MPs seek to keep their home addresses secret

MPs were today launching a move to keep secret their home addresses.

They claim they should not have to disclose where they live in order to protect themselves and their families from terrorists and other threats.

However, Cabinet ministers and other MPs have been engulfed in a series of rows over the use of taxpayers' cash to pay for second homes. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has claimed £116,000 in public funds after declaring a house in London that she shares with her sister as her main home. She denies breaching any Commons rules.

Some MPs even have second homes outside their constituency and London. Imposing a veil of secrecy over where they live will be seen by critics as an attempt to protect an allowance system which is believed to be open to abuse.

Addresses of general election candidates are published on ballot papers. But Tory MP Julian Lewis has tabled an amendment to the Political Parties and Elections Bill that would allow the full details to be withheld. MPs are expected to vote on the proposed change today.

Candidates would still have to register whether they lived in the constituency but only a small group of people would know their precise address. A significant number of returning officers have opposed the reform, warning it would erode the link with voters.

The High Court last year backed an Information Tribunal ruling that MPs' addresses should be public unless there was a security risk from disclosure.