office figures. Senior counsel earn £1,500-1,900 a day. Travel expenses alone have topped £1.3million and a firm of solicitors has been paid upwards of £10million to interview witnesses to the events of January 1972, when 14 demonstrators died after British paratroopers opened fire on a civil rights march through Londonderry.

Today's revelations prompted the Tories' Ulster spokesman Crispin Blunt to accuse Tony Blair of personal responsibility for what he called a "disgraceful" waste of public money.

Ulster Unionist Jeffrey Donaldson said the Government must place a final figure on costs which have already exceeded £52million and are likely to reach £100million before Lord Saville publishes his report in 2004.

The inquiry, which has so far heard from 486 witnesses in 180 days, resumes on Monday. Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Office is to fight moves for a 16 per cent pay rise for barristers, taking daily earnings to more than £2,500.

The lawyers making a pile