Ceredigion’s Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams has welcomed the release of the final report of the Legg Review, which was published yesterday.

374 MPs past and present have been asked to pay back a total of £1.12 million after the completion of the appeals process.

Sir Thomas Legg investigated the expenses of current and former MPs from 2004 onwards.

Mark Williams was not required to pay anything back as part of Sir Thomas’s Review.

Commenting, Mark Williams said:

“The expenses scandal has been extremely damaging for confidence in MPs, and it is unlikely that trust will be won back quickly.

“We have now at least looked at the expenses system, and identified the flaws and payments that should not have been made, and that is a welcome step.

“We now need to implement a new, stronger regime that ensures there is confidence in the system, and that the culture of deference referred to by Sir Thomas is eradicated.

“It will take a long time to repair the damage caused by this scandal, but we need to push forward with the reforms that we need to our political system.”

ENDS