ANY politician at any level who fails to understand that people must be able to see every detail of every penny they spend from the public purse does not deserve a single vote the next time they face the electorate.

Those who use our money have to justify why it has been spent. There should be no ifs or buts.

MPs felt the full force of public fury earlier this year when the Daily Telegraph exposed the Westminster expenses scandal.

Their expenses are now published online. But it took a High Court battle for the public to win the right to see how their money was being spent. Now Worcestershire county councillors are to follow suit. And not before time.

It is a nonsense that this newspaper had to use the Freedom of Information Act to identify Stephen Clee as the councillor forced to pay back money after eight times claiming expenses twice for attending the same meeting.

The amount of money Councillor Clee had to pay back for his double claims was relatively minor. But the principle of allowing the public easy access to such information is not.

So we welcome the council’s decision to become more open on this particular issue but there is still more to be done.

Yesterday’s decision means claims forms will be available for public inspection online from now on.

But claims from the last five years at least should also be uploaded and redactions must be kept to a minimum.

We recognise the retrospective publication of claims will take time – but it must happen as part of the process of restoring public confidence in politics. For now we congratulate the council on taking a significant step in the right direction.